Page:Giuseppe Bianchini - The Work of the Fascist Government and the Economic Reconstruction of Italy - tr. Luigi Villari.pdf/3



In order to pass a fair and impartial judgment on the work accomplished by the Fascist Government of Italy, we must begin by comparing the Italian situation of 1922 with that of to-day, for it is only through this comparison that we can realize the extent of the progress achieved.

Let us then see what were the economic, financial and social conditions of Italy in 1921–22. I advisedly include the year 1921, because if the Fascist movement did not come into power until the end of 1922, it had developed its action in the country for some time previously to that date—in fact as early as November 1921 it already comprised over 230.000 registered members. The struggle against Socialism and Bolshevism had been going on for some time, a struggle sanctified by the