Grand Council of Fascism

Grand Council of Fascism

Gran Consiglio del Fascismo
Coat of Arms
Abbreviation	Grand Council
Formation	9 December 1928 (1928-12-09)
Dissolved	25 July 1943 (1943-07-25)
Legal status	Constitutional body
Headquarters	Palazzo Venezia, Rome
King of Italy	King Victor Emmanuel III
President	Benito Mussolini

The Grand Council of Fascism (Italian: Gran Consiglio del Fascismocode: it is deprecated , also translated "Fascist Grand Council") was the main body of Mussolini's Fascist government in Italy, that held and applied great power to control the institutions of government. It was created as a body of the National Fascist Party in 1922, and became a state body on 9 December 1928. The council usually met at the Palazzo Venezia, Rome, which was also the seat of the head of the Italian government. The Council became extinct following a series of events in 1943, in which Benito Mussolini was voted out of the Prime Ministry of Italy.

Powers of the Council

The session of the Grand Council of 9 May 1936, where the Empire was proclaimed.

Essentially, the council held these powers:

• The power to elect the Fascist Party deputies, the nomination for the Party Secretary and other party leaders, the approval of the party statutes and the power regarding the party's policy.
• The power to elect the Crown's line of succession including the choice of the heir to the throne, the right of the crown, the power to choose possible successors to the Prime Minister, the power to choose the function and membership of the Grand Council, the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies (later the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations), the power to decide the rights and powers of the Prime Minister, international Treaties, and foreign affairs.

The Grand Council meetings were convened by the Prime Minister himself, and all decrees and laws could only be legalized after receiving his approval. In contrast to the Führerprinzip government model in Nazi Germany, the Grand Council retained the power to recommend that the King of Italy remove the Prime Minister from office. As all the former governing institutions had been subordinated to the Fascist party, the Council was the only check on Mussolini's power.

Overthrow of Mussolini

Main article: Fall of the Fascist regime in Italy

The Allies invaded Sicily in July 1943. Grand Council member Dino Grandi proposed a vote of no confidence in Mussolini as leader of the Council and the party. A vote was held on the night of 24–25 July 1943 and passed with 19 votes for, 8 against and one abstention. Among the 19 votes of no confidence were those of Mussolini's son-in-law Galeazzo Ciano, who had been former minister of foreign affairs, and the influential marshal Emilio De Bono.

The following day King Victor Emmanuel met Mussolini and informed him that General Pietro Badoglio would lead Italy, as Prime Minister. Mussolini was arrested immediately after the meeting.

In September 1943 Mussolini was freed from imprisonment by German commandos and helped to regain power in northern Italy. He had Ciano, De Bono and three others arrested and tried for treason on 8 January 1944 in Verona. They were executed by firing squad three days later.

Members of the Council

The composition of the Council was revised and defined by a law of 14 December 1929. Its members, selected among the party's gerarchi, are below. Their vote on the 25 July 1943 motion to depose Mussolini is also given next to their name.

Head of Government and Duce of Fascism
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			25 July 1943 Motion
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Benito Mussolini (1883–1945)	14 December 1929	25 July 1943		Deposed

The Quadrumvirs
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			25 July 1943 Motion
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
90px	Italo Balbo (1896–1940)	14 December 1929	28 June 1940		Died in Office
	Michele Bianchi (1883–1930)	14 December 1929	3 February 1930		Died in Office
90px	Emilio De Bono (1866–1944)	14 December 1929	25 July 1943		Yes
90px	Cesare Maria De Vecchi (1884–1959)	14 December 1929	25 July 1943		Yes

President of the Senate
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			25 July 1943 Motion
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Luigi Federzoni (1878–1967)	14 December 1929	2 March 1939		—
90px	Giacomo Suardo (1883–1947)	15 March 1939	25 July 1943		Abstention

President of the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			25 July 1943 Motion
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
90px	Giovanni Giuriati (1876–1970)	14 December 1929	19 January 1934		—
90px	Costanzo Ciano (1876–1939)	28 April 1934	26 June 1939		Died in office
	Dino Grandi (1895–1988)	30 November 1939	25 July 1943		Yes

Minister of Agriculture and Forests
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			25 July 1943 Motion
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Giacomo Acerbo (1888–1969)	14 December 1929	24 January 1935		—
90px	Edmondo Rossoni (1884–1965)	24 January 1935	31 October 1939		—
90px	Giuseppe Tassinari (1891–1944)	31 October 1939	26 December 1941		—
90px	Carlo Pareschi (1898–1944)	26 December 1941	25 July 1943		Yes

Minister of Corporations
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			25 July 1943 Motion
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Giuseppe Bottai (1895–1959)	14 December 1929	20 July 1932		—
	Benito Mussolini (1883–1945)	20 July 1932	11 June 1936		—
90px	Ferruccio Lantini (1886–1959)	11 June 1936	31 October 1939		—
90px	Renato Ricci (1896–1956)	31 October 1939	6 February 1943		—
90px	Carlo Tiengo (1882–1945)	6 February 1943	19 April 1943		—
90px	Tullio Cianetti (1899–1976)	19 April 1943	25 July 1943		Yes

Minister of Finance
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			25 July 1943 Motion
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
90px	Antonio Mosconi (1866–1955)	14 December 1929	20 July 1932		—
90px	Guido Jung (1876–1949)	20 July 1932	17 January 1935		—
90px	Paolo Thaon di Revel (1888–1973)	17 January 1935	6 February 1943		—
	Giacomo Acerbo (1888–1969)	6 February 1943	25 July 1943		Yes

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			25 July 1943 Motion
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Benito Mussolini (1883–1945)	14 December 1922	12 September 1929		—
	Dino Grandi (1895–1988)	12 September 1929	20 July 1932		—
	Benito Mussolini (1883–1945)	20 July 1932	9 June 1936		—
90px	Galeazzo Ciano (1903–1944)	9 June 1936	6 February 1943		—
	Benito Mussolini (1883–1945)	6 February 1943	25 July 1943		Deposed

Minister of the Interior
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			25 July 1943 Motion
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Benito Mussolini (1883–1945)	14 December 1929	25 July 1943		Deposed

Minister of Grace and Justice
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			25 July 1943 Motion
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
90px	Alfredo Rocco (1875–1935)	14 December 1929	20 July 1932		—
90px	Pietro De Francisci (1883–1971)	20 July 1932	24 January 1935		—
90px	Arrigo Solmi (1873–1944)	24 January 1935	12 July 1939		—
	Dino Grandi (1895–1988)	12 July 1939	5 February 1943		—
90px	Alfredo De Marsico (1888–1985)	5 February 1943	25 July 1943		Yes

Minister of Popular Culture
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			25 July 1943 Motion
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
90px	Galeazzo Ciano (1903–1944)	23 June 1935	11 June 1936		—
90px	Dino Alfieri (1886–1966)	11 June 1936	31 October 1939		—
90px	Alessandro Pavolini (1903–1945)	31 October 1939	6 February 1943		—
90px	Gaetano Polverelli (1886–1960)	6 February 1943	25 July 1943		No

Minister of National Education
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			25 July 1943 Motion
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
90px	Balbino Giuliano (1879–1958)	14 December 1929	20 July 1932		—
90px	Francesco Ercole (1884–1945)	20 July 1932	24 January 1935		—
90px	Cesare Maria De Vecchi (1884–1959)	24 January 1935	15 November 1936		—
	Giuseppe Bottai (1895–1959)	15 November 1936	5 February 1943		—
	Giacomo Acerbo (1888–1969)	5 February 1943	25 July 1943		Yes

President of the Royal Academy
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			25 July 1943 Motion
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Tommaso Tittoni (1855–1931)	14 December 1929	16 September 1930		—
	Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937)	19 September 1930	20 July 1937		Died in Office
	Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863–1938)	12 November 1937	1 March 1938		Died in Office
	Luigi Federzoni (1878–1967)	21 April 1938	25 July 1943		Yes

President of the Special Court for the Defence of the State
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			25 July 1943 Motion
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Guido Cristini (1895–1979)	9 December 1928	28 November 1932		—
	Antonino Tringali Casanuova (1888–1943)	28 November 1932	25 July 1943		No

Other posts

• The Secretary of the National Fascist Party, who was also the secretary of the Council.
• The Presidents of the Corporations: Industrialists, Farmers, Industrial Workers, Agriculture Workers.
• The Chief of Staff of the MVSN.

The remaining members of the council were chosen by Mussolini himself, and each held appointments of three-year durations.

See also

• Italian Fascism
• Italian Parliament (1928–1939)

Further reading

• 2194 Days of War, Cesare Salmaggi & Alfredo Pallavisini (editors), Gallery Press, New York — ISBN 0831788852 (1977)