P.N.F.
Rome 1941-XIX
CONTENTS
PREFACEHISTORICAL DATES OF THE REVOLUTION
THE DUCE
THE FASCIST REVOLUTION
Interventionism
The World War
The Post-War Period
The Fasci di combattimento
Squadrism
The Fascist Program
The Foundation of the National Fascist Party
The Assumption of Power
THE PARTY
Nature and Scope
Hierarchy and Framework
Discipline
Administration
Duties of Fascist Party Members
The Albanian Fascist Party
THE ORGANIZATIONS OF THE FASCIST PARTY AND SUBORDINATE ORGANIZATIONS
The G.U.F.
The G.I.L.
The Female Fascist Leagues
The Fascist School Association
The Fascist Associations of State Railway Employees, Postal and Telegraph Employees, and Employees of Industrial Companies of the State
The O.N.D.
The U.N.U.C.I.
The C.O.N.I.
The L.N.I.
THE MILITIA
THE REGIME
The Grand Council
THE CORPORATIVE STATE
The Charter of Labour
The Syndicates and Confederations
The Guilds
Chamber of Fasci and Guilds
AUTARKY
PREFACE
The "Book of Fascism" is a manual accessible to everyone which contains what is absolutely necessary to know about our Revolution, the Party, the Regime, and the Mussolinian State.
Indeed, in these short chapters — written in question and answer form, for the sake of convenience and clarity — one will find a summary of the moral, political and social organization of Fascism, as well as information on the principles, institutions and ordinances which today's Italy — in its new grandeur — is based upon.
Each Italian must live consciously in the Fascist era, and ignorance of the foundations of our existence as a Nation is unacceptable; therefore, we wanted to offer this simple guide to Fascists and to the Italian Youth of the Lictor (G.I.L.), because it is necessary for the cultivation of the spirit as well as for the daily acts of existence.
HISTORICAL DATES OF THE REVOLUTION
Novembre 15, 1914
"Il Popolo d'Italia" enters publication.
March 23, 1919
Foundation of the Italian Fascist Combat Leagues (Fasci italiani di combattimento).
October 7, 1920
Meeting of the DUCE with Gabriele D'Annunzio in Fiume.
November 7, 1921
National Congress of Rome: the Italian Fascist Combat Leagues are organized and constituted into the National Fascist Party.
September 20, 1922
Speech of Udine. The DUCE affirms his Fascist will to take over the government of Italy and to make Rome "the beating heart, the vigorous spirit of Imperial Italy."
September 24, 1922
Speech of Cremona. The DUCE proclaims: "We want Italy to become Fascist... It was from the banks of the Piave that we began the march which can not stop until it has reached its supreme goal: Rome."
Ottobre 4, 1922
Speech to the "Amatore Sciesa" Fascist Group of Milan. The DUCE announces the Fascist conquest of the State: "Tomorrow, it is very probable, it is almost certain, that the entire formidable framework of a modern State will be on our shoulders."
Ottobre 24, 1922
Congress of the P.N.F. in Naples. The DUCE states: "We want to become the State". The DUCE foretells that democracy — the political form of the nineteenth century — is outdated and that a different political regime will govern the national society of the twentieth century.
Ottobre 28, 1922
The March on Rome.
October 31, 1922-I
The DUCE forms the Fascist government.
January 13, 1923-I
Institution of the Grand Council of Fascism.
February 1, 1923-I
Foundation of the Voluntary Militia for National Security (M.V.S.N.).
May 15, 1923-I
The Grand Council of Fascism defines the national and social characteristics of Fascist syndicalism.
January 3, 1925-III
Speech by the DUCE: the forces hostile to the Regime are definitively expelled from national life.
May 1, 1925-III
Foundation of the National Recreational Club (Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro, O.N.D.).
November 20, 1925-III
Law against secret societies.
December 24, 1925-IV
Law on the responsibilities and prerogatives of the Head of Government.
December 31, 1925-IV
Law on the press.
January 31, 1926-IV
Law on the faculty of the executive power to issue legal norms.
April 3, 1926-IV
Law on collective labour relations, the principle and foundation of the Corporative State.
August 18, 1926-IV
Speech of Pesaro. The DUCE declares: "Fascism is not only a party: it is a regime. It is not only a regime: it is a faith. It is not only a faith: it is a religion which is conquering the working masses of the Italian people."
November 9, 1926-V
The Fascist Chamber declares the Aventine deputies deprived of their parliamentary positions.
November 25, 1926-V
Law on provisions for the defense of the State.
April 21, 1927-V
Promulgation of the Charter of Labour.
May 26, 1927-V
Speech of the Ascension. The DUCE announces the social policy of the Regime and in particular imposes declares a demographic battle for a prolific and healthy race.
December 9, 1928-VII
The Grand Council — supreme body of the P.N.F. — becomes a constitutional body of the State. Juridical-institutional recognition of P.N.F.
February 11, 1929-VII
Conciliation between Italy and the Holy See.
March 10, 1929-VII
First Quinquennial Assembly of the Regime: the "Grand Report" of the Duce to the "General Staff of the Nation".
March 24, 1929-VII
The Fascist plebiscite expresses the moral unity of the Italian people under the sign of the Lictor.
November 14, 1933-XII
The DUCE defines the character, functions and duties of the Fascist Guilds.
January 13, 1934-XII
The DUCE presents the law on the Guilds, the basis of the Corporative State.
November 10, 1934-XIII
Speech of the DUCE to the General Assembly of Guilds. The Fascist Guilds "begin their effective and active life".
December 18, 1934-XIII
The DUCE inaugurates the new province of Littoria and reminds the people that "it is the plow that traces the furrow, but it is the sword that defends it".
September 8, 1935-XIII
Referencing the foreign attempt to cut the road to Italy during the conflict with Ethiopia, the DUCE announces to the people: "We will pull right".
October 2, 1935-XIII
First national mobilization of the Italian people. Over twenty million Italians listen to the voice of the DUCE, who — on the eve of the military advance in Ethiopia — states that it is time to settle accounts and proclaims that Italy is ready and determined for any event.
November 18, 1935-XIV
Beginning of the economic siege decreed against Italy by the League of Nations. All Italy is covered with flags and gathers closely around the DUCE with an iron will of resistance and victory.
December 18, 1935-XIV
The "Day of Faith". The wives and heads of Italian families offer their wedding rings to the Fatherland.
May 5, 1936-XIV
Second national gathering of the Italian people. The DUCE announces that our victorious troops have entered Addis Ababa, that the war of Ethiopia is over, and that Ethiopia is Italian.
May 8, 1936-XIV
The representatives of Italian women gather in Rome. The DUCE expresses the Fatherland's gratitude for their magnificent behaviour in the Italo-Ethiopian conflict and their resistance to the economic siege.
May 9, 1936-XIV
Third national gathering of the Italian people. Foundation of the Empire. The DUCE announces that by decision of the Grand Council of Fascism "the territory and peoples which belong to the Empire of Ethiopia are hereby placed under the full and complete sovereignty of the Kingdom of Italy" and that "the title of Emperor of Ethiopia is assumed by the King of Italy for himself and for his successors".
July 15, 1936-XIV
The League of Nations lifts the sanctions. The DUCE announces this to the people with the following words: "Today, on July 15th, in the fourteenth year of the Fascist Era, the white flag has been raised on the bases of sanctionist countries around the world".
August 30, 1936-XIV
Grand Report of the Duce to the Armed Forces and to the people of Irpinia in Avellino. He declares: "We must be strong, we must be always stronger, we must be so strong that we can face any eventualities and look directly in the eyes of any destiny".
October 29, 1937-XVI
Transfer of all youth organizations to the subordinates of the P.N.F. and the establishment of the Italian Youth of the Littorio (GIL).
December 11, 1937-XVI
Fourth national gathering of the Italian people. The DUCE announces that the Grand Council of Fascism has decided the immediate exit of Italy from the League of Nations.
March 30, 1938-XVI
Speech by the DUCE to the Senate. The DUCE outlines the framework of Italian military power and announces that, in the case of war, he will lead the Armed Forces of the Fatherland himself.
March 30, 1938-XVI
The rank of First Marshal of the Empire is created. This rank is conferred upon His Majesty the King-Emperor and Benito Mussolini, Duce of Fascism.
September 18, 1938-XVI
The DUCE, speaking to the people of Trieste, specifies that the problem of race in Italy is related to imperial conquest, "since history teaches us that empires are conquered by arms, but are held by prestige, and for prestige it is necessary to have a clear, severe racial consciousness, that establishes not only the differences, but also very clear superiority".
September 20, 1938-XVI
The DUCE speaks to the people of Udine on the sixteenth anniversary of his speech announcing the March on Rome, and summarizes the results of sixteen years of Fascism: "Italy today is a Nation standing proudly; Italy today is a State; Italy is an Empire".
September 26, 1938-XVI
Speech of Verona. The DUCE takes notice of the European situation, which has become very tense due to the attempt to deny the right of self-determination to the peoples forcibly included in the artificial Czechoslovak State. He warns those who want to plunge the world into war and proclaims that Italy wants "justice for all and reconciliation among the peoples in Europe".
September 28, 1938-XVI
Europe is on the brink of war, incited by dark forces of destruction represented by international anti-Fascism. France and England have already mobilized; on October 1st Germany will occupy the German territories usurped by Czechoslovakia. Promptly responding to a desperate appeal by the British Prime Minister, whom the French government had urged to invoke Benito Mussolini's intervention, the DUCE convinces Adolf Hitler to attend a conference between the four great Western Powers — Italy, Germany, France, England — to resolve the crisis peacefully.
September 30, 1938-XVI
On the basis established by the DUCE, who presided over the conference, Italy, Germany, France and England sign an agreement in Munich that preserves peace, rendering justice to the nationalities arbitrarily subjected to the Prague government. Despite some lurid attempt to conceal this, the world recognizes the DUCE as the man who avoided a serious crisis for humanity.
October 6, 1938-XVI
The Grand Council of Fascism establishes the fundamental principles and measures for the defense of the race.
October 7, 1938-XVI
The Grand Council of Fascism approves the reform of the National Council of Guilds and the creation of the Chamber of Fasci and Guilds.
1936-38
The Italian Blackshirts flock to Spain to fight against Bolshevism and brilliantly reaffirm Italian military tradition, covering themselves with glory in the battles of Malaga, Guadalajara, Santander, Bilbao, Tortosa, Albentosa, Batracas.
November 4, 1938-XVII
On the 20th Anniversary of Victory, the DUCE ordered that the National Association of War Maimed and War Wounded and the National Association of War Veterans, in acceptance of their vote, pass under the National Directorate of the Party so as to keep the warrior spirit alive and active in the Italian people, a spirit from which Fascism takes impulse and certainty in all its victories. The DUCE also ordered that the presidents of the two Associations become part of the National Council of the P.N.F.
March 23, 1939-XVII
Opening of the Chamber of Fasci and Guilds.
April 13, 1939-XVII
Starting from April 7th, the Italian Armed Forces occupy Albania to ensure order and the protection of our interests. On April 12th a constituent assembly, meeting in Tirana, offered the crown to the King of Italy and Emperor of Ethiopia. The Grand Council of Fascism, taking cognizance of the solemn oath, greets the historic event, declaring that Fascist Italy is capable of guaranteeing order, respect for every religious faith, progress, justice and peace to the Albanian people.
June 10, 1940-XVIII
The Duce declares war against the plutocratic democracies alongside National Socialist Germany and takes command of the armed forces.
June 24, 1940-XVIII
The representatives of France — invaded by the Germans and defeated by Italian forces in the Alps — sign an armistice near Rome according to the conditions laid out by the DUCE.
July 1940-XVIII
Romania frees itself from Jewish-Masonic domination and moves towards a Fascist order in the Axis orbit.
September 27, 1940-XVIII
Signing of the Tripartite Pact between Italy, Germany and Japan.
October 4, 1940-XVIII
Meeting between the DUCE and the Führer at the Brenner.
October 28, 1940-XIX
The DUCE and the Führer meet in Florence. Our forces enter into action against Greece, enslaved to England by its ruling class.
November 18, 1940-XIX
Report of the DUCE to the provincial hierarchs of Fascism. The DUCE denounces the so-called democratic powers for inciting the conflict, specifies Italy's contribution to the war and affirms that all Italian demands will be met.
November 20, 1940-XIX
Adhesion of Hungary to the Tripartite Pact between Italy, Germany and Japan.
November 24, 1940-XIX
Adhesion of Slovakia.
January 20, 1941-XIX
New meeting between the DUCE and the Führer.
February 13, 1941-XIX
Meeting between the DUCE and the Caudillo in Bordighera.
February 23, 1941-XIX
Report of the DUCE to the hierarchs of the Federazione dei Fasci di combattimento dell'Urbe. The DUCE confirms Italy's desire to conduct the war in perfect solidarity with Germany until the enemy is annihilated.
March 1, 1941-XIX
Adhesion of Bulgaria to the Tripartite Pact.
April 1941-XIX
Following the betrayal of Yugoslavia, which, immediately after joining the Tripartite Pact, threw itself onto the side of the British, the Axis forces shatter the entire Yugoslav State and military complex in just twelve days of war.
May 1941-XIX
Operating in perfect harmony, the Axis forces crush Greece and destroy the British imperial forces venturing into Hellenic territory.
The ex-Yugoslav province of Lubiana is annexed to the Kingdom of Italy.
The borders between Italy and the new Croatian State are deliniated; the provinces of Spalato and Cattaro in Dalmatia are established and annexed to the Kingdom of Italy; Prince Aimone of Savoy-Aosta, Duke of Spoleto, is named King of Croatia.
THE DUCE
Q. What is the meaning of the name "DUCE"?
A. DUCE comes from the Latin Dux, derived from duco, and means "one who leads": the Leader.
Q. Who is the DUCE?
A. The Duce, Benito Mussolini, is the creator of Fascism, the renovator of society, the Head of the Italian people, the founder of the Empire.
Q. Why is the Duce the creator of of Fascism?
A. Because He founded the Fascist Combat Leagues (Fasci di combattimento) and because it is due to Him that we have the Fascist Revolution and the doctrine of Fascism.
Q. What are the responsibilities of the DUCE?
A. The Duce is President of the Grand Council of Fascism, Head of Government, Head of the PNF, First Marshal of the Empire, and Commandant General of the Voluntary Militia for National Security (M.V.S.N.).
Q. What are the powers of the Head of Government?
A. The Head of Government is Prime Minister, proposes the appointment and removal of Ministers to the King, and directs and coordinates work; no object can be proposed to the activities of the Senate of the Kingdom or to the Chamber of Fasci and Guilds without His adhesion. He encourages, directs, coordinates and approves all activities of the Regime in every political, social and economic field, and renders them obligatory with his decrees and corporative ordinances.
Q. What is his responsibility?
A. The Law of December 24, 1925-XV renders him responsible for the general policy of the Government. He therefore effectively governs the Nation and is the supreme leader of national life.
Q. Why is the DUCE the renovator of society?
A. Because by promoting and directing the Fascist Revolution, He gave a new order and a new purpose to social life.
Q. Is the Duce the renovator of Italian life only?
A. No, because by saving Italy from disorder and by teaching a new way of life devoted to the elevation of the individual in the collectivity through the practice of discipline and constant social duty, the Duce has offered an example to all peoples, an example which is already being followed in various forms throughout the world.
Q. Why is the DUCE the Head of the Italian people?
A. Because He has identified the people with the Fatherland, He has called them to participate in the life of the State. and He directs them on the path of moral and material elevation.
Q. Why is the DUCE the founder of the Empire?
A. Because he led and won the greatest colonial war known to history, standing up against a coalition of fifty-two states; a war which he sensed, wanted and led for the prestige, greatness and life of the Fascist Fatherland. Through this war and the conquest of Ethiopia, Italy acquired its Empire of civilization and labour.
Q. What does the DUCE want for the Italian people?
A. He wants to improve them morally and materially, guaranteeing them maximum work and maximum well-being; and — through the political, syndical, athletic and moral education and organization of Fascism — He wants them to become ever more conscious of their goals and their mission in the world.
Q. Why is the Duce the Head of the Militia?
A. The DUCE is Head of the M.V.S.N. not only because it is provided by State law, but because the Militia, which He founded, expresses the popular will to defend and develop the Fascist Revolution which is promoted and led by him.
Q. What, then, is the difference between the DUCE and the leaders of the so-called liberal and democratic governments?
A. In the liberal or democratic regime, the head of government is the exponent of party interests and is chosen according to the approval of parliament, which can always determine his fall; instead the DUCE, Leader of the Fascist Revolution and the Italian people, represents, as Head of Government, the entire Nation, which is under his command according to Fascist discipline and the faith of the Fatherland.
THE FASCIST REVOLUTION
INTERVENTIONISM
Q. What is the origin of the Fascist Revolution?
A. The first revolutionary movement against parliamentarism and against the deniers of the Fatherland took place at the end of 1914 and in early 1915, when the Italian people were led toward intervention in the European war, with the aim of integrating the unity of the Fatherland, reviving Italy and giving a new, virile conscience to the Nation. Intervention prepared the way for Fascism and prefigured the March on Rome.
Q. What was the character of the interventionist movement?
A. The interventionist movement was a sort of prelude to Fascism, because it gathered men from all backgrounds and immediately took a stand against the parliament which, for the most part, supported neutrality.
Q. What were the essential organs of the interventionist movement?
A. The essential organs of the interventionist movement were the daily newspaper "Il Popolo d'Italia", founded by Mussolini on November 15, 1914, and the interventionist Fasci d'Azione which prefigured the Fasci di combattimento.
Q. What was the program of the interventionist Fasci d'Azione?
A. They set out to create a state of mind in favour of the war.
THE WORLD WAR
Q. When did Italy intervene in the Great War?
A. Italy intervened in the Great War on May 24, 1915.
Q. When did the war end?
A. The war ended as a result of the Italian Victory, with the Armistice of November 4, 1918.
Q. How did the revolutionary idea that animated interventionism manifest itself in the course of the war?
A. In the course of the war the ideal reasons for intervention were consecrated and illuminated by the presence — in the trenches — of those who had led the people to intervention, including Benito Mussolini, who fought and was wounded; by the heroic sacrifice of Filippo Corridoni, by the valour of many other volunteers; by the martyrdom of Cesare Battisti, apostle of the great Italian national revival; by the martyrdom of Fabio Filzi, Damiano Chiesa, Nazario Sauro; and by innumerable episodes of faith and devotion to the Fatherland by the supporters of intervention
Q. What were the revolutionary results of the war?
A. The war liquidated the century of false democracies, because from the ranks of the combatants and from the general aspiration of humanity towards a better fortune, there arose, with the DUCE, the advocate of a new political and social order no longer based on the game of artificial parliamentarian majorities nor on an erroneous concept of liberty which aroused hostilities among the classes and opened the way to all selfishness, but based on the authority of the State, which represents the entire people and leads to consciousness of their dignity and their duties.
THE POST-WAR PERIOD
Q. What was the situation in Italy after the victory?
A. The weakness and the lack of ideals in the governments of that time and the corruption of the political environment, in addition to the removal of some material fruits of victory from the Italian people, prevented the Italian people from maintaining their strong faith and conviction. Thus Bolshevik propaganda was able to spread, causing very serious disorders which dragged the country to the brink of ruin.
Q. What were the aims of the Bolshevik disorders?
A. The Bolshevik disorders aimed at: 1) denying the valour and sacrifice with which the victory had been achieved; 2) fueling class hatred; 3) importing red barbarism into Italy.
THE FASCI DI COMBATTIMENTO
Q. Who reacted against these designs?
A. It was again Benito Mussolini who represented the genuine national consciousness. He rallied together those who felt the need to save the Fatherland and established the Fascist Combat Leagues (Fasci di combattimento).
Q. When was the Fasci di combattimento founded?
A. The Fasci di combattimento was founded in Milan, in Piazza San Sepolcro, on March 23, 1919.
Q. Who does the sansepolcrist badge belong to?
A. The sansepolcrist badge belongs to all registered Fascists who participated in the gathering in Piazza San Sepolcro, or who were represented there or sent a written adhesion.
Q. What forces were grouped in the Fasci di combattimento?
A. Italians of every class loyal to the Fatherland gathered together in the Fasci di combattimento and decided to fight against those who denied the Fatherland or undermined its unity and power.
Q. What essentially were the Fasci di combattimento setting out to do?
A. The Fasci di combattimento set out to fight for the revindication of our Victory, against foreign imperialisms that stifled basic Italian rights, and against the internal disorders that tore the Fatherland apart, aiming for the welfare of the whole people in a regime of social justice.
Q. What, then, was Fascism from the beginning?
A. It was a desire to give Italy an order and a power that would assure the Italian people their place in the world and put them on the march on the path of a new empire.
SQUADRISM
Q. What does "squadrism" mean?
A. The Fasci di combattimento, growing with remarkable speed in many parts of Italy, formed the "action squads" in order to directly oppose the violence and abuses of subversives who were almost always tolerated by the authorities of the State.
Q. What was the framework of the action squads?
A. It was a framework of a military type, in ternary formation, composed of hastati and triarii—names indicating Roman troops of the first and second line.
Q. What was the character of the action squads?
A. The character of the action squads was one of impetus, a spirit of sacrifice, unafraid in the face of danger. During their continuous clashes with adversaries, during traps, and during ambushes that frequently took place against them with cruel fury, many squadrists were killed while professing their faith in the DUCE and in Italy.
Q. Who does the squadrist badge belong to?
A. The squadrist badge belongs to all registered Fascists who were part of the action squads and to the legionaries who participated in the armed conflict known as the "Five days of Fiume" or the other Fiuman actions.
THE FASCIST PROGRAM
Q. Where and when did the first national gathering of the Italian Fascist Combat Leagues (Fasci italiani di combattimento) take place?
A. The first national meeting of the Italian Fascist Combat Leagues took place in Florence in October 1919.
Q. What was said during the first national meeting of the Fascist Combat Leagues?
A. During the first national meeting of the Fascist Combat Leagues, the DUCE said: "We defend the Nation, the people as a whole, we desire the moral and material fortune of the people."
Q. Where and when did the other major gatherings and national congresses of the Fascist Combat Leagues take place?
A. In Rome, Udine, Naples.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE NATIONAL FASCIST PARTY
Q. What happened at the Congress of Rome?
A. At the congress in Rome in November 1921 the Italian Fascist Combat Leagues (Fasci italiani di combattimento) became the National Fascist Party.
Q. Why was this decision made?
A. In order to put a solidly-framed and disciplined party at the disposal of the Fascist idea, so that at the right moment in could transmute itself into an army capable of acting in the sphere of violence, both to defend itself and to go on the attack.
Q. What was said at the meeting in Udine?
A. The DUCE affirmed the Fascist desire to govern Italy and to make Rome the throbbing heart, the living spirit of Imperial Italy.
Q. What was the action by which Fascism showed more decisively its desire to take over the government of the country?
A. It was the Fascist action carried out in Trento and Bolzano, a typical insurrectionary act of armed forces against the established powers of the State.
Q. When did the Congress of Naples take place and what did it represent?
A. The Congress of Naples took place on October 24, 1922 and represented the first phase of the March on Rome. The DUCE once again proclaimed the need for the Italian people to free their political and spiritual life from the parasitic encrustations of a past that was killing its future.
THE CONQUEST OF POWER
Q. What was the outcome of the Fascist Revolution?
A. The Fascist Revolution resulted in the acquisition of power through insurrection.
Q. When did the Fascist conquest of power come about?
A. The Fascist conquest of power took place with the March on Rome, carried out by an army of Blackshirts on orders of the DUCE.
Q. What was the watchword of the insurrectionary movement?
A. The watchword of the Fascist insurrectionary movement was: to save the Fatherland and to lead it to its imperial destiny.
Q. What orders did the DUCE give to Fascism immediately after the victory of the Revolution?
A. On October 31, 1922 the DUCE gave Fascism the following order: "Our work begins today. We have demolished, now we must build."
Q. What had been demolished?
A. The old liberal and democratic slave system of the parties and the parliament was demolished; the old political and social custom that led to corruption and decadence.
Q. What needed to be built?
A. On the basis of the Fascist State, we needed to build a new Italy, conscious of its nobility and its rights, determined to ensure the power and prosperity of the people through order and justice.
Q. How can the March on Rome be defined?
A. The March on Rome was a political revolt against weak and incapable governments, which had allowed the State's authority to decay and threatened to hinder Italy from the path of greater development.
Q. What was the historical significance of the Fascist Revolution?
A. The historical significance of the Fascist Revolution was that of renewing the Italian people by making them united, harmonious, governed by the greatness and imperial power of the Fatherland.
Q. Who does the badge of the March on Rome belong to?
A. The badge of the March on Rome belongs to those Fascists who marched on the Capital; to those who forcibly occupied the vital strategic points in the various provinces; and to others who, without participating directly, were nonetheless armed and mobilized for the March.
THE PARTY
NATURE AND SCOPE
Q. What is the origin of the National Fascist Party (P.N.F.)?
A. The P.N.F. has its historical origin — like the Fascist Revolution which it identifies itself with — in the interventionist insurrection of 1915.
Q. When and where was the P.N.F. organized?
A. The P.N.F. was organized in Rome on November 7, 1921 to unite all the activities of the Italian Fascist Combat Leagues (Fasci italiani di combattimento).
Q. What is the P.N.F.?
A. The P.N.F. is a voluntary civil militia under the command of the DUCE, in service of the Fascist State.
Q. What is its objective?
A. To realize the imperial greatness of the Italian people.
Q. What are its specific duties?
A. The duties of the P.N.F. are the defense and strengthening of the Fascist Revolution and the political education of the Italians. Also entrusted to the P.N.F. is the task of civil mobilization of children aged 14 to 18 and of women, for every need of the Nation.
A. The emblem of P.N.F. is the fasces.
Q. What are the ensigns of P.N.F.?
A. The ensigns of P.N.F. consist of the labarum of the National Directorate and the pennants of the East African Mechanized Column (Colonna celere A.O.).
Q. What is the position of the P.N.F. in the Fascist State?
A. The Party is at the center of the State, as it is a permanent organ and institution of the State.
Q. What are the principles upon which the P.N.F. is based?
A. Devotion to the DUCE e fidelity to the cause of the Fascist Revolution; absolute discipline; individual and collective responsibility in its tasks; selflessness; a spirit of sacrifice.
Q. How is the P.N.F. constituted?
A. The P.N.F. is constituted by the Fascist Combat Leagues which are framed in Fascist Combat League Federations (Federazioni di Fasci di combattimento) in the provinces of the Kingdom, in the Governments of the Empire, in the provinces of Libya and in the Italian possession of the Aegean Islands. At the head of each Fascist Combat League Federation is a Federal Secretary. Within the Federation the Fascist Leagues are grouped into zones.
HIERARCHY AND FRAMEWORK
Q. Who is the Head of the P.N.F.?
A. The DUCE is the Head of the P.N.F.
Q. Who manages the P.N.F.?
A. The P.N.F. is managed by a Secretary who is Minister Secretary of State, who is appointed and revoked by Royal Decree on the proposal of the DUCE, and is responsible to the DUCE for the acts and measures of the Party.
Q. What is the central organ of the P.N.F.?
A. The central organ of P.N.F. is the National Directorate, presided over by the Secretary of the P.N.F., and consists of three Vice-Secretaries, of four de jure members in the persons of the Minister of Guilds, the Minister of Popular Culture, the Under Secretary of State of the Interior, and the Chief of Staff of the M.V.S.N., and seven other members. By decree of the DUCE, at the request of the Secretary of the P.N.F., the number of vice-secretaries can be increased to four.
Q. What are the functions of the National Directorate of the P.N.F.?
A. The National Directorate exercises advisory and executive functions, according to the directives of the Secretary of the P.N.F.
Q. What is the National Council of the P.N.F.?
A. The National Council, presided over by the Secretary of the P.N.F., is constituted by the National Directorate of the P.N.F.; by the Inspectors of the P.N.F., by the Federal Secretaries in charge of the Fascist Combat League Federations and by the Federal Secretaries "by command" with special assignments; by the Secretary, Vice-Secretary and two Inspectors of the Italian Fascists Abroad (Fasci italiani all'estero); by the National Fiduciaries of the Fascist School Associations, of the Public Employment, of Railway Employees, of Postal and Telegraph Employees, and of the Employees of Industrial Companies of the State, by the President of the National Association of War Maimed and War Wounded; by the President of the Fascist Association of Families of the Fallen, Maimed and Wounded for the Revolution; by the President of the National Association of War Veterans; by the Presidents of the Fascist Confederations of Employers and of Workers and by the President of the Fascist Confederation of Professionals and Artists. It also includes the Secretary of the Albanian Fascist Party. The National Council exercises advisory functions, at the initiative of the Secretary of the P.N.F., who convenes it and fixes its agenda.
Q. Who are the Hierarchs of the Party?
A. The Hierarchs of the Party are:
- The Secretary of the P.N.F.;
- The Members of the National Directorate of the P.N.F.;
- The Inspectors of the P.N.F.;
- The Federal Secretaries in charge of the Fascist Combat League Federations and by the Federal Secretaries "by command" with special assignments;
- Members of the Federal Directors
- The Federal Inspectors in charge of the zones and the Federal Inspectors "by command" with special assignments;
- The Political Secretaries in charge of the Fascist Combat Leagues and the Political Secretaries "by command" with special assignments;
- The Members of the Fascist Combat League Directors;
- The Fiduciaries of the Fascist District Groups;
- The Members of the Fascist District Group Councils;
- The Sector Chiefs;
- The Cell Chiefs.
Q. What are the responsibilities of the Secretary of the Party?
A. The Secretary of the P.N.F. is Secretary of the Grand Council of Fascism, he is a member of the Supreme Defense Commission, the National Council of Guilds, the Central Corporative Committee and the National Council for Education, Sciences and the Arts; he is Secretary of the Fascist University Groups; he is Commander General of the G.I.L.. His direct subordinates are: the Fascist Association of Families of the Fallen, Maimed and Wounded for the Revolution; the Fascist University Groups; the Italian Youth of the Lictor; the Female Fascist Leagues with its subordinate sections of Rural Housewives, Women Workers and Homeworkers; the Associations of the P.N.F.; the National Recreational Club; the National Union of Discharged Officers of Italy; the Italian National Olympic Committee; the Italian Navy League; the National Fascist Union of the Senate; the National Institute of Fascist Culture; the National Association of War Maimed and War Wounded; the National Association of War Veterans; the Fascist Association of Families of the Fallen in War; the Group of Gold Medal for Military Valour Recipients of Italy; the Institute of the Blue Ribbon of War Veterans Decorated for Military Valour; the Volunteer Legion of Italy; the Garibaldian Legion; the Arditi Units of Italy; the Arms Units; the Muslim Association of the Lictor; the National Forestry Committee.
Q. What are the functions of the Secretary of the P.N.F.?
A. The Secretary of the P.N.F. represents the Party in all respects; he proposes to the DUCE the nomination and revocation of non-de jure members of the National Directorate of the P.N.F., of the Inspectors of the P.N.F., of the Federal Secretaries who are in charge of the Federations of the Fascist Combat Leagues or "by command" with special assignments, of the National Directors of the Organizations subordinate to the P.N.F. and of the Extraordinary Commissioners at the Fascist Combat League Federations. He appoints and dismisses the members of of the Federal Directors and the Central and Provincial Hierarchs of the Organizations of the P.N.F., the directors of the National Fascist Union of the Senate, the auditors and accountants of the accounts of the P.N.F.. He designates the President and Vice-Presidents of the National Institute of Fascist Culture to the DUCE; he designates the representatives of the P.N.F. in the Guilds and the Sectional Presidents of the Provincial Councils of Guilds to the Minister of Guilds; he designates the Vice-Presidents of the Corporative Councils to the Minister of Italian Africa; he designates the representatives of the P.N.F. in the Administrative Provincial Committees to the Minister of the Interior; he designates the representatives in the Central Commission and in the District Commissions for the discipline of the exercise of the professions by citizens of the Jewish race to the Minister of Justice. He has the power to establish and dissolve the Fascist Combat Leagues; he directs the activity of the National Directorate, convenes it and presides over it; he convenes and presides over the National Council of the P.N.F.; he issues regulations and rules for the functioning of the Organs, the Organizations of the P.N.F. and the Institutions subordinate to the P.N.F.; he maintains the connection between the P.N.F. and State Organs; he exercises political control over the Organizations of the Regime and over the conferment of positions and political assignments to Fascists; he has the power to convoke meetings with the Hierarchs and Blackshirts of P.N.F. and the members of the organizations subordinate to the P.N.F.; has the right to annul or modify the provisions of the subordinate Hierarchies, which he has the power to substitute; he has the right to exempt subordinate Hierarchs from the offices and duties of the Party.
Q. What are the functions and responsibilities of the Secretary of the Fascist Combat League Federations?
A. The Federal Secretary implements the directives and executes the orders of the Secretary of the P.N.F.. In the provincial sphere, he promotes and controls the activity of the Fascist Combat Leagues and the Organizations subordinate to the P.N.F.; he controls the Organizations of the Regime and the conferral of offices and assignments to Fascists. He maintains the connection with the peripheral offices of the State and with representatives of local public entities; he is the Federal Commander of the G.I.L.; he is Political Secretary of the Fascist Combat League of the capital; he is a member of the Presidential Committee of the Provincial Council of Guilds and of the Committee of the Student Welfare Organization (Opera universitaria) in the city headquarters of the Organization; he convenes and presides over the Federal Directorate, the reports of the provincial hierarchs, of the Fascists and of members of the Organizations subordinate to the P.N.F. in the province; he directs the political preparation courses for the youth; he proposes the appointment and dismissal of members of the Federal Directorate, including designating the federal vice-secretaries, the provincial hierarchs of the Organizations of P.N.F. and its subordinate Associations to the Secretary of the P.N.F.; he appoints and revokes the Federal Inspectors who are in charge of the zones or "by command" with special assignments, the Political Secretaries who are in charge of the Provincial Fascist Combat Leagues or "by command" with special assignments, the members of the respective Directors, the Fiduciaries of the Fascist District Groups and the members of the respective Councils, the Sector Chiefs and the Cell Chiefs; he exercises control over the assets and financial management of the Federation and has a Chief of Federal Administrative Services in his employ; he has the right to dissolve the Fascist Combat League Directors and the Fascist District Group Councils and to appoint Commissioners to hold them on a temporary basis; he promotes and regulates the athletic activity of the competent Organizations in relation to the directives marked by the C.O.N.I.. The provincial hierarchs of the Organizations of the P.N.F. and of the institutions subordinate to the P.N.F. in the province in all respects.
Q. How is the Directorate of the Fascist Combat League Federation constituted?
A. The Directorate of the Fascist Combat League Federation consists of two federal vice-secretaries and nine other members: the Federal Vice-Commander of the G.I.L., the Secretary of the Fascist University Group, the highest-ranking official in effective permanent service of the M.V.S.N. in the province, the Provincial President of the National Recreational Club, the Sectional President of the National Institute of Fascist Culture, the President of the Provincial Committee of the Italian National Olympic Committee, a member for the control of the administrative and financial activities of the Federation, two members to be prescribed as a rule from among the federal inspectors and political secretaries who have demonstrated a strong organizational capacity. The Secretary of the P.N.F. has the right to raise the number of federal vice-secretaries up to four. When the opportunity arises, the Federal Secretaries will from time to time invite the managers of the Organizations and of the syndical, corporative, economic and welfare organizations of the province to attend the meetings of the Federal Directorate and to report on competent matters.
Q. What functions does the Directorate of the Fascist Combat League Federation exercise?
A. The Directorate of the Fascist Combat League Federation exercises advisory and executive functions on the directives of the Federal Secretary.
Q. Who manages the Fascist Combat League?
A. The Fascist Combat League is managed by the Political Secretary, assisted by a Directorate.
A. The Political Secretary of the Fascist Combat League implements the directives and executes the orders of the Federal Secretary; he promotes and controls the activities of the organizations of the Party and of the Regime and the conferral of offices and assignments to Fascists within his territory; he maintains liaison with State organs and local public entities; he proposes the nomination and revocation of members of the Directorate of the Fascist Combat League to the Federal Secretary, including the Political Vice-Secretary, the Fiduciaries of the Fascist District Groups, the members of its respective Councils, the Sector Chiefs and the Cell Chiefs; he convenes and presides over the Directorate of the Fascist Combat League and the Fascist reports; he proposes the establishment of Fascist District Groups to the Federal Secretary and has the power to establish and dissolve sectors and cells.
Q. How is the Directorate of the Fascist Combat League constituted?
Q. What functions does the Directorate of the Fascist Combat League exercise?
Q. What are the Fascist District Groups?
A. They are local sections of the Fascist Combat League located in large population centers. The District Group is organized into Sectors and Cells.
Q. Who manages the Fascist District Group?
A. A Fiduciary, assisted by a five-member Council.
Q. What are the functions of the Fiduciary of the Fascist District Group?
A. The Fiduciary of the Fascist District Group implements the directives and executes the orders of the Secretary of the Fascist Combat Group, to whom he designates a Vice-Fiduciary chosen from among the members of the Group's Council.
Q. What functions does the Fascist District Group Council exercise?
A. The Fascist District Group Council exercises advisory and executive functions on the directives of the Fiduciary.
Q. How is the Fascist District Group organized?
A. Each Fascist District Group is divided into sectors, and the sectors are divided into cells, for the best organization of wingmen.
Q. What should the Secretaries of the Fascist Combat Leagues and the Fiduciaries about the wingmen placed in their employ?
DISCIPLINE
Q. What is Fascist discipline?
A. For members of the P.N.F., it is the will to live to operate according to the principles of Fascism, in service of the Revolution.
Q. How is discipline maintained?
A. There is a Central Court of Discipline — presided over by a Vice-Secretary of the P.N.F. and consisting of five members and a secretary appointed by the Secretary of the P.N.F. — at the Directorate of the Party. There is a Federal Disciplinary Commission at each Fascist Combat League Federation, presided over by a Federal Vice-Secretary with six active members, four substitutes and one secretary, who are not members of the Federal Directorate. There are similar commissions in every Fascist Combat League and in every Fascist District Group, made up of one president and two members appointed by the Federal Secretary on the proposal of the Secretary of the Fascist Combat League, men who are never connected to the Directorate of the Fascist Combat League or the Council of the Fascist District Group.
Q. What are the disciplinary punishments provided for by the Statute of the P.N.F.?
Q. In which cases are censure and suspension applied for a fixed or indefinite period?
A. In cases of minor deficiencies that do not harm the moral character of the Fascist.
Q. In which cases is the membership card revoked?
Q. How and by whom are the disciplinary measures taken?
A. The Secretary of the P.N.F. is competent to directly inflict all the aforementioned punishments; he may defer particular cases to the Federal Disciplinary Commissions, or to the Central Court. Only the Secretary of the P.N.F. has the power to take disciplinary measures against Senators and National Councilors. The Federal Secretary, on a proposal from the Federal Discipline Commission, is competent to impose removal and suspension measures, and, in urgent cases, can directly impose all punishments except removal and expulsion: however, when he adopts, in such cases, measures for the revocation of the membership card, he must transmit the documents and motivated decisions to the Secretary of the P.N.F., who is ultimately responsible for confirming the measure. The Federal Disciplinary Commission is competent, in cases that are deferred to it by the Federal Secretary, to propose removal and suspension, both for a fixed term and for an indefinite period. The Disciplinary Commissions established at the Fascist Combat Leagues and at the Local Fascist Groups are competent to examine the cases deferred to them by the Political Secretary, or by the Fiduciary of the Local Group, or by the Federal Secretary, to whom the results of the investigations must be transmitted.
Q. How is the P.N.F. administrated?
A. The Secretary of the P.N.F. marks the administrative direction and exercises control over the financial and asset management of the Party. He appoints a Chief of Administrative Services — placed under the direct command of a Vice-Secretary of the P.N.F. — chosen from among the officials of the Ministry of Finance, who applies its directives, follows the administrative performance of the Provincial Federations and the Fascist Combat Leagues and is responsible for the administration of the Party. The accounting control of P.N.F. it is transferred to a board of auditors consisting of three standing members and two alternate members appointed by the Secretary of the P.N.F. outside the members of the National Directorate. The auditors must present their collegial report to the Secretary of the P.N.F. every year.
Q. What is the necessary condition for membership in P.N.F.?
A. The membership card is revoked from the Fascist who incurs serious disciplinary deficiencies which render him unworthy of serving in the ranks of the P.N.F.
Q. Who gets punished with removal?
A. Removal is inflicted on the Fascist who has carried out actions or procure condemnatory reports that harm his moral character.
Q. Who is punished with expulsion from the Party?
A. Expulsion from the Party is inflicted on those who, disobeying their sworn oath, become traitors of the Cause of the Fascist Revolution.
Q. What is the effect of expulsion from the Party?
A. The expelled person is banished from public life.
Q. What is the effect of revoking the membership card, removal and expulsion?
A. The Fascist who incurs such punishments must cease from any political activity.
Q. How and by whom are the disciplinary measures taken?
A. The Secretary of the P.N.F. is competent to directly inflict all the aforementioned punishments; he may defer particular cases to the Federal Disciplinary Commissions, or to the Central Court. Only the Secretary of the P.N.F. has the power to take disciplinary measures against Senators and National Councilors. The Federal Secretary, on a proposal from the Federal Discipline Commission, is competent to impose removal and suspension measures, and, in urgent cases, can directly impose all punishments except removal and expulsion: however, when he adopts, in such cases, measures for the revocation of the membership card, he must transmit the documents and motivated decisions to the Secretary of the P.N.F., who is ultimately responsible for confirming the measure. The Federal Disciplinary Commission is competent, in cases that are deferred to it by the Federal Secretary, to propose removal and suspension, both for a fixed term and for an indefinite period. The Disciplinary Commissions established at the Fascist Combat Leagues and at the Local Fascist Groups are competent to examine the cases deferred to them by the Political Secretary, or by the Fiduciary of the Local Group, or by the Federal Secretary, to whom the results of the investigations must be transmitted.
Q. Can the punished Fascist appeal against the measure?
A. For the disciplinary measures inflicted by the Federal Secretary, he can appeal to the Secretary of the Party. But the measures, despite the appeal, are immediately enforceable. The Secretary of the P.N.F. has the faculty to re-examine the position of punished Fascists and can revoke or modify the disciplinary measures taken. The Federal Secretary may, for his part, determine the cessation, modification or revocation of disciplinary measures within his jurisdiction, or make motivated proposals to the Secretary of the P.N.F. in other cases.
ADMINISTRATION
Q. How is the P.N.F. administrated?
A. The Secretary of the P.N.F. marks the administrative direction and exercises control over the financial and asset management of the Party. He appoints a Chief of Administrative Services — placed under the direct command of a Vice-Secretary of the P.N.F. — chosen from among the officials of the Ministry of Finance, who applies its directives, follows the administrative performance of the Provincial Federations and the Fascist Combat Leagues and is responsible for the administration of the Party. The accounting control of P.N.F. it is transferred to a board of auditors consisting of three standing members and two alternate members appointed by the Secretary of the P.N.F. outside the members of the National Directorate. The auditors must present their collegial report to the Secretary of the P.N.F. every year.
DUTIES OF FASCIST PARTIES MEMBERS
Q. What is the necessary condition for membership in P.N.F.?
A. A necessary condition for membership in the P.N.F. is Italian citizenship. Italian citizens who, according to law, are regarded as being of Jewish race, can not be members of the Party. The following are members of the Party: with the date of September 12, 1919, the Legionaries of Fiume, already enrolled with minor seniority on December 4, 1939-XVIII, and with seniority on December 24, 1920; the other Legionaries not yet members of the P.N.F. at the aforementioned time or who request it; as well as, once again at their request and with the date of March 3, 1925, all the registered ex-combatants, at their request, after December 4, 1939-XVIII, or who previously had minor seniority. The membership card of the P.N.F. is honorarily issued to members who were disabled in the Great War; mutilated and disabled for the Revolution; decorated in the Great War; maimed veterans of the Great War with super-invalidity allowance; parents with seven or more dependent children; parents, widows, orphans and unmarried sisters of the Fallen in East Africa and of the Fallen in Spain; workers and peasants declared to be great invalids of labour.
Q. What is the oath that is taken upon entering the P.N.F.?
A. The oath is as follows: In the name of God and of Italy I swear to carry out the orders of the Duce and to serve with all my strength and, if necessary, with my blood, the cause of the Fascist Revolution.
A. The Fascist views life as duty, elevation, conquest, and must always have the Duce's command in mind: to believe, to obey, to fight.
Q. What commitment do Fascists make?
A. Fascists make a commitment to be the best citizens, the most gifted with a sense of responsibility and duty, first-rate citizens when it comes to work, discipline and sacrifice. They must always consider themselves soldiers of the Revolution ready to defend it everywhere with their blood and with their life.
Q. What does the Fascist Regime offer?
A. Fascism promises neither honours, nor positions, nor gains, but only duty and combat.
Q. What is the motto of the authentic Fascist?
A. The motto of the authentic Fascist is this: Never rest, do not stop, keep marching forward.
Q. In the spiritual sphere, what results from the practice of all Fascist duties?
THE ALBANIAN FASCIST PARTY
Q. What is the Albanian Fascist Party (P.F.A.)?
A. The Albanian Fascist Party is an organization having common ideals and goals with the National Fascist Party. It was established following the union of Albania to Italy. The Fascist Party is the only party in Albania; it has the fasces as its emblem and pursues the political education of the Albanians for the achievement of an ever higher social justice according to the principles of the Fascist Revolution.
Q. How is the P.F.A. organized?
A. The P.F.A. is managed by a Secretary appointed and dismissed by the Lieutenant General of His Majesty the King-Emperor in Albania, at the suggestion of the President of the Albanian Council of Ministers, after hearing the Secretary of the National Fascist Party (P.N.F.). The Secretary of the P.F.A. is entitled to the title and functions of Minister Secretary of State; he is part of the Albanian Government, the Chamber of Fasces and Guilds, and receives the directives and orders of the DUCE from the Secretary of the P.N.F.
Q. Who represents the Secretary of the P.N.F. in Albania?
A. In Albania the Secretary of the P.N.F. is represented by an Inspector of the P.N.F. assisted by a federal secretary and a federal inspector of the P.N.F.
A. The oath is as follows: I swear to carry out the orders of the Duce, Founder of the Empire and Creator of the New Albania, and to serve with all my strength and, if necessary, with my blood, the cause of the Fascist Revolution.
THE ORGANIZATIONS OF THE FASCIST PARTY AND SUBORDINATE ORGANIZATIONS
A. The organizations of the P.N.F are: the Fascist University Groups (G.U.F.); the Italian Youth of the Lictor (G.I.L.), the Female Fascist Leagues (F.F.) with its subordinate sections: Rural Housewives (Massaie Rurali, M.R.), Women Workers and Homeworkers (O.L.D.); the Fascist School Association (A.F.S.); the Fascist Association of Public Employment (A.F.P.I.); the Fascist Association of State Railway Employees; the Fascist Association of Posts and Telegraphs; the Fascist Association of Employees of Industrial Companies of the State.
THE G.U.F.
Q. When did the Fascist University Groups arise?
A. The Fascist university movement arose at the same time as the Fascist Combat Leagues (Fasci di combattimento) and was organized in 1921 into the G.U.F.
Q. What is their purpose?
Q. Who can belong to the G.U.F.?
A. The following can belong to the G.U.F.: a) anyone aged 18 to 21 years coming from the Italian Youth of the Lictor and enrolled in a University, or a Higher Institute, or a Military Academy, or the Fascist Academy of the G.I.L.; b) anyone aged 21 to 28 years enrolled in a University, or in a Higher Institute, or in a Military Academy or in the Fascist Academy of the G.I.L. who belong to the P.N.F.; c) graduates or officers up to 28 years of age coming from a Military Academy or from the Fascist Academy of the G.I.L. who belong to the P.N.F.; d) anyone aged 21 to 28 years, belonging to the P. N.F. and in possession of a diploma from a Higher Institute or from the Fascist Academy of the G.I.L.. The Albanian Youth enrolled at the Universities and Higher Institutes of the Kingdom also belong to the G.U.F.
Q. Who does the G.U.F. depend on?
A. The G.U.F. depends directly on the Secretary of the Party, who is its secretary and is assisted by a deputy secretary of the G.U.F. who is part of the National Directorate of the P.N.F.
Q. How is the G.U.F. organized?
A. In each provincial capital there is a G.U.F. which has the task of organizing university students and graduates, and directing their political, cultural, athletic and welfare activities. In localities where there are Albanian students, a section is set up at the G.U.F. for these students.
Q. Who manages the G.U.F.?
A. Each G.U.F. is managed by a Secretary assisted by the Directorate, consisting of a vice-secretary and seven members. For the Albanian Students Section, in places where it exists, the Secretary has an Albanian Fiduciary at his disposal.
Q. Who the Secretary of the G.U.F.?
Q. Who do the University Fascists depend on for their activity and discipline?
Q. What are the Fascist University Nuclei?
Q. What is the female organization of the G.U.F.?
Q. What other Sections are constituted at the G.U.F.?
Q. What is the purpose of the Women's Sections of the G.U.F.?
Q. What is the purpose of the Graduates Sections?
A. They provide assistance and protection to their members in the first years of their professional life.
Q. What is the purpose of the Graduates Sections?
Q. Where and how are the G.U.F. constituted overseas?
A. A group of University Fascists can be established overseas in every foreign study center where at least ten young Italian scholars or children of Italians reside, who have the necessary requisites for membership in the G.U.F.
Q. What is the purpose of the G.U.F. overseas?
A. The G.U.F. overseas aims at morally and physically educating — according to Fascist doctrine — and at assisting young Italian scholars or children of Italians who attend foreign or Italian Institutes or who otherwise find themselves living abroad; it also aims at spreading Italian culture among the student and foreign intellectual class, and at making the principles and purposes of Fascism known.
Q. What are the main activities of the G.U.F.?
Q. How do University Fascists make the transition to the ranks of the P.N.F.?
A. Through the Fascist Levy (Leva fascista).
THE ITALIAN YOUTH OF THE LICTOR
Q. How are the Fascist youth organized and constituted?
A. The youth forces of the Regime are organized in a unitary and totalitarian manner in the "Italian Youth of the Lictor" (G.I.L.), established within the P.N.F., directly subordinate to the Secretary of the Party, who is the Commander General.
Q. What is the motto of the Italian Youth of the Lictor?
Q. Who belongs to the Italian Youth of the Lictor?
Q. What categories are they organized into?
A. Male Organizations: Young Fascists, Avantguard Musketeers, Balilla Musketeers, Balilla, Children of the Wolf. Female Organizations: Young Fascist Girls, Young Italian Girls, Little Italian Girls.
Q. What tasks do the Italian Youth of the Lictor carry out in favour of the youth?
A. The following tasks:
- Spiritual, athletic and pre-military preparation;
- The organization of physical education in elementary and middle schools, according to the programs prepared by them in agreement with the Minister of National Education;
- The establishment and operation of courses, schools, colleges and academies in accordance with the aims of the Italian Youth of the Lictor;
- Assistance carried out mainly through camps, climatic colonies, scholastic patronage or other means arranged by the Secretary of the National Fascist Party;
- The organization of trips and cruises.
The Italian Youth of the Lictor also has the power to establish or promote the institution of scholarships and to provide for their assignment. The Italian Youth of the Lictor is also responsible for monitoring and controlling all the climatic colonies and similar institutions founded or managed by anyone.
Q. How does the G.I.L. preparare the youth for the military?
Q. What is the membership age for the different branches of the G.I.L.?
Q. Who are the hierarchs of the G.I.L.?
A. Immediately after the Commander General, Secretary of the P.N.F., comes the Vice-Commander Generals, the Chief of Staff, two Deputy Chiefs of Staff; the Provincial General of the G.I.L. for Female Organizations; the Chief of Administrative Services. For the purpose of coordinating the activity programs of the G.I.L. with the action of the Ministries responsible in the educational, health and pre-military sectors, the Regime has established a Council within the G.I.L. composed of the Minister of National Education, the Under Secretaries of State of the Interior, of War, of the Navy and of the Air Force, the Chief of Staff of the M.V.S.N., the representative of the Female Fascist Leagues, as well as the Commander General and Vice-Commander General of the G.I.L., who are de jure members.
Q. How is the G.I.L. organized on the provincial level?
A. In each province the Federal Secretary is the Federal Commander of the G.I.L.. Subordinate to him is a Federal Commander, a Chief of Staff, a Committee of Auditors, a G.I.L. Provincial School Commission. In turn, the following are subordinate to the Vice-Commander General: the Inspectors of the Balilla Units, Avantgardists and Young Fascists; the military office (levy of land, sea and air); the Female Federal Inspector on whom the Female Inspectors of the following units depend: Children of the Wolf, Little Italian Girls, Young Italian Girls, Young Fascist Girls. Subordinate to the Chief of Staff is a Commander of the male units, a Commander of the female units, a Chief of the Political, Professional and Propaganda Preparation Office, a Chief of the Assistance and Health Office, a Chief of the Gymnastic-Athletic Office, a Chief of the G.I.L. School Reports Office, a Chief of the Tent City, Logistics and Events Office, a Chief of the Administration Office. The Vice-Federal Commander is a member of the Federal Directorate; the Commander of the male units is a Federal Inspector; the Commander of the female units is a collaborator at the disposal of the Provincial Fiduciary of the Female Fascist Leagues.
Q. How is the G.I.L. organized on the municipal level?
A. In each municipality, the Political Secretary of the Fascist Combat League is Commander of the G.I.L. and under him is a Vice-Commander member of the Directorate of the Fascist Combat League and the commanders of the male and female units of the Fascist League. A similar framework exists at each Fascist District Group, whose G.I.L. Commander is part of the Council.
Q. What is the provincial organization of the female branch of the G.I.L.?
Q. What is the municipal organization of the female branch of the G.I.L.?
Q. How are the Young Fascists organized?
A. The Young Fascists are organized into groups of battalions, companies, platoons and squads.
Q. Who is entrusted with organizing the Young Fascists?
A. It is entrusted to the M.V.S.N. (G.I.L. role). Each Federal Command is also assigned Senior Officers of the Army, for the military organization of the Young Fascists and for general and specialized pre-military training.
Q. How are the Young Fascists trained?
A. The Young Fascists are organized into groups of battalions, companies, platoons and squads.
Q. Who is entrusted with organizing the Young Fascists?
A. It is entrusted to the M.V.S.N. (G.I.L. role). Each Federal Command is also assigned Senior Officers of the Army, for the military organization of the Young Fascists and for general and specialized pre-military training.
Q. How are the Young Fascists trained?
Q. What are the Young Fascist Mobile Units?
A. They are units in which the Young Fascists execute special instructions, making use of bicycles, horses and vehicles.
Q. What is the discipline of the Young Fascists?
Q. When does the Young Fascist receive the membership card of the P.N.F.?
Q. What is the duty of the Young Fascist?
A. The Young Fascist offers himself to the Fascist Revolution, embraces strict discipline with full enthusiasm, perfects his moral, social and political position, strengthens his body and his spirit, loves boldness, is unafraid of danger, and serves the cause of Fascism with faith, passion and joy.
Q. How are the Avantgardists organized?
A. The Avantgardists are organized into groups of battalions, companies, platoons and squads.
Q. Who is entrusted with organizing the Avantgardists?
A. For organizational reasons, the organization of the Avantgardists is entrusted to officers of the M.V.S.N. and to century and cadet leaders (G.I.L. role).
Q. How are the Avantgardists trained?
A. The training of the Avantgardists includes the physical education taught at school, pre-training and athletic training, collective exercises and camps.
Q. What categories are the Avantgardists organized into?
A. From the age of 14 to 18 the Avantgardist is a Musketeer, or otherwise enters the Special Sections: pre-aviators, seafarers, machine-gunners, skiers, motorcyclists, cyclists, cavalrymen.
Q. How is the Balilla organized?
A. Like the Avantgardists and the Young Fascists, the Balilla is organized into groups of battalions, companies, platoons and squads under the command of officers belonging to the M.V.S.N. (G.I.L. role).
Q. How are the members of the Balilla trained?
A. The training of the Balilla takes place in school, through physical education, and periodic exercises, as well as summer camps. Just as in the other categories of the G.I.L., religious assistance and hygienic-sanitary assistance contribute to developing within the members of the Balilla moral and physical qualities necessary for their harmonious development.
Q. How is the Balilla divided?
Q. How are the Young Fascist Girls organized?
Q. What is the aim of the Young Fascist Girls organization?
Q. What is the organism that — within the Party and the G.I.L. — groups together the educational activities aimed at creating awareness and ability for future wives and mothers?
A. This organism consists of the Household Preparation Courses which are entrusted to the G.I.L. and whose National Directive Center is presided over by the Secretary of the P.N.F.. The Vice-President is a Vice-Commander General of the G.I.L.. The following are also members: the Inspector of the Female Fascist Leagues, the Inspector of High Schools of the P.N.F., the Inspector of the Women Workers and Homeworkers Section, the Inspector of the Rural Housewives Section, the Inspector of Maternity and Infant Welfare (O.N.M.I.), and a representative of the O.N.D.
Q. Where do the Household Preparation Courses take place?
Q. When do Young Fascist Girls make the transition into the Female Fascist League?
A. The Young Fascist Girl, upon getting married, is registered among the Fascist Women; otherwise, the Young Fascist Girl can apply upon turning 21 years of age. In the absence of any request, the Young Fascist Girl can remain registered with the G.I.L. until the age of 25.
Q. How are the Little Italian Girls and Young Italian Girls organized?
Q. How are the Little Italian Girls and Young Italian Girls prepared?
A. The Little Italian Girls and Young Italian Girls are prepared for feminine duties through gymnastic-athletic exercises, artistic and recreational activities, and sanitary and spiritual assistance, with particular attention given to the cultivation of family virtues and to the fulfillment of their mission in the home.
Q. How are the Children of the Wolf organized?
Q. What is the educational orientation of the Children of the Wolf?
Q. What is the oath that is taken by members of the G.I.L.?
Q. How does one pass from one branch of the G.I.L. to another?
A. The passage is made through the Fascist Levy.
Q. When does the Fascist Levy take place?
Q. What does the Fascist Levy consist of?
THE FEMALE FASCIST LEAGUES
Q. Who are the Female Fascist Leagues composed of?
Q. What is the task of the Female Fascist Leagues?
A. The Female Fascist Leagues have the task of spreading and maintaining the Fascist idea even outside the family; of improving the spiritual and cultural preparation of the Italian woman; of contributing to the implementation of all the welfare activities of the Regime; of carrying out propaganda campaigns for the defense and strengthening of the race among women; of collaborating with syndical and economic organizations for the Nation's autarky.
Q. What is the central organ of the Female Fascist Leagues?
Q. How are the Female Fascist Leagues organized?
Q. What is the hierarchical order of the women's organizations?
- Inspectors of the women's organizations;
- Fiduciary of the Female Fascist League Federation;
- Vice-Fiduciary of the Female Fascist League Federation;
- Federal Collaborators;
- Provincial Secretaries of the following: Rural Housewives, Women Workers and Homeworkers, Preparation of Women for Colonial Life;
- Vice-Secretary of the Female Fascist League of the capital;
- Federal Inspectors;
- Secretary of the Female Fascist League and Secretary of the Female Fascist District Group;
- Vice-Secretary of the Female Fascist League and Vice-Secretary of the Female Fascist District Group;
- Collaborators of the Female Fascist League and the Female Fascist District Group;
- Sectional Secretaries of the following: Rural Housewives Section, Women Workers and Homeworkers Section;
- Sector Visitors;
- Cell Visitors and Cell Leaders of the Rural Housewives;
- Visitors.
Q. What are the functions of the Female Inspectors of the P.N.F.?
A. The Female Inspectors of the women's organizations of the P.N.F. are appointed by the Party Secretary. They are part of the Central Council of the Female Fascist League and they fulfill the tasks that entrusted to them by the Secretary of the Party.
Q. What are the functions of the of the Fiduciary of the Female Fascist League Federation?
Q. What are the functions of the Secretary of the Female Fascist League?
Q. Who are "Fascist Visitors"?
Q. Who are the Rural Housewives?
A. The Rural Housewives constitute a Fascist organization that belongs to the Female Fascist League. This organization includes women who usually reside in rural municipalities, belonging to families of smallholders, tenant farmers and sharecroppers, agricultural workers, and who have reached the required age for admission into the Female Fascist League.
Q. How are the Rural Housewives organized?
A. The Rural Housewives organization is composed of Sections organized by the Female Fascist Leagues. In each Female Fascist League Federation there is a provincial section of the Rural Housewives which is directly subordinate to the Fiduciary of the Female Fascist Leagues. In each Female Fascist League there is a section of the Rural Housewives. This section depends on the Secretary of the Female Fascist League who is assisted by a Sectional Secretary of the Rural Housewives.
Q. What is the aim of the Rural Housewives Sections?
Q. Which Fascist women are included in the Women Workers and Homeworkers Section (O.L.D.)?
A. The Women Workers and Homeworkers Section organizes women workers and employees of establishments, factories and various manufacturers; self-employed workers on behalf of third parties; and those belonging to working families, who have reached the required age for admission into the Female Fascist League.
Q. What are the aims of the Women Workers and Homeworkers Section?
a) promoting Fascist and educational propaganda among women workers, supporting the improvement of their professional and household skills;
b) taking care of the moral and social assistance of women workers, with specific attention given to their feminine activities;
c) facilitating, through the competent offices, the placement of women workers and employees in the family services registered with the Section, exercising domestic work on behalf of third parties, and applying all the welfare and insurance provisions established by the Regime for the working woman.
Q. How are the Women Workers and Homeworkers organized?
THE FASCIST SCHOOL ASSOCIATION
Q. How is the Fascist School Association (A.F.S.) constituted?
A. The A.F.S. organizes all the university, middle school and elementary school teachers and staff in charge of Fine Arts and Libraries into distinct sections. It is directed by a National Fiduciary appointed by the Secretary of the P.N.F.. Subordinate to him is a National Vice-Fiduciary for each section. The National Vice-Fiduciaries are also nominated by the Secretary of the P.N.F.. The provincial organization of the A.F.S. it is constituted as follows: The University Professors Section, in each city of the University seat or of the Higher Institute, presided over by a Fiduciary appointed by the Secretary of the P.N.F.; the University Assistant Section, organized as the previous one; the Middle School Section for heads, teachers, instructors, representatives, substitutes and retirees of governmental and subsidized secondary schools; the Elementary School Section, for the inspection staff, directors and teachers of all primary schools; the Fine Arts and Libraries Section, for the personnel employed in this field or already retired. There is a Fiduciary at the head of each Provincial Section. In the provincial capitals the Fiduciaries of the individual Sections meet in a Directorate, presided over by the Fiduciary of the Section of the highest level of studies. Where there is no Fiduciary of the University Section at the head of the Directorate, the Fiduciary of the Middle School Section will hold rank.
THE FASCIST ASSOCIATIONS OF STATE RAILWAY EMPLOYEES, POSTAL AND TELEGRAPH EMPLOYEES, AND EMPLOYEES OF INDUSTRIAL COMPANIES OF THE STATE
Q. Who can register with the Fascist Association of Public Employment?
A. The employees of the State, provinces, municipalities, public and charitable institutions, employees of parastatal and similar institutions, and retirees of all these categories can register with the Fascist Association of Public Employment. Furthermore, a special Section organizes the local doctors.
Q. Who can register with the Fascist Association of State Railway Employees?
A. Employees and retirees of the FF.SS. and railway workers subordinate to the FF.SS. can register.
Q. Who can register with the Fascist Association of Posts and Telegraphs?
A. The following can register: employees of the Postal and Telegraph Administrations and of the State Company for Telephone Services (A.S.S.T.), whether permanent or temporary or contracted, receivers, managers, the substitutes, rural agents and retirees.
Q. Who can register with the Fascist Association of Employees of Industrial Companies of the State?
Q. Who is in charge of the Fascist Associations of Public Employment, of State Railway Employees, of Postal and Telegraph Employees, and of Employees of Industrial Companies of the State?
Q. Do these Associations have a syndical character?
Q. Do they have welfare functions for members?
Q. Is membership in the aforementioned Associations voluntary?
A. Membership in Fascist Associations is voluntary but for members of the P.N.F. it is mandatory. No one can be a member if his political precedents do not correspond to the most obvious requirements of political and private morality.
Q. What does the P.N.F. achieve through the aforementioned Associations?
A. Through these Fascist Associations, the P.N.F., in addition to carrying out actions of discipline, education and propaganda, creates an atmosphere of moral order and political awareness in which the great devices and services of national life function for the purposes of the Fascist Revolution.
Q. Which organizations depend directly on the P.N.F.?
A. The following depend directly on P.N.F.: the Fascist Association of Families of the Fallen, Maimed and Wounded for the Revolution; the National Recreational Club; the National Union of Discharged Officers; the Italian National Olympic Committee; the Italian Navy League; the National Fascist Union of the Senate; the National Institute of Fascist Culture; the National Association of War Maimed and War Wounded; the National Association of War Veterans; the Fascist Association of Families of the Fallen in War; the Group of Gold Medal for Military Valour Recipients of Italy; the Institute of the Blue Ribbon of War Veterans Decorated for Military Valour; the Volunteer Legion of Italy; the Garibaldian Legion; the Arditi Units of Italy; the Arms Units; the Muslim Association of the Lictor; the National Forestry Committee.
Q. When was Fascist Association of Families of the Fallen, Maimed and Wounded for the Revolution founded?
Q. What are its aims?
A. To keep alive the memory of the Fallen Fascists and of the sacrifice of those maimed and wounded for the National Cause, to morally and materially assist the families of the Fallen, with special attention given to orphans and to the work needs of the members. There is a Section of the Fascist Association of Families of the Fallen, Maimed and Wounded for the Revolution at every Fascist Combat League Federation.
THE O.N.D.
Q. When was the National Recreational Club (O.N.D.) founded?
A. The O.N.D. was founded on May 10, 1925.
Q. What are its aims?
Q. Who presides over the O.N.D.?
A. The O.N.D. is presided over by a President, appointed by the DUCE on the proposal of the Secretary of the P.N.F., in concert with the Minister of Guilds.
Q. How is it organized?
A. The O.N.D. is based in Rome and has a National Directorate consisting of — besides the President who convenes and directs it — the Presidents of the Confederations of Employers and of Workers, the President of the Confederation of Professionals and Artists, a representative of the Armed Forces, of public entities and of the Organization of Cooperation. In each provincial capital there is a Provincial President appointed by the President of the O.N.D. on the proposal of the Federal Secretary and assisted by a Directorate composed of the Secretaries of the Unions of Employers and of Workers, a representative of the Provincial Union of Professionals and Artists, a representative of the Armed Forces, of local entities and of the Provincial Council of Guilds. The municipal, districtal, business and rural branches of the O.N.D. depend on the provincial O.N.D.
Q. What are the essential activities of the O.N.D.?
A. The O.N.D., which works in conjunction with the syndical organizations, carries out, in collaboration with the National Institute of Fascist Culture, educational propaganda among the masses; it oversees the diffusion of popular culture, with special regard to professional education; physical education through hiking, athletics, popular games; artistic education; sanitary, health, moral, social and economic assistance; the development of small domestic industries and in general any healthy recreational activity.
Q. What is the National Union of Discharged Officers (U.N.U.C.I.)?
A. It is an organization that keeps discharged officers spiritually, morally and technically prepared for the duties imposed on them in peace and in war. Inspired by the work and the directives of the Fascist Regime, it especially provides for: the training and technical-military enculturation of discharged officers, keeping them in continuous contact with the Military Ministries; to preserve and uplift the character qualities of retired officers which are essential for the exercise of command, namely the sense of discipline and the spirit of camaraderie; to maintain contact with the Arms Units, due to a sense of attachment to the masses of common soldiers and to make them participate in post-military training; to defend in all circumstances — especially by collective and individual example — the feelings and energies that appeal to the honour and fortunes of the Fascist Fatherland; to carry out a work of camaraderie towards discharged officers about their legitimate aspirations in the field of labour and moral satisfactions.
A. The U.N.U.C.I. was definitively established on June 18, 1926-IV.
A. The U.N.U.C.I. is a typical military body.
Q. What are the essential activities of the O.N.D.?
A. The O.N.D., which works in conjunction with the syndical organizations, carries out, in collaboration with the National Institute of Fascist Culture, educational propaganda among the masses; it oversees the diffusion of popular culture, with special regard to professional education; physical education through hiking, athletics, popular games; artistic education; sanitary, health, moral, social and economic assistance; the development of small domestic industries and in general any healthy recreational activity.
THE U.N.U.C.I.
Q. What is the National Union of Discharged Officers (U.N.U.C.I.)?
A. It is an organization that keeps discharged officers spiritually, morally and technically prepared for the duties imposed on them in peace and in war. Inspired by the work and the directives of the Fascist Regime, it especially provides for: the training and technical-military enculturation of discharged officers, keeping them in continuous contact with the Military Ministries; to preserve and uplift the character qualities of retired officers which are essential for the exercise of command, namely the sense of discipline and the spirit of camaraderie; to maintain contact with the Arms Units, due to a sense of attachment to the masses of common soldiers and to make them participate in post-military training; to defend in all circumstances — especially by collective and individual example — the feelings and energies that appeal to the honour and fortunes of the Fascist Fatherland; to carry out a work of camaraderie towards discharged officers about their legitimate aspirations in the field of labour and moral satisfactions.
Q. When was the U.N.U.C.I. definitively established?
Q. What is the character of the U.N.U.C.I.?
Q. Who is part of the U.N.U.C.I.?
A. The following have an obligation to register with the U.N.U.C.I.: non-organic officers of the Royal Army (except those destined for Fascist Youth organizations) and all officers of the Armed Forces of the State on leave without recall due to reduction in cadres and discharged officers (complementary, auxiliary, temporary discharge, reserve) of any rank and in whatever position they are, except priests. Priests who currently hold the rank of officer, permanently discharged officers, those belonging to the Italian Red Cross, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and discharged military chaplains (both in auxiliary and reserve roles) may be enrolled upon request. The U.N.U.C.I. is led by a President and two vice-presidents chosen from among the general officers, representing the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.
THE C.O.N.I.
Q. What is the Italian National Olympic Committee (C.O.N.I.)?
A. The C.O.N.I., founded in 1934-XII, is a body that organizes national athletic activities with unity of technical tendencies and in close conjunction with the G.I.L., the G.U.F. and the O.N.D.
Q. What are the responsibilities of the C.O.N.I.?
A. The C.O.N.I., in conjunction with the G.I.L., with the G.U.F. and the O.N.D., controls the athletic disciplines for the training of future champions, so that the youth are rationally guided towards competitive physical improvement, which is indispensable for greater racial vigour and which contributes to the formation of excellent soldiers. Its aim is to obtain the perfection of the youth in essential athletics from the Olympic point of view and from the point of view of military preparation; it promotes the development of the recreational function of athletics; it directs the selected forces of Fascist athletics, so that they increasingly affirm the spiritual audacity, physical valour and combative genius of the Italian people in national and international competitions; in agreement with the public administrations, it protects and increases the vast heritage of stadiums and athletic facilities, directing the means and initiatives towards a single goal.
Q. Who presides over the C.O.N.I.?
A. The C.O.N.I. is presided over by a President appointed by the DUCE on the proposal of the Secretary of the P.N.F.. It has a Secretary-General nominated by the Party Secretary and a National Council formed by the Presidents of the Italian Athletics Federations, by the Italian representatives of the International Olympic Committee, and by representatives of the Ministries pertaining to athletics. In each province there is a Provincial Committee of the C.O.N.I. with a President and a Directorate.
THE L.N.I.
Q. What is the L.N.I.?
A. The Italian Navy League, founded in 1907, is an institution of public interest, declared by the Regime as the only national organ of maritime propaganda.
Q. What is the mission of the L.N.I.?
A. The L.N.I. has the mission of developing the seafaring mentality and spirit of the Italians. It exalts the naval glories of Italy and spreads the knowledge of our imperial maritime needs to the people. It organizes cruises for professionals, students and workers; in the athletic field, it works in conjunction with the Motor-boating, Sailing, Rowing and Swimming Federations; it works in conjunction with the O.N.D. and with pre-marine and post-marine organizations to raise awareness of the Merchant Navy and War Navy; it integrates all maritime athletic activities, carries out cultural propaganda for the popular dissemination of maritime problems, highlighting how the fate of the Nation depends on the efficiency of the Navy itself and naval industries.
Q. Who presides over the L.N.I.?
A. The L.N.I. is presided over by a President appointed by the DUCE on the proposal of the Secretary of the P.N.F.
Q. How is the L.N.I. organized?
A. The L.N.I. consists of the Headquarters in Rome, the Provincial Headquarters led by a Fiduciary, and the Sections and Delegations throughout Italy and in the Colonies.
Q. Who belongs to the National Fascist Union of the Senate?
A. The National Fascist Union of the Senate, which is headquartered in Rome, is comprised of senators registered with the P.N.F.
Q. How is the National Fascist Union of the Senate governed?
A. The National Fascist Union of the Senate is governed by a triumvirate (one President and two members) appointed by the Secretary of the P.N.F.
A. The National Institute of Fascist Culture, which was organized into a moral institute on August 6, 1926-IV and is headquartered in Rome, is the organ through which the Party — the author of the Revolution — develops, elaborates and clarifies the doctrine of Fascism and implements its function as the center of all national life, even in the cultural sphere. The I.N.C.F. oversees the dissemination of Fascist thought through all means that are from time to time proven most appropriate; it also coordinates and regulates the the conduct of various cultural and propaganda activities surrounding the Party and in an organic connection with all the respective Ministries and Institutes. The Institute for Corporative and Autarkic Studies is subordinate to it. At the central presidency of the I.N.C.F. there is a Military Studies and Propaganda Council consisting of a representative appointed by each of the Ministries of War, the Navy and the Air Force, and a representative of the General Command of the M.V.S.N. and a permanent Secretary.
Q. How is the National Institute of Fascist Culture organized?
A. The I.N.C.F. is subject to the high supervision of the DUCE, who appoints the President on the proposal of the Secretary of the P.N.F.. The National Fiduciary of the A.F.S. and the Vice-Secretary of the G.U.F. are Vice-Presidents of the I.N.C.F.
Q. Who can be a member of the I.N.C.F.?
A. Institutions, associations and individuals can be members of the I.N.C.F.. Cultural institutions that do not depend on other national organizations must federate with the I.N.C.F. itself. In the provincial capitals, sections of the I.N.C.F. are set up, which must carry out their activities in close collaboration with the Fascist Combat League Federations.
Q. Who governs and administrates the I.N.C.F.?
Q. What is the Volunteer Legion of Italy?
A. The Volunteer Legion of Italy, which bears the name of "Julius Caesar", is a military organization that gathers those who spontaneously volunteered and fought in our national wars into a unified group animated by lively faith and energies.
Q. Who can be part of the Volunteer Legion of Italy?
Q. What is the Garibaldian Legion?
A. The Garibaldian Legion is an organization that cultivates the great Garibaldian tradition begun in the Risorgimento.
Q. Who can be part of the Garibaldian Legion?
A. All those who fought under the command of General Giuseppe Garibaldi and those who, following his glorious tradition, subsequently fought as volunteers in defense of the freedom and independence of other peoples, while retaining their Italian citizenship, may belong to the Garibaldian Legion. Those who volunteered for the Italo-Austrian War in the "Alpi" Brigade and foreign citizens who fought in the Garibaldian ranks in any campaign may also be part of the Garibaldian Legion.
Q. What are the Arditi Units of Italy?
Q. Who can be enrolled in the Arditi Units of Italy?
Q. What are the Arms Units?
Q. What specifically are the aims of Arms Units?
A. To solidify the bonds of camaraderie among all the members of the same Army of any rank and condition not in effective permanent service, to gather and illustrate the splendor and glories of individual arms, gathering the testimonies of heroic deeds and the memories of the Fallen, in order to turn these memories into an everlasting record.
Q. Who can enroll in the Arms Units?
Q. What are the names of the Arms Units?
Q. What is the Muslim Association of the Lictor?
A. It is an association composed of native Muslims of the provinces of Libya who have acquired a special status granted to them by the Regime.
Q. What is the aim of the Muslim Association of the Lictor?
A. The aim of the Muslim Association of the Lictor is to carry out activities of a recreational, athletic and cultural nature.
Q. Who does the Muslim Association of the Lictor depend on?
A. Muslim Association of the Lictor is subordinate to the Secretary of the P.N.F.
Q. How is the Muslim Association of the Lictor organized?
Q. Who are the leaders of this Association?
Q. What is the National Forestry Committee?
A. It is a propaganda organization created on April 30, 1928-VI. Its first president was Arnaldo Mussolini.
Q. What is the aim of the National Forestry Committee?
A. The Committee aims at making the particular importance of the woods and forests of our country known through the use of propaganda in schools and in Fascist organizations, and therefore the need to protect and increase them.
Q. Who manages the National Forestry Committee?
A. The National Forestry Committee is managed by a President assisted by a Secretary General and is subordinate to the Secretary of the National Fascist Party.
A. The Committee has a provincial organization with Sections managed by a delegate and is organized within the Fascist Combat League Federations.
THE MILITIA
Q. What is the Voluntary Militia for National Security (M.V.S.N.)?
A. The M.V.S.N. is the armed guard of the Revolution.
Q. When was the M.V.S.N. founded?
A. The M.V.S.N. was founded by the DUCE by resolution of the Grand Council of Fascism on February 10, 1923-II.
Q. What did the M.V.S.N. derive from?
A. The M.V.S.N. derived from the dissolved action squads of the Fascist Revolution.
Q. What is the position of M.V.S.N. in the Fascist State?
A. The M.V.S.N. is part of the Armed Forces of the State and takes an oath of loyalty to the King.
Q. Who is the Commander General of the M.V.S.N.?
A. The DUCE is the Commander General of M.V.S.N.
Q. What are the tasks entrusted to the M.V.S.N.?
A. The tasks entrusted to M.V.S.N. are: political, educational, military. Political: Public order and public security; special units in border security. Educative: Instruction of the G.I.L. units and university units; post-military training and athletic training. Military: Blackshirt Battalions, Territorial Anti-Aircraft Defense Militia (D.I.C.A.T.). Colonial units. The M.V.S.N. has fought gloriously in Libya, in Ethiopia, in Spain and in the great war of liberation against the plutocracies.
Q. What is the post-military training entrusted to M.V.S.N.?
A. Through post-military training, the M.V.S.N. cultivates in those Italians who have served in the military, up to the age of 32, the qualities and abilities of a soldier, keeping them ready in body and in spirit for new calls to duty by the Fatherland.
Q. How is the M.V.S.N. organized?
A. A Chief of Staff holds General Command in Rome. Subordinate to him are: 14 Blackshirt Zone Commands, each led by a Lieutenant General; 32 Blackshirt Assault Battallion Group Commands each led by a Consul General; 133 Ordinary Militia Legion Commands, governed by Consuls or by Senior Commanders (Primo seniore); 5 autonomous cohorts; a Mutilated Legion; a Permanent Unit Command, in Italy; a Superior Command of Italian East Africa and a Group Command Legions of Libya, in the Empire.
Q. How is the legion subdivided?
Q. Whom commands the battalion and the complement cohort?
A. The battalion and the complement cohorts are commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel (Seniore).
Q. How are the battalion and the complement cohorts subdivided?
A. The battalion and the complement cohorts are subdivided into companies and centuries.
Q. Who commands the company and the century?
A. The company and the century are commanded by a Centurion.
Q. How are the company and the century subdivided?
A. The company and the century are subdivided into platoons and maniples.
Q. Who commands the platoon and the maniple?
A. The platoon and the maniple are commanded by a Maniple Chief.
Q. How are the platoon and the maniple subdivided?
A. The platoon and the maniple are subdivided into squads, under the command of a Squad Leader.
Q. What are the Special Militias?
A. The Special Militias are: Railway Militia, Port Militia, Post and Telegraph Militia, Forestry Militia, Highway Militia.
Q. What are the special units of the Ordinary Militia?
A. The Anti-Aircraft Militia, Maritime Artillery Militia, Border Militia, University Militia, and the Muskateers of the DUCE.
Q. How does one enter the M.V.S.N.?
A. By voluntary enlistment.
Q. What is the essential requirement for enrollment in the M.V.S.N.?
A. Membership in the P.N.F.
Q. How is recruitment done?
A. Recruitment takes place, through the Fascist Levy, from among Fascist Youth who are 20 years of age and possess physical and moral fitness.
Q. What is the decalogue of the Fascist Militia?
A. The decalogue is as follows:
- Remember that those who died for the Revolution and for the Empire came before you.
- A comrade is your brother: he lives with you, he thinks like you, he fights beside you in battle.
- Always serve Italy, now matter where you are, by any means: through work and through blood.
- The enemy of Fascism is your enemy: do not let him in your home.
- Discipline is the sun of the armies: it prepares and illuminates victory.
- If you go on the assault with determination, then victory is already at hand.
- Total and deliberate obedience is the virtue of the legionary.
- There are no big or small things: there is only duty.
- The Fascist Revolution has counted and still counts on the bayonets of its legionaries.
- Mussolini is always right.
Q. What is the watchword of the Blackshirts?
A. Endure with loyalty, discipline and absolute dedication.
Q. What is the motto of the Blackshirts?
A. Victory or death, on orders of the Duce, for the Fatherland and for Fascism.
THE REGIME
Q. What was born from the Fascist Revolution?
A. The Fascist Regime was born from the Fascist Revolution.
Q. What does Fascist Regime mean?
A. It refers to all the reforms and institutions through which the Blackshirt Revolution has renewed Italy in the legal system and in national life, thereby preparing its secure future.
Q. What are the bases of the Fascist Regime?
A. The bases of the Fascist Regime are authority, order, justice.
Q. How does the Fascist Regime manifest itself?
A. The Fascist Regime manifests itself in the social and moral climate and in the principle of authority by which the State, which is the people organized in a hierarchical system, embraces the whole of national life, in all its political, economic, spiritual and moral aspects .
Q. What, then, is the Fascist State?
A. It is the supreme and balanced synthesis of all the forces and all the interests of the national collectivity.
Q. What is the fascist formula of national life?
A. Everything within the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State.
A. The consequence is that in the Fascist Regime the unity of all classes — the political, social and moral unity of the Italian people — is realized in the State and only in the Fascist State.
Q. Why does the Fascist Regime create a strong State?
A. Because it is only the State that gives a soul to the peoples.
Q. Why does the Fascist Regime create a totalitarian State?
A. Because the State is the people themselves and is the irreplaceable guarantee of their unity and independence, the custodian and transmitter of their spirit, the guarantor of their internal and external security.
Q. Why, in the Fascist Regime, does the State become authoritarian?
A. Because the State is the supreme authority in which everything is centralized and harmonized: individuals and groups, past and future, spirit and matter.
Q. Is Fascism anti-democratic?
A. Fascism is an organized, centralized, authoritarian democracy in which the rights of the people are recognized, protected and harmonized.
Q. Does the Regime end with the State?
A. No, because the Regime is the harbinger of all those spiritual and practical energies which, while converging into the State and assuring its strength and organic functioning, nourishes a new collective consciousness and transforms life, raising it to higher purposes.
Q. What then has the Fascist Regime created, besides a strong, authoritarian, totalitarian State?
A. The Regime has created a way of life.
Q. What is it?
A. Courage above all else; fearlessness; love of risk; being always ready to dare in individual life as in collective life; to abhor all that is sedentary; pride in every hour of the day to feel Italian; discipline in work; respect for authority.
Q. Is Fascism an exclusively Italian phenomenon?
A. Fascism, as an idea, doctrine, realization, is universal, because it is able to tell all civilized people the truth, without which men are not free; it is able to show them true justice, without which there can not be lasting peace in the world; and because it is the harbinger and creator of a new civilization.
THE GRAND COUNCIL
Q. What is the Grand Council of Fascism?
A. The Grand Council of Fascism is the supreme constitutional organ that coordinates and integrates all the activities of the Regime.
Q. Who presides over the Grand Council?
A. The Grand Council is de jure presided over by the DUCE. He summons it when he thinks it is necessary, he fixes its agenda.
Q. Who is the Secretary of the Grand Council?
A. The Secretary of the Grand Council is the Secretary of the P.N.F., who may be delegated by the DUCE to convoke and preside over the high assembly in his absence or impediment.
Q. Who are the members of the Grand Council?
A. The Quadrumvirs of the March on Rome are members of the Grand Council for life. The following are also members of the the Grand Council due to their functions, and remain so for the entire duration of their office: the President of the Senate of the Kingdom and the President of the Chamber of Fasci and Guilds; the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of the Interior; the Secretary of the P.N.F., the Minister Secretary of State, the Ministers of Justice, Finance, National Education, Agriculture and Forestry, Guilds and Popular Culture; the President of the Royal Academy of Italy; the Commander General of the M.V.S.N.; the President of the Special Tribunal for the Defense of the State; the Presidents of the Fascist Confederations of Industrialists and Agriculturists, and of Industrial Workers and Agricultural Workers. By decree of the Head of Government, the following may be appointed as members of the Grand Council of Fascism for the duration of three years, and with the right of confirmation: those who, as members of the Government or Secretaries of the P.N.F., after 1922, have meritoriously served the Nation or the Cause of the Fascist Revolution. In the same way, such appointments may be revoked at any time.
Q. What are the matters on which the Grand Council decides?
A. The Grand Council deliberates on the statutes, ordinances and political directives of the P.N.F.
Q. On what issues should the opinion of the Grand Council be heard?
A. The opinion of the Grand Council must be heard on every political, economic and social issue of national interest, on questions which the DUCE asks it to examine, and on all constitutional issues and therefore also on succession to the throne, the composition and functioning of the Grand Council itself, of the Senate, of the Chamber; the responsibilities and prerogatives of the Head of Government, the faculties of the executive power, the syndical and corporative system, the relations between the State and the Church, and international treaties that heed adjustments to the territory of the State and the territories of Italian Africa, or renounce the acquisition of territories.
Q. What other specific tasks does the Grand Council have?
A. In addition, the Grand Council, upon proposal of the DUCE, forms and keeps an up-to-date list of names to be presented to the Crown for the appointment of his successor in case of vacancy; and, without prejudice to the responsibilities and prerogatives of the Duce, it also forms and keeps an updated list of persons whom, again in case of vacancy, its considers suitable for assuming Government functions.
THE CORPORATIVE STATE
Q. What is the Corporative State?
A. The Corporative State is a State in which all classes have their place, all classes find their recognition, all classes find their protection.
THE CHARTER OF LABOUR
Q. What is the Charter of Labour?
A. It is a fundamental document of the Fascist Revolution, since it establishes the rights and duties of all the forces of production.
Q. When and how was the Charter of Labour issued?
A. The Charter of Labour was issued by vote of the Grand Council of Fascism on April 21, 1927-V.
Q. How is the Italian Nation defined by the Charter of Labour?
A. The Charter of Labour says that: "The Italian Nation is an organism endowed with a purpose, a life, and means of action transcending those of the individuals composing it. It is a moral, political, and economic unity which finds its integral realization in the Fascist State."
Q. What is labour in the Fascist Regime, according to the Charter?
A. Labour, in all its organizational and executive forms—intellectual, technical, manual—is a social duty.
Q. What does the Charter of Labour specifically stipulate and sanction?
A. The Charter of Labour provides for syndical or professional organization; the legal recognition of Syndicates; collective labour agreements; the composition or settlement of labour disputes between employers and workers as legal equals; the Guilds and their tasks; State intervention, in certain cases, in economic production; rules for the payment of wages, weekly and annual rest for workers, compensation for dismissal or death; accident prevention and settlement; the development of social security and welfare; education and vocational training.
THE SYNDICATES AND CONFEDERATIONS
Q. When did the Fascist syndical movement arise?
A. In 1921.
Q. What is a Syndicate?
A. It is a union of employers or workers of the same category.
Q. What function does the Fascist Syndicate have?
A. The Fascist Syndicate has an educational, welfarian and social function, essentially directed to form the conscience of the producer.
Q. What is the fundamental law of Fascist syndicalism?
A. The law of April 4, 1926-IV on the legal regulation of collective labour relations.
Q. Is the syndical or professional organization free?
A. Yes, but only those syndicates that are legally recognized and subject to State control have the right to represent the whole category of employers and workers for whom they are constituted, whether they are registered or not.
Q. So the decisions and regulations a Syndicate are binding on employers and workers of the same category who are not members?
A. Yes.
Q. What is the essential obligation of the syndical or professional associations?
A. To regulate labour relations between the categories of employers and workers that they represent through collective agreements.
Q. What principle is the action of the Fascist Syndicate based on?
A. On the principle of collaboration between the classes.
Q. What does Fascism mean by class collaboration?
A. For Fascism class collaboration is not a one-sided bond, but a precise duty — first moral and social, then legal — which all the elements of production must equally submit to.
Q. Can State employees form syndical associations?
A. No, and as a result they are organized in the Fascist Associations.
Q. Can a syndical association of employers or workers announce a lockout or strike?
A. No, because lockouts and strikes are prohibited. Disputes must be settled at the syndical headquarters, or brought before the Labour Court if the attempt at conciliation fails.
Q. What is the Fascist syndical system?
A. The Fascist syndical system ranges from municipal and provincial syndicates to national syndicates. The Syndicates make up the Federations, each of which corresponds to a branch of production or professional activity, and the Federations in turn make up the Confederations.
Q. How many Fascist Confederations are there and what are they?
A. There are nine Fascist Confederations: Fascist Confederation of Agriculturists, Fascist Confederation of Agricultural Workers, Fascist Confederation of Industrialists, Fascist Confederation of Industrial Workers, Fascist Confederation of Traders, Fascist Confederation of Commercial Workers, Fascist Confederation of Credit and Insurance Companies, Fascist Confederation of Credit and Insurance Workers, Fascist Confederation of Professionals and Artists.
Q. What are the Provincial Unions of Syndicates?
A. These are the peripheral offices of the Confederations and have the task of coordinating the action of the various Syndicates.
Q. What are the individual requirements for enrollment in a legally-recognized Syndicate?
A. Italian citizens, or those who have lived in the Kingdom of Italy for at least 10 years, who have reached 18 years of age and are of good moral and political character from the national point of view, can apply for registration.
Q. Can more than one syndical association be recognized for each category of employers or workers?
A. No.
Q. How do syndical associations receive legal recognition?
A. Recognition is given by Royal Decree, on the proposal of the competent Minister, after consulting the Central Corporative Committee.
Q. What is the goal of Fascist syndicalism?
A. Fascist syndicalism, through class collaboration, leads to the Guild; this collaboration must be systematic and harmonious, safeguarding property, but raising it to a social function, respecting individual initiative, but within the life and economy of the Nation.
THE GUILDS
Q. What is a Guild (Corporazione)?
A. It is an organ of the State that connects the syndical representatives of employers and workers to one or more branches of production in a common hierarchy, to establish a sure collaboration of productive forces within their own category and in regards to the other Guilds, for the sake of national interest.
Q. What then is achieved in the Guild?
A. In the Guild, economic unity is achieved in its different elements: capital, labour, technics.
Q. What are the aims of the Guild?
A. Internally, it is an organization which aims at gradually and inflexibly bridging the gap between the maximum and minimum possibilities of life, i.e., achieving a higher social justice. In the face of the outside world, it continuously increases the Nation's global power for the purpose of its expansion in the world.
Q. How are Guilds established?
A. Guilds are established by decree of the DUCE on the proposal of the Minister of Guilds, after consulting the Central Corporative Committee.
Q. Who is responsible for the chairmanship of each Guild?
A. The DUCE (according to the Law of January 14, 1937-XV, n. 157) or, in his stead, the Minister of Guilds.
Q. How is the Guild composed?
A. Each Guild is composed of a Council, which includes standing managers appointed by the P.N.F., by the Professional Associations and by the National Fascist Organization of Cooperation. The Council also includes aggregated managers, with a deliberative vote. The number of standing and aggregated managers is legally established for each Guild.
Q. What are the tasks and responsibilities and powers of the Guilds?
A. The Guild elaborates general rules on the conditions of labour; it reconciles collective disputes between the syndical associations which it connects; it promotes and encourages all initiatives aimed at coordinating and better organizing production; it regulates labour training or apprenticeship with obligatory standards; it provides an optional or compulsory opinion to the Public Administrations on matters concerning labour; it determines legal rules on economic matters, especially in the sense of establishing tariffs for services and consumption; finally it draws up rules for the collective regulation of economic relations and for the unitary discipline of production.
Q. How many Guilds are there?
A. There are 22 Guilds:
- Cereals;
- Horticulture, flowers and fruit;
- Wine-making and Vine-growing;
- Oil;
- Beets and sugar;
- Animal husbandry and fishing;
- Wood;
- Textile products;
- Metallurgy and engineering;
- Chemistry;
- Clothing;
- Paper and printing;
- Construction;
- Water, gas and electricity;
- Mining industries;
- Glass and ceramics;
- Social security and credit;
- Professions and arts;
- Sea and air;
- Internal communications;
- Entertainment;
- Hospitality.
Q. What is the National Council of Guilds?
A. It is the organ that represents the totality of national economic interests in the syndical-corporative system and coordinates the economic sector with the political sector within the State.
Q. Who presides over the National Council of Guilds?
A. National Council of Guilds is presided over by the DUCE.
Q. How is the National Council of Guilds composed?
A. The National Council of Guilds is composed of the members of the Central Corporative Committee and the standing councilors of the Guild Councils.
Q. What is the organ that coordinates the functions and activities of the Guilds?
A. The Central Corporative Committee.
Q. Who presides over the Central Corporative Committee and how is it composed?
A. The Central Corporative Committee, presided over by the DUCE, is composed of the Ministers and Under Secretaries of State, the Vice-Secretaries of the P.N.F., representatives of the P.N.F. within the Guilds, acting as vice-presidents, the Presidents of the Syndical Confederations of Employers, Workers and Free Professions and Artists, and the President of the National Fascist Organization of Cooperation.
Q. What are the tasks of the Central Corporative Committee?
A. The Central Corporative Committee coordinates the operation of the Guilds and approves the rules they have drawn up, gives an opinion on the questions of different Guilds or syndical associations belonging to different Guilds and on any other matter that is submitted to it by the Minister of Guilds.
Q. What is the General Assembly of Guilds?
A. The General Assembly of Guilds is the meeting of the members of the National Council of Guilds and of the Councilors aggregated to the councils of the individual guilds, and is convoked by the DUCE to give directives to syndical activity concerning the problems of production and the ends of the corporative system.
Q. What are the tasks and functions of the Ministry of Guilds?
A. The Ministry of Guilds includes all services relating to the control of professional associations, the scientific and popular knowledge of the guiding principles of the corporative system, the corporative framing of industry, commerce, economic policy in general, labour, assistance and social security and intellectual property. It organizes, coordinates and monitors the legal discipline of collective labour relations, and disengages the secretarial functions of the Guilds and the Central Corporative Committee.
THE CHAMBER OF FASCI AND GUILDS
A. The Chamber of Fasci and Guilds is a national assembly that replaces — with Fascist order, and without electoral forms — the suppressed Chamber of Deputies.
A. The Chamber of Fasci and Guilds has the task of collaborating with the Government for the formation of laws.
Q. Since the effective abolition of the parliamentary system, in whom does legislative power reside?
A. Legislative power resides in the Government, with which the Chamber of Fasci and Guilds and the Senate of the Kingdom collaborate.
A. The Chamber of Fasci and Guilds is formed by the members of the National Council of the P.N.F. and by the members of the National Council of Guilds, with the exception of senators and academics of Italy. Members of the Grand Council of Fascism are de jure members.
Q. What title do the members of the Chamber of Fasci and Guilds have?
A. The members of the Chamber of Fasci and Guilds hold the title of National Councilors, and their quality is recognized by decree of the DUCE.
Q. When do the National Councilors lose their office?
A. The National Councilors lose their office when they cease to be part of the National Council of the P.N.F., or of the National Council of Guilds or of the Grand Council of Fascism.
Q. How are the President and Vice-Presidents of the Chamber of Fasci and Guilds appointed?
A. The President and Vice-Presidents of the Chamber of Fasci and Guilds are appointed by royal decree.
Q. How does the Chamber of Fasci and Guilds function?
A. The Chamber of Fasci and Guilds functions by means of the plenary assembly, which discusses constitutional bills of major importance or interest; and through special legislative commissions for all other objects deferred to them. The Senate of the Kingdom works in a similar way.
Q. How does voting take place in the Chamber of Fasci and Guilds?
A. Consistent with Fascist custom, which is based on individual and collective responsibility, voting always takes place in an open manner.
Q. What is the moral and historical significance of the creation of the Chamber of Fasci and Guilds?
A. With the creation of the Chamber of Fasci and Guilds, the Fascist Regime completely and definitively eliminated democratic and foreign parliamentarism from Italian life.
AUTARKY
Q. What does the word autarky mean?
A. It means standing up and governing oneself.
Q. What is the meaning of the word autarky in the economic sense?
A. In the economic field, autarky means self-sufficiency, i.e. producing within the Fatherland that which is necessary for the existence of the people and for the defense of the State, as well as for the conquest of foreign markets.
Q. What is the aim of autarky?
A. The aim of autarky is to achieve economic independence, in order to free the Country from all foreign influence.
Q. By what means does the Fascist Regime prepare Italy's autarky?
A. The Fascist Regime prepares Italy's autarky through the agricultural, mining and industrial valorization of the Country and of the Fascist Empire.
Q. What are the essential aspects of this valorization?
A. The essential aspects of the valorization of the Country and of the Fascist Empire are integral reclamation, colonization, the battle for grain, the forestry policy, mining research, the use of Italian agricultural and industrial products which are to replace foreign similarities, the financial and monetary policy, the defense of national products and the fight against waste.
Q. What are the governing bodies created by the Regime for the autarkic struggle?
A. The governing bodies created by the Regime for the autarkic struggle are the Supreme Commission for Autarky and the Interministerial Committee for Autarky.
Q. Who presides over these bodies?
A. The DUCE.
Q. What is the Party's function in regards to autarky?
A. The Party, with the whole of its action, develops and deepens autarkic consciousness in the Italian people; it encourages, assists and coordinates the initiatives and efforts aimed at achieving autarkic victory; and, through its Secretary, intervenes in the deliberations of the governing bodies referenced above.
Q. Is the autarkic program of the Regime limited to the economic sphere?
A. No. The Regime wants Italy to be absolutely independent in all spheres, and therefore applies autarky — i.e., the complete liberation from any foreign influence — to the spiritual, cultural and social life of the Italian people in art, in literature and in customs.
