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====The Rise of Communism====
[[File:March_on_Rome.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|Benito Mussolini and the March on Rome, 1922]]
The radical left was particularly strong in Italy during the Great War, as it benefitted from the government's unpopularity and the war among the poor and the working class. In 1917, the Italian Socialist Party allied itself with the Soviet Union and agitated for Italy's revolution. Industrial workers in the major Italian cities had formed themselves into powerful trade unions. During the difficult war years, they frequently went on strike and were often brutally repressed by the Italian police and armies.<ref>De Grand, p. 78 </ref> After the end of the First World War, these strikes paralyzed many cities, and these actions greatly alarmed the middle class and wealthy Italians.
The Italian Socialists usually supported the strikers, and many politicians and commentators believed that there was a real threat of a Russian style revolution in Italy. Mussolini played upon these fears and exaggerated the threat of a Communist revolution.<ref>De Grand, Alexander. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/027596874X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=027596874X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=42fa8cf7dcd7f08fc94cb2f38709ff8a The Hunchback's Tailor: Giovanni Giolitti and Liberal Italy from the Challenge of Mass Politics to the Rise of Fascism, 1882–1922]''(2001), p. 89</ref> The Italian middle class was very concerned about the rise of Communism and Socialism because they believed that in any revolution, that they would have their property seized as had been the case in Russia. Many Italians were Catholics, and the rise of the 'Reds' or Socialists was viewed with horror, as they were frequently anti-Catholic and anti-religious. <ref>De Grand, p 98</ref>
