ABSTRACT
In 1921, with fascism clearly on the ascendant, Italo Balbo became political secretary of the Ferrara Fascist organization, supporting the large landowners who wished to destroy the Socialist agricultural labor unions. The schism divided the Italian working-class movement at the reaction's height, further damaging its capacity to resist fascism. Balbo was born on June 6, 1896, in Quartesana of a modest family of schoolteachers. Balbo enjoyed arguing in the cafes of Ferrara and Milan with other intellectuals, including Benito Mussolini. The pacification pact brought to the surface divisions between Mussolini and agrarian fascism—the political and military strains. Mussolini emphasized transforming the movement into a party, more easily subject to control, and the Fascist National Council rejected Mussolini's resignation. The setting had been prepared for a split that would exclude the Communists and leave the squabbling reformist and maximalist wings in the same organization—the worst possible solution.
