ABSTRACT
After the crisis triggered by the murder of the opposition leader Giacomo Matteotti, Fascism underwent deep transformations. In this regard, 1926 was a turning point in Fascist politics. The establishment of a full dictatorship and the creation of a mighty repressive apparatus seemed to have made the squadristi’s violence useless. Die-hard Blackshirts were expelled from the party and even sentenced to political confinement (confino di polizia). Historians have usually seen such forms of repression as indicative of Mussolini’s will to dismiss the party in favour of the more conservative state apparatus. Through an in-depth examination of three major instances of the purging of Fascist leaders from the party – in Genoa, Milan and Bologna – the chapter shows how Mussolini’s purges were aimed at destroying the political fiefdoms of local Fascist leaders and, at the same time, at severing the bonds of loyalty between them and their supporters. Contrary to what happened to local leaders, however, the punishment inflicted on cadres was usually much less severe, and was functional to creating a new and direct relationship of subjugation between them and Mussolini himself. Clearly, the Duce still needed the squadristi’s violence.
