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The Grand Council of Fascism (Italian: Gran Consiglio del Fascismo) (aka:
Grand Council of Fascism
Fascist Grand Council) was the main body of Mussolini's Fascist government in
Italy. A body which held and applied great power to control the institutions of Gran Consiglio del Fascism
government, it was created as a party body in 1923 and became a state body on 9
December 1928. The council usually met at the Palazzo Venezia, Rome, which was
also the seat of head of the Italian government.[1]
Contents
Members of the Council
The Head of Government and Duce of Fascism
The Quadrumvirs
Parliament
President of the Senate
President of the Chamber of Deputies Coat of Arms
Ministers
Agriculture and Forestry
Abbreviation Grand Council
Corporations Formation 9 December 1928
Finance
Extinction 25 July 1943
Foreign Affairs
Interior Legal status Constitutional Body
Justice and Religious Affairs Headquarters Palazzo Venezia,
Press and Propaganda Rome
Public Education
King of Italy King Victor
President of the Royal Academy
Emmanuel III
President of the Special Court for the Defence of the State
*The Chief of Staff of the MVSN President Benito Mussolini
Other Posts
Powers of the Council
Overthrow of Mussolini
References
Further reading
See also
The Quadrumvirs
Name
Portrait Term of office 25 July 1943 Motion
(Birth–Death)
Parliament
Name
Portrait Term of office 25 July 1943 Motion
(Birth–Death)
Ministers
Corporations
Name
Portrait Term of office 25 July 1943 Motion
(Birth–Death)
Finance
Name
Portrait Term of office 25 July 1943 Motion
(Birth–Death)
Foreign Affairs
Name
Portrait Term of office 25 July 1943 Motion
(Birth–Death)
Interior
Name
Portrait Term of office 25 July 1943 Motion
(Birth–Death)
Name
Portrait Term of office 25 July 1943 Motion
(Birth–Death)
Public Education
Name
Portrait Term of office 25 July 1943 Motion
(Birth–Death)
National Education
Name
Portrait Term of office 25 July 1943 Motion
(Birth–Death)
Name
Portrait Term of office 25 July 1943 Motion
(Birth–Death)
Other Posts
The Presidents of the Corporations; Industrialists, Agriculture W
orkers, Industrial Workers, and Farmers. TheNobel
Physics laureate inventor-technologist Guglielmo Marconi was the President of the Academy of Italy , making him a
council member.
The Secretary of the National Fascist Party, who was also the secretary of the Council.
Various people chosen by Mussolini himself,who each held appointments of three-year durations.
The power to elect the Fascist Party deputies, the nomination for the Party Secretary and other party leaders, the
approval of the party statutes and the power regarding the party's policy
.
The power to elect theCrown's line of succession including the
choice of the heir to the throne, the right of the crown, the power to
choose possible successors to the Prime Minister , the power to
choose the function and membership of the Grand Council, the
Senate, the Chamber of Deputies (later theChamber of Fasci and
Corporations), the power to decide the rights and powers of the
Prime Minister, international Treaties, and foreign affairs.
The Grand Council meetings were convened by the Prime Minister himself, The session of the Grand Council of 9
and all decrees and laws could only be legalized after receiving his approval. May 1936, where the Empire was
In contrast to the Führerprinzip government model in Nazi Germany, the proclaimed.
Grand Council retained the power to recommend that the King of Italy remove
the Prime Minister from office. As all the former governing institutions had
been subordinated to the Fascist party, the Council was the only check on Mussolini's power
.
Overthrow of Mussolini
The Allies invaded Sicily in July 1943. Grand Council member Dino Grandi proposed a vote of no confidence in Mussolini as leader
of the Council and the party. A vote was held on the night of 24–25 July 1943 and passed with 19 votes for, 8 against and one
abstention. Among the 19 votes of no confidence were those of Mussolini's son-in-law Galeazzo Ciano, who had been former
minister of foreign affairs, and the influential marshal Emilio De Bono.
The following day King Victor Emmanuel met Mussolini and informed him that General Pietro Badoglio would lead Italy, as Prime
Minister. Mussolini was arrested immediately after the meeting.[2]
In September 1943 Mussolini was freed from imprisonment by the Germans and helped to regain power in northern Italy. He had
Ciano, De Bono and three others arrested and tried for treason on 8 January 1944 in Verona. They were executed by firing squad
three days later.[3][4]
References
1. "Gran consiglio del fascismo"(http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/gran-consiglio-del-fascismo/). Enciclopedia on line
(in Italian). Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana fondata da Giovanni reccani
T S.p.A. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
2. Shirer, William L. (1959). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich(https://books.google.de/books?id=6QngAAAAQBAJ&
pg=PA997) (2011 ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 997. ISBN 9781451642599. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
3. Bosworth, Richard J. B. (2010).Mussolini (https://books.google.de/books?id=9yzLAgAAQBAJ&pg=P
A16) (New ed.).
London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 16.ISBN 9780340981733. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
4. De Grand, Alexander J. (2000).Italian Fascism: Its Origins & Development(https://books.google.de/books?id=5m_o
Et7kNUgC&pg=PA136) (Third ed.). Lincoln, NV: University of Nebraska Press. p. 136. ISBN 0803266227. Retrieved
23 August 2017.
Further reading
2194 Days of War, Cesare Salmaggi & Alfredo Pallavisini (editors),Gallery Press, New York — ISBN 0831788852
(1977)
See also
Italian Fascism
Italian Parliament (1928–1939)