The March on Rome

On the afternoon of October 28th. 1922, the Fascist ruling committee the Quadrumvirate, sent a ultimatum to the Liberal Premier, Luigi Facta to leave his post and declare Mussolini the National Leader. But the Premier declared a state of siege instead.

This was the crucial moment. There seems little doubt that the army, had they the desire, could have routed the Fascists in a showdown. Fascist squads had taken over all the key postions throughout the country and now the capital lay before them. The King refused to sign a decree that would have stopped the Fascists as he had been reassured in September by Mussolini that his throne was not in jeopardy by the Fascists. King Victor Emmanuel's failure to act served as an open invitation to Fascism.

On October 29th. , according to Mussolini's own account, the Kings aide-de-camp phoned him in Milan asking him to come to Rome to form a government. Mussolini insisted on a telegram . When the wire came, he boarded a train for Rome.

In the morning when he arrived, he was greeted by bands of rain soaked Fascists, who had camped out on the outskirts of the capital. From the train he was driven to meet with the King at the Palazzo Quirinale. The Fascist Revolution was over. Mussolini and his cabinet were sworn in the following day.

Meanwhile, the Fascist forces had entered the city from other parts of the nation but Mussolini had ordered them back to their homes and jobs. During the afternoon he put on his black shirt and led them in a triumphant parade in honor of the Unknown Soldier. The parade ended at the depot where on Benito's personal orders trains had been assembled to take the Fascist Legions out of Rome. This was the beginning of the age of Fascism.