Political Violence and the Rise of Fascism

Abstract

The fascist movement grew over the early 1920s from a small group to an organized party able to challenge incumbent political parties. This process was favored by the strategic usage of violence perpetrated by organized squads traveling the country with the purpose of weakening democratic institutions. We document that road networks played a major role in the diffusion of fascist violence, making it unpredictable and effective at the local level. We also show that fascist violence had a profound impact on local political institutions, disrupting established institutional arrangements, and consolidating fascists’ grip on political power in just a few years.