A short piece I will essay....over a topic that you rarely ever hear much discussed....the Italian version of the 'Brownshirts'.....the 'Blackshirts'.
In the same fashion.....as WW I ends, you've got all these disgruntled Italian soldiers (they were actually on the winning side).
In this case....in 1919, they were originally called the 'Squadristi'. Their mission in life (which you might be amused by)....to to be thugs against the Socialists. Yes, almost the exact opposite of the Brownshirts of Germany.
There is open debate on numbers, but most historians will say that a minimum of 150,000 existed in the summer period of 1922, and they were a significant part of the Mussolini March on Rome (27-29 Oct 1922).
With the display of masses of men, Mussolini (more or less) convinced the King to appoint him as Prime Minister (no election, just a simple wave of the King's hand).
Then this curious thing occurs, with the Blackshirts going into a reorganization effort, and becoming a Volunteer Militia for National Security (Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, or MVSN). These MVSN folks were actually around for 21 years. After the Germans arrived in the fall of 1943, they were organized again toward the fall of 1943.....into the National Republican Guard (Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana, or GNR).
Their organizational effort for the bulk of this period? Oddly.....built into a Roman Army-like structure.
So, what was the pursuits of the Blackshirts? Well....it's just not the same thing as the German Brownshirts. These folks had some passion for reigniting the old pro-Rome feeling....asserting strength....and stabilizing the economy.
The Blackshirts, oddly enough, never became a threat to Mussolini. They simply incorporated themselves into the government and continued on. A totally different outcome from the German episode.
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