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= = =__Fascist Corporate State__=

What is Corporatism?
This was an important aspect of the Italian economy. Do not confuse it with business corporations – think of it as ‘incorporation’. It is the organisation of the economy along sectoral lines e.g. the steel industry is a corporation. This means that all aspects of the steel industry are linked and a few people at the top make the decisions for the whole industry – prices, wages etc. – similar to a cartel. When this happens across the economy, this is called a corporatist system.

Aims
The Corporate system should bring the following advantages to the Fascist regime by: a) Ending class conflict (through class collaboration) b) Increasing production (no more strikes) c) Increase living standards d) Wall Street Crush cushioned e) 3rd way between Bolshevism and Capitalism

Mussolini wanted a Corporative system totally based on Fascism. He said that no confrontations should exist between the different classes since everyone would work within the Fascist orbit and so the same objective was being pursued by all of them. In 1934, 22 corporations were formed.

Vidoni Pact
On October 2, 1925, the Vidoni Pact, signed between Confindustria and the fascist regime representatives: abolished Catholic, Socialist or independent unions, and replaced them with a fascist-controlled one. Essentially, it placed Mussolini in a far greater position, in terms of control over that of the workers within industry and effectively banned free trade unions.

Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro
- Italian Fascist leisure and recreational organization. - Created in April 1925 - Helped to gain the support of the workers - Firstly it was an apolitical organization but in 1927 it became an auxiliary of the Fascist state. - It was concentrated on sports and other outings for the workers

Ministry of Corporations
It was set up in 1926 and within 3 years it claimed to have removed all the class conflict in industry. The thruth behind the Ministry of Corporations is that it was placing Fascist representatives and so workers didn't have the choice.

Success / failure
Close state control helped avoid chaos of post-war years and the Wall Street Crash
 * __Successes__**:

The reality of the system also presented negative factors like: - Rights of workers restricted (no rights to strike) - Inefficient, sprawling and corrupt system
 * __Failures__**:

Workers' freedom got restricted and the living standards didn't really improve. Morevover there wasn't any employee's representation since the Ministry of Corporations had placed Fascist officials. Conflicts between employer and employee were not solved, just supressed.

40% of the workforce recruited into the Dopolavoro and so the OND had the largest membership of any of the mass Fascist organizations in Italy. However, its success on spreading the Fascist ideal is debatable.

CONCUSION
In theory a 'corporate state' allowed ordinary people a greater say in the way the state and industry were run, by gradually concentrating power through a chain of instruction by allowing employees to elect representatives to sit alongside fascists. These people would then elect representatives who had the ear of the Duce. In theory this allowed the employees to make their views known to Mussolini, but in effect it was a method of further control over the ordinary people. As far as his aim for establishing a mechanism for control is concerned, this was a successful policy for the Duce. However, it never provided the essential motivation amongst those at the bottom necessary for it to have any profound effect upon day to day life at work.