Opposition To Fascism
Following World War I, Mussolini created the paramilitary Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, and then the National Fascist Party which came to power in 1922 (after its March on Rome). Filippo Turati and Anna Kulischov, who knew Mussolini well, were major opponents of Fascism, and lived under constant surveillance and threats. In a series of prescient speeches, Turati argued that the new revolutionary program adopted by the PSI in 1919 would lead to disaster, and he advocated political alliances with other opponents of Fascism. This policy was rejected and the PSI split in 1921, with the formation of the Italian Communist Party. In 1922, when Turati's group was expelled and established a new group, the United Socialist Party (PSU). In 1924, Turati's disciple and Secretary of the PSU, Giacomo Matteotti, was assassinated by Mussolini's Ceka; this seminal event prompted Mussolini to formalize his dictatorship between 1925 and 1926.
In 1926, Turati fled Italy in a dramatic escape to France - aided by Carlo Rosselli, Ferruccio Parri and future president of the Italian republic Sandro Pertini. In Paris, he was the soul of the non-Communist anti-Fascist resistance, traveling across Europe and alerting democrats to the Fascist danger - which he saw as a phenomenon with far-reaching consequences. He died in French capital in March, 1932.
After World War II, Turati's remains were transferred after to Milan's Cimitero Monumentale, where he is buried next to Anna Kulischov.
Read more about this topic: Filippo Turati
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