Giacomo Acerbo - Fascism

Fascism

Elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1921 with the "national bloc", he acted as a mediator between local conservative forces and the Blackshirts; on a national level, Acerbo ensured peace in the open conflict between the Italian Socialist Party and Fascists, and was elected to a leadership position inside the National Fascist Party (PNF). During the March on Rome, Acerbo presided the Chamber as the coup d'état unfolded, and acted as the link between the PNF and King Victor Emmanuel III. He then accompanied Mussolini as he was designated Prime Minister, and became his undersecretary.

He made the Acerbo Law pass in November 1923; he was again deputy in 1924, winning his nobiliar title. Acerbo was marginally involved in the inquiry over Giacomo Matteotti's killing, and left his position in the government. In 1924 he instituted the Coppa Acerbo in memory of his brother Tito Acerbo (a war hero). Giacomo Acerbo was elected vice-president of the Chamber in 1926, and was Agriculture and Forestry Minister from 1929, dedicating himself to projects for universally-extended drainage. Together with Gabriele D'Annunzio, he contributed to the creation of Pescara Province in January 1927.

Acerbo became head of the Economics and Commerce Faculty at the University of Rome in 1934, and, from 1935 to 1943, president of the International Agricultural Institute. A member of the Grand Council of Fascism, he was a spokesman for the project that torned the Chamber into a representative of Fasci and Corporazioni.

When World War II began and Italy joined the Nazi German offensive, Acerbo served as member of the Italian Army General Staff during the marginal Italian maneuver in the Battle of France, and the Greek campaign. He was also Minister of Finance from February 1943.