AQA A-level History · 2L

Italy and Fascism, c1900–1945

50 exam-style questions with answers for 2L Italy and Fascism, c1900–1945 in AQA A-level History (spec 7042). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official AQA material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 2L, Part one
State two problems of Liberal Italy c1900. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: north-south divide (1); poverty and emigration (1); hostility of the Church (1); narrow franchise (1); weak governments (1).
Question 2 · Spec 2L, Part one
Define the term ‘trasformismo’. [1 mark]
Answer:
Building majorities by winning over deputies with favours rather than by party programmes.
Question 3 · Spec 2L, Part one
Who was Giovanni Giolitti? [1 mark]
Answer:
The dominant Liberal Prime Minister before 1914.
Question 4 · Spec 2L, Part one
State two reforms of Giolitti. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: near-universal male suffrage (1912) (1); social insurance (1); tolerance of strikes (1); nationalisation of railways (1).
Question 5 · Spec 2L, Part one
What was the Libyan War (1911–1912)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Italy’s conquest of Libya from the Ottoman Empire.
Question 6 · Spec 2L, Part one
What happened at Adowa (1896)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Ethiopia defeated Italy, a national humiliation.
Question 7 · Spec 2L, Part one
Who were the Nationalists? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Italian Nationalist Association, founded in 1910, demanding expansion.
Question 8 · Spec 2L, Part one
Why did Italy enter the war in 1915? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Treaty of London promised territory, including Trentino and South Tyrol.
Question 9 · Spec 2L, Part one
What happened at Caporetto (1917)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A heavy Italian defeat by Austro-German forces.
Question 10 · Spec 2L, Part one
Define the term ‘mutilated victory’. [1 mark]
Answer:
The nationalist claim that Italy was cheated of territory, eg Fiume and Dalmatia, at the peace conference.
Question 11 · Spec 2L, Part one
Who was D’Annunzio? [1 mark]
Answer:
A nationalist poet who seized Fiume in 1919.
Question 12 · Spec 2L, Part one
What were the Biennio Rosso (1919–1920)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Two ‘red years’ of strikes, factory occupations and land seizures.
Question 13 · Spec 2L, Part one
Who were the squadristi? [1 mark]
Answer:
Fascist armed squads who attacked socialists.
Question 14 · Spec 2L, Part one
When was the Fascist Party formed? [1 mark]
Answer:
1921 (the movement was founded in 1919).
Question 15 · Spec 2L, Part one
What was the March on Rome (October 1922)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A Fascist show of force after which the King appointed Mussolini Prime Minister.
Question 16 · Spec 2L, Part one
What was the Acerbo Law (1923)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It gave two-thirds of seats to the party with the most votes (at least 25%).
Question 17 · Spec 2L, Part one
What was the Matteotti Crisis (1924)? [1 mark]
Answer:
The murder of the socialist deputy Matteotti by Fascists caused a crisis.
Question 18 · Spec 2L, Part one
What was the Aventine Secession? [1 mark]
Answer:
Opposition deputies walked out of Parliament in protest, which helped Mussolini.
Question 19 · Spec 2L, Part one
What were the ‘leggi fascistissime’ (1925–1926)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Laws making Italy a one-party dictatorship.
Question 20 · Spec 2L, Part one
Explain why the elites supported Mussolini. [2 marks]
Answer:
They feared socialism (1); they thought they could control him (1).
Question 21 · Spec 2L, Part one
What was the ‘non expedit’? [1 mark]
Answer:
The papal ban on Catholics voting in national elections, which weakened Liberal Italy until it was relaxed under Giolitti.
Question 22 · Spec 2L, Part one
What was the Socialist Party (PSI)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A mass party that grew among workers and peasants.
Question 23 · Spec 2L, Part one
Who was Vittorio Emanuele III? [1 mark]
Answer:
The King who appointed Mussolini in 1922.
Question 24 · Spec 2L, Part one
What was the Popular Party (PPI)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A Catholic party founded in 1919.
Question 25 · Spec 2L, Part one
What was the Fascist Grand Council? [1 mark]
Answer:
The supreme body of the Fascist Party, made a state organ in 1928.
Question 26 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was the cult of Il Duce? [1 mark]
Answer:
Propaganda presenting Mussolini as an all-knowing leader.
Question 27 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was OVRA? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Fascist secret police.
Question 28 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was confino? [1 mark]
Answer:
Internal exile of opponents to remote places.
Question 29 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was the Corporate State? [1 mark]
Answer:
A system organising employers and workers into corporations under state control.
Question 30 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was the Battle for Grain (1925)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A campaign to make Italy self-sufficient in wheat.
Question 31 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was the Battle for the Lira (1926)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Revaluing the lira at ‘Quota 90’ to boost prestige, which hurt exports.
Question 32 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was the Battle for Births? [1 mark]
Answer:
A campaign to raise the birth rate.
Question 33 · Spec 2L, Part two
What were the Lateran Agreements (1929)? [1 mark]
Answer:
They recognised Vatican City and made Catholicism the state religion.
Question 34 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was the Opera Nazionale Balilla? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Fascist youth organisation.
Question 35 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was the Dopolavoro? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Fascist leisure organisation for workers.
Question 36 · Spec 2L, Part two
What were the 1938 racial laws? [1 mark]
Answer:
Anti-Jewish laws banning Jews from many jobs and schools.
Question 37 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was the Corfu Incident (1923)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Mussolini occupied Corfu and won compensation from Greece.
Question 38 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was the Stresa Front (1935)? [1 mark]
Answer:
An agreement between Britain, France and Italy against German rearmament.
Question 39 · Spec 2L, Part two
When did Italy invade Abyssinia? [1 mark]
Answer:
October 1935.
Question 40 · Spec 2L, Part two
Why did Italy intervene in the Spanish Civil War? [1 mark]
Answer:
To support Franco and gain prestige.
Question 41 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was the Pact of Steel (1939)? [1 mark]
Answer:
The military alliance between Italy and Germany.
Question 42 · Spec 2L, Part two
When did Italy enter the Second World War? [1 mark]
Answer:
June 1940.
Question 43 · Spec 2L, Part two
State two Italian military failures. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Greece (1940) (1); North Africa (1); the Eastern Front (1); Sicily (1943) (1).
Question 44 · Spec 2L, Part two
How did Mussolini fall in 1943? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Fascist Grand Council voted against him and the King dismissed him in July.
Question 45 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was the Salò Republic? [1 mark]
Answer:
Mussolini’s German-backed puppet state in northern Italy (1943–1945).
Question 46 · Spec 2L, Part two
How did Mussolini die? [1 mark]
Answer:
He was shot by partisans in April 1945.
Question 47 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was the Charter of Labour (1927)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A document setting out the principles of the Corporate State.
Question 48 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was autarky in Fascist Italy? [1 mark]
Answer:
Economic self-sufficiency, pursued after League sanctions in 1935.
Question 49 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was the Rome-Berlin Axis (1936)? [1 mark]
Answer:
The understanding between Mussolini and Hitler.
Question 50 · Spec 2L, Part two
What was Mare Nostrum? [1 mark]
Answer:
Mussolini’s aim to make the Mediterranean ‘our sea’.

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Italy and Fascism, c1900–1945

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