Carlo Scorza
Encyclopedia
Carlo Scorza was a prominent member of the National Fascist Party
National Fascist Party
The National Fascist Party was an Italian political party, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of fascism...

 of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. He built his reputation in the Fascist paramilitary group known as the Blackshirts, and later rose to the position of party secretary
Party secretary
In politics, a party secretary is a senior official within a political party with responsibility for the organizational and daily political work. In most parties, the party secretary is second in rank to the party leader ....

, second only to Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....

 in authority over the wartime Italian state
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...

. His brief and rocky tenure began in the spring of 1943
Timeline of World War II (1943)
This is a timeline of events that occurred during World War II in 1943.-January 1943:This is a timeline of events that occurred during World War II in 1943.-January 1943:This is a timeline of events that occurred during World War II in 1943....

 and ended with the party's collapse and abolition at the end of July.

Life

Born in the town of Paola, Scorza participated in World War I in the Bersaglieri
Bersaglieri
The Bersaglieri are a corps of the Italian Army originally created by General Alessandro La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Piedmontese Army, later to become the Royal Italian Army...

 corps where he reached the rank of Tenente (lieutenant). After the war he joined Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....

's National Fascist Party and participated in acts of violence against communists and socialists in the area around Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...

. After participating in the March on Rome
March on Rome
The March on Rome was a march by which Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party came to power in the Kingdom of Italy...

, he worked for a brief time as a journalist, then he was named Federale (chief provincial party officer) of the Province of Lucca
Province of Lucca
The Province of Lucca is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lucca.It has an area of 1,773 km², and a total population of 372,244...

.

In 1930, Scorza was appointed to direct the key Party youth organization, Gruppo Universitario Fascista. The following year he was named as a member of the Direttorio (a high national body) of the National Fascist Party. He strongly opposed the Azione Cattolica
Azione Cattolica
The Azione Cattolica Italiana, or Azione Cattolica for short, is a widespread lay Roman Catholic association in Italy.-History:...

 and his behavior forced Mussolini to dismiss him from the Direttorio. He participated in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
The Second Italo–Abyssinian War was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire...

 and the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

. In 1940 he came back to national political activities.

Secretary of PNF

In April 1943, Scorza was named Secretary of the National Fascist Party, replacing the ineffectual Aldo Vidussoni
Aldo Vidussoni
Aldo Vidussoni was an Italian lawyer and Fascist politician.After law studies at the University of Trieste, Vidussoni joined the Partito Nazionale Fascista in May 1936...

. He remained fully dedicated to Mussolini and he assumed his office with an uncompromising demand – "Everybody and everything for the war."

Despite his enthusiasm, Scorza failed in his efforts to revitalize the party. On 25 July 1943, the President of the Italian wartime Parliament
Chamber of Fasci and Corporations
Chamber of Fasci and Corporations was the official name of the Italian Chamber of Deputies established on January 19, 1939, to replace the Chamber of Deputies during the 30th legislature of Italy. The Chamber was vested with legislative power from March 23, 1939 to August 2, 1943, during the...

, Dino Grandi
Dino Grandi
Dino Grandi , Conte di Mordano, was an Italian Fascist politician, minister of justice, minister of foreign affairs and president of parliament.- Early life :...

, put forth to the Fascist Grand Council a motion to remove Mussolini from office. Scorza, who also held the position of Secretary of the Grand Council, voted against it, but the motion carried and Mussolini was arrested by the carabinieri
Carabinieri
The Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations, and is a branch of the armed forces.-Early history:...

. After the Italian armistice
Armistice with Italy
The Armistice with Italy was an armistice signed on September 3 and publicly declared on September 8, 1943, during World War II, between Italy and the Allied armed forces, who were then occupying the southern end of the country, entailing the capitulation of Italy...

, Scorza himself was arrested in the Nazi-controlled Italian Social Republic
Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic was a puppet state of Nazi Germany led by the "Duce of the Nation" and "Minister of Foreign Affairs" Benito Mussolini and his Republican Fascist Party. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern Italy but was largely dependent on the Wehrmacht to maintain control...

. He was charged with treason for failing to counter the anti-Fascist coup d'etat, but he was acquitted by a special tribunal in April 1944.

Later life

At the end of World War II, Scorza fled to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. He was tried in absentia by the Allies and sentenced to thirty years imprisonment. He was later granted amnesty and he returned to Italy in 1955. Sforza died in Florence
Firenze
Firenze is the Italian name for the city of Florence.Firenze may also refer to:* Andrea da Firenze, an Italian composer* Lorenzo da Firenze, an Italian composer and music teacher of the trecento...

 on 23 December 1988.

Further reading

  • Montanelli, Indro
    Indro Montanelli
    Indro Montanelli was an Italian journalist and historian, known for his new approach to writing history in books such as History of the Greeks and History of Rome....

    , (2003). Storia d'Italia. Milan: Corriere della Sera. OCLC 443967091.
  • Rastrelli, Carlo, (2010). Carlo Scorza, l'ultimo gerarca. Milan: Mursia. ISBN 9788842546054.
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