The Fascist Regime on the Ropes

How did Mussolini and his collaborators plan on explaining Matteotti’s disappearance? During the days preceding the murder they strategized and maneuvered to generate a heated political climate that would allow them to blame the crime on unknown extremists who targeted Matteotti and acted independently. Matteotti was unquestionably an adversary despised by fascist sympathizers, so it would have been easy for the regime to pass off the disappearance of the deputy as a political vendetta carried out by anonymous fascists. Whether in Austria or in Rome, responsibility was to be attributed to unknown fanatical fascist militants who had decided to take justice into their own hands.