Grand Council of Fascism
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The Grand Council of Fascism (Italian: Gran Consiglio del Fascismo) was the main body of Mussolini's Fascist government in Italy. A body which held and indeed applied great power to control the institutions, it was created by government law on 9 December 1928.
Its members were as follows:
- The Prime Minister:
- The Quadrumvirs, the people who lead the March on Rome – Benito Mussolini, Michele Bianchi, Emilio De Bono, Cesare Maria de Vecchi and Italo Balbo.
- The President of the Senate and the President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies of the Fasci and Corporations
- The Ministers of Justice, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture and Forestry, Education, Corporations, and the Minister of Popular Culture
- The Presidents of the Royal Academy of Italy, of the special court of state emergency and defence, of the Corporation of Industrialists, of the Agriculture worker, Industrial worker and of Farmers. Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of the radio was also the President of the Academy of Italy, making him a council member.
- The Chief of Staff i.e. commander of the MVSN
- The Secretary of the National Fascist Party (who is also the secretary of the Council)
- Various people chosen by Mussolini himself, who held a 3-years position
Essentially, the council held these powers:
- The power to elect the Fascist Party deputies, the nomination for the Party Secretary and other party leaders, the approval of the party statutes and the power regarding the party's policy.
- The power to elect the Crown's line of succession including the choice of the heir to the throne, the right of the crown, the power to choose possible successors to the Prime Minister, the power to choose the function and membership of the Grand Council, the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies, the power to decide the rights and powers of the Prime Minister, international Treaties, and foreign affairs.
The Grand Council meetings were convened by the Prime Minister himself and all decree and laws could only be legalized by the approval of the Prime Minister himself. In contrast to the Führerprinzip government model in Nazi Germany, the Fascist Grand Council ultimately deposed Mussolini, bloodlessly and through entirely legal means following the Allied invasion of Sicily.
de:Großer Faschistischer Rat
