Fascist Italy was a dictatorship, though it did not completely displace the earlier state. Parts of the political and administrative leadership remained continuous with the pre-Fascist era. Members of the Senate could still remonstrate with Mussolini rather than behaving as an entirely powerless chamber. One Italian delegate from the Washington Naval Treaty negotiations spent years criticizing Mussolini in the Senate. These institutional survivals complicate a simple model of total dictatorial control.
Notable Point · 18:44-20:20
Why Fascist Italy retained pockets of institutional continuity
Mussolini's dictatorship did not erase every pre-Fascist institution or silence every senior critic inside the Italian state.