Aventine Secession (20th century)

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The Aventine Secession was the withdrawal of most opposition deputies from the Italian Chamber of Deputies in protest against the government of Benito Mussolini following the murder of Giacomo Matteotti. Beginning on 27 June 1924, the opposition refused to participate in the work of the Chamber until constitutional legality and democratic freedoms had been restored. The secession formed the principal parliamentary response to the political crisis caused by Matteotti's disappearance and murder, commonly known as the Matteotti Crisis. The opposition sought to isolate Mussolini's government and relied on constitutional pressure rather than an insurrectionary strategy. The protest failed to produce a change of government: King Victor Emmanuel III did not dismiss Mussolini, while disagreements developed within the opposition over whether to continue the boycott or return to Parliament. On 3 January 1925 Mussolini addressed the Chamber and assumed what he called the "political, moral and historical...

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