PropertyValue
rdf:type
rdfs:label
  • Blackshirts
rdfs:comment
  • The Blackshirts (, or squadristi) were fascist paramilitary armed squads in Italy during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II. Blackshirts were officially known as the Voluntary Militia for National Security (Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, or MVSN). The term was later applied to a similar group serving the British Union of Fascists before World War II, to the SS in Nazi Germany, and to members of a quasi-political organization in India.
owl:sameAs
Employees
  • 1000000
dcterms:subject
dbkwik:military/property/wikiPageUsesTemplate
picture width
  • 250
nativeName
  • Milizia Volontaria
  • per la Sicurezza Nazionale
Picture
  • Mussd.jpg
Type
  • organization
picture caption
  • --10-27
Seal
  • Fascist Eagle.svg
agency name
  • MVSN
Headquarters
  • Rome
parent agency
  • 26
succeding
minister1 pfo
jurisdiction
  • Italian Empire
agency type
seal width
  • 150
minister1 name
Preceding
  • Fasci Italiani di Combattimento
Dissolved
  • 1943-07-29
Formed
  • 1923-03-23
abstract
  • The Blackshirts (, or squadristi) were fascist paramilitary armed squads in Italy during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II. Blackshirts were officially known as the Voluntary Militia for National Security (Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, or MVSN). The term was later applied to a similar group serving the British Union of Fascists before World War II, to the SS in Nazi Germany, and to members of a quasi-political organization in India. Inspired by the military prowess and black uniforms of the Arditi, Italy's elite storm troops of World War I, the Fascist Blackshirts were organized by Benito Mussolini as the military tool of his political movement. The founders of the paramilitary groups were nationalist intellectuals, former army officers and young landowners opposing peasants' and country labourers' unions. Their methods became harsher as Mussolini's power grew, and they used violence and intimidation against Mussolini's opponents.