Aventine secession

Aventine secession, the withdrawal by some 150 left and centre deputies from the Italian Chamber of Deputies in June 1924 to show their opposition to the rule of the Fascist leader Benito Mussolini. The move occurred at the time of a public reaction against Mussolini caused by the political murder of Giacomo Matteotti, a Socialist opposition deputy, by Fascist thugs.

The Aventine group, so called in allusion to the hill where the Roman plebs led by Gaius Gracchus held their last stand in the 2nd century bce, sought to restore genuine parliamentary government to Italy. The strategy, pursued by their leader, the liberal Giovanni Amendola, was to persuade King Victor Emmanuel III to insist on Mussolini’s resignation and to call new elections.

But their opposition was ineffective: it failed to keep public opinion aroused against the crimes of Fascist rule, while the lack of critics in the Chamber made it easier for Mussolini to become an absolute dictator. The number of Aventinians gradually declined, and, when some tried to reenter the Chamber in 1926, Mussolini was able to block their return.