.

             Eventually the union leaders, evidently surprised by this sudden, .

             spontaneous revolutionary outburst persuaded the workers to give in in .

             return for higher wages. Although initially it would seem that the.

             workers had won, the strikes had sown the seeds of fear amongst .

             Italy's Socialist opposition. The overall effect of this was that.

             many of the opponents of Socialism joined Mussolini's Fascist' party. .

             The Socialist party by causing the strike had unwittingly played into .

             Mussolini's hands; although this was due to their own incompetence and .

             not the skill of Mussolini. Interestingly, they were later to make .

             exactly the same mistake again. The fact that Mussolini's party .

             benefitted greatly by offering action, showed that political gains .

             could be made from the weakness of the government and from the unrest .

             of the country. It was at this point in 1921 that Gioletti began .

             searching for allies against the Socialists. The Vatican had turned .

             against him; This was mainly due to the government's proposal to tax .

             the bonds which were a main form of Church property at the time. As a .

             result Gioletti decided to use Fascist support against the Socialists. .

             Why did Gioletti decide to use the Fascist's support to combat the.

             Socialists, when there were many other safer ways of doing so? .

             Principally, he believed that he could easily dominate Mussolini.

             and once in power again he would discard the tougher elements' among .

             the Fascists. He made a grave mistake in believing this. In the winter .

             of 1920-21, Mussolini organized his men into squadre d'azione' (squads .

             of action) headed by local leaders ( ras') like Balbo in Ferrara and .

             Grandi in Bologna. Primarily, Mussolini's clever planning was .

             demonstrated by his success: His initial campaign of violence against .

             the Socialists led to 200 dead and 800 wounded in the period between .

             December 1920 and May 1921. The government, in accordance with its .

             alliance with the Fascists, did little to prevent the violence, and .