The Blackshirts (Italian: camicie nere or squadristi) were Fascist paramilitary groups in Italy during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II. The term was later applied to a similar group serving the British Union of Fascists before the War. Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers individual and other societal interests subordinate to the interests of the state. ... Paramilitary designates forces whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force, but which are not regarded as having the same status. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The flag of the British Union of Fascists showing the Flash and Circle symbolic of action within unity The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a political party of the 1930s in the United Kingdom. ...

Inspired by Giuseppe Garibaldi's Redshirts, the Blackshirts were organized by Benito Mussolini as a military tool of his Fascist movement. The founders of the paramilitary groups were nationalist intellectuals, former army officers or members of the special corp Arditi, young landowners opposing peasants' and country labourers' unions. Their methods became harsher as Mussolini's power grew, and they used violence, intimidation, and murder against Mussolini's opponents. One of their distinctive techniques was force-feeding castor oil. Image File history File links National_Fascist_Party_logo. ... Garibaldi in 1866. ... For other uses, see Redshirt. ... Mussolini redirects here. ... Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... Arditi was the name adopted by Italian Army elite assault troops of World War I. The name derives from the Italian verb Ardire (to dare) and translates as the braves. Reparti dassalto (Assault Units) were formed in the summer of 1917 by Colonel Bassi, and were assigned the tactical... Castor oil is a vegetable oil obtained from the castor bean (technically castor seed as the castor plant, Ricinus communis, is not a member of the bean family). ...

The ethos and sometimes the uniform were later copied by others who shared Mussolini's political ideas, including Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, who issued brown shirts to the Sturmabteilung and black uniforms to the Schutzstaffel (also colloquially known as "Blackshirts", because they wore black suit-like tunics with brown shirts), Sir Oswald Mosley in the United Kingdom (whose British Union of Fascists were also known as the "Blackshirts"), William Dudley Pelley in the United States (Silver Legion of America or "Silver Shirts"), in Mexico the Camisas Doradas or "Golden Shirts", Plínio Salgado in Brazil (whose followers wore green shirts), and Eoin O'Duffy in the Irish Free State (Army Comrades Association or "Blueshirts"). "Blueshirts" can also refer to Canadian fascists belonging to the Canadian National Socialist Unity Party. Hitler redirects here. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... The seal of SA SA propaganda poster. ... SS redirects here. ... Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (November 16, 1896 – December 3, 1980), was a British politician known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists. ... The flag of the British Union of Fascists showing the Flash and Circle symbolic of action within unity The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a political party of the 1930s in the United Kingdom. ... William Dudley Pelley wanted poster William Dudley Pelley (March 12, 1890-July 1, 1965) was an American Fascist and leader of the Silver Legion. ... The Silver Legion of America, commonly known as the Silver Shirts, was an American Nazi organization founded by William Dudley Pelley on January 30, 1933. ... The Gold shirts (Spanish: Camisas Doradas) were a Mexican fascist paramilitary organization in the 1930s. ... Plínio Salgado (January 22, 1895–December 7, 1975) was the founder and leader of the 1930s Brazilian fascist movement known as Integralism. Early life Born in the small traditional town of São Bento do Sapucaí in São Paulo state, he was the son of Col. ... General Eoin ODuffy (20 October 1892 - 30 November 1944), was in succession a Teachta Dála (TD), the Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army, the second Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, leader of the fascist Blueshirts and then the first leader of Fine Gael (1933... This article is about the prior state. ... The Army Comrades Association (ACA), better known by its nickname The Blueshirts, was an Irish organisation set up by former police commissioner and army General Eoin ODuffy in the 1930s. ... The Parti national social chrétien was a Canadian political party formed by Adrien Arcand in February 1934. ...

History

Mussolini with fascist officials in Blackshirt 1922.

The Blackshirts were established as the squadristi in 1919 and consisted of many disgruntled former soldiers which may have numbered 200,000 by the time of Mussolini's March on Rome from October 27 to October 29, 1922. In 1922 the squadristi were reorganized into the milizia and formed numerous bandiere, and on 1 February 1923 they became the MVSN (Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale), which lasted until the Italian Armistice in 1943. The Italian Social Republic, located in the areas of northern Italy occupied by Germany, reformed the MVSN into the GNR (Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana). Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... For the movie by Dino Risi, see March on Rome (film) The March on Rome was a pseudo-coup détat by which Mussolinis National Fascist Party came to power in Italy. ... is the 300th day of the year (301st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 302nd day of the year (303rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Anthem Giovinezza (The Youth)¹ Capital Salò Language(s) Italian Religion Roman Catholicism Government Republic Head of State Benito Mussolini Historical era World War II  - Established September 23, 1943  - Disestablished April 25, 1945 ¹ External link The Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana or RSI) was a Nazi puppet state led by... Republican National Guard (GNR) it was constituted by the decree of 8 December 1943, appointing Renato Ricci as commander. ...

Organization

Benito Mussolini was always the Commandant-General, but executive functions were carried out by the Chief of Staff, equivalent to an army general. The MVSN was formed in imitation of the ancient Roman army, as follows: Commandant is a military or police title or rank and can mean any of the following: The commander of certain military corps and services, such as the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Commandant of the Coast Guard in the United States or the Commandant of the (now obsolete... The Roman army was a set of land-based military forces employed by the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and later Roman Empire as part of the Roman military. ...

Basic Organization

The terms after the first are not words common to European armies (e.g., the Italian battaglione has cognates in many languages). Instead, they derive from the structure of the armies of ancient Rome.

• Zona (Zone) = division
• Legione (Legion) = regiment, each legion was a militia unit consisting of a small active cadre and a large reserve of civilian volunteers.
• Coorte (Cohort) = battalion
• Centuria (Centuria) = company
• Manipolo (Maniple)= platoon
• Squadra (Squad) = squad

These units were also organized on the triangular principle as follows: Zone may refer to: Zoning, in urban planning DVD region code DNS zone, a portion of the namespace in the Domain Name System Zone diet, a diet that involves precise proportions by weight of protein, fat and carbohydrate Erogenous zone, an area on the body which is sexually stimulating Zone... Symbol of the Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division in NATO code A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to twenty thousand soldiers. ... The Roman Legion (from Latin , from lego, legere, legi, lectus — to collect) is a term that can apply both as a transliteration of legio (conscription or army) to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly (and more commonly), to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of... British regiment A regiment is a military unit, consisting of a variable number of battalions - commanded by a colonel. ... Lebanese Kataeb militia A Militia is an army composed of ordinary [1] citizens to provide defense, emergency or paramilitary service, or those engaged in such activity. ... Cohort may mean: Cohort (military unit), a Roman legion. ... Symbol of the Austrian 14th Armoured Battalion in NATO military graphic symbols This article is about the military unit. ... Centuria (Latin plural Centuriae) is a Latin substantive rooting in centum a hundred, denoting units consisting of (originally, approximatively) a 100 men. ... Standard NATO code for a friendly infantry company. ... Maniple (Latin: manipulus) was a tactical unit of the Roman Legion, consisting of two centuriae within a single cohort. ... Platoon of the German Bundeswehr. ... In the fire service a Squad is a Engine Company with a compliment of rescue tools. ...

• 3 squadre = 1 manipolo (maniple)
• 3 manipoli = 1 centuria (centurie)
• 3 centurie = 1 coorte (cohort)
• 3 coorti = 1 legione (legion)
• 3 legioni = 1 divisioni (field division) or
• 3 or more legioni = 1 zona (zone - an administrative division)

Territorial Organization

The MVSN original organization consisted of 15 zones controlling 133 legions (one per province) of three cohorts each and one Independent Group controlling 10 legions. In 1929 it was reorganized into four raggruppamenti, but later in October of 1936 it was reorganized into 14 zones controlling only 133 legions with two cohorts each, one of men 21 to 36 years old and the other of men up to 55 years old, plus special units in Rome, on Ponza Island and the black uniformed Moschettieri del Duce ("The Leader's Musketeers", Mussolini's Guard) and the Albanian Militia (four legions) and Colonial Militia in Africa (seven legions). Special militias were also organized to provide security police functions, these included: MVSNOriginal Organization by Royal Decree on 1 February 1923 was as follows: 1st Zona (Piemonte) Hq Torino 1st Sabauda - Torino 2d Alpina - Torino 3rd Subalpina - Cuneo 4th Marengo - Allessandria 5th Valle Scrivia - Tortona 11th Monferrato - Casale 12th Monte Bianco - Aosta 28th Randaccio - Vercelli 29th Alpina - Pallanza 30th Oddone - Novara 37th... In Italy, a province (in Italian: provincia) is an administrative division of intermediate level between municipality (comune) and region (regione). ... Ponza and the Pontine Islands. ... MVSN Albanian Militia was formed in 1939 following Italys invasion and annexation of Italians living in Albania and later on Albanians were also recruited. ... MVSN Colonial Militia were based in the Italian African colonial possessions of Italian North Africa comprising Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, and in Italian East Africa comprising Eritrea, Ethiopia and Italian Somaliland. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Security police are those persons, usually employed by a governmental agency, who provide police and security services to their properties. ...

Security Militia

• Anti-aircraft and Coastal Artillery Militia, a combined command which controlled two militias:
  • Anti-Aircraft Militia
  • Coastal Artillery Militia
• Forestry Militia
• Frontier Militia
• Highway Militia
• Port Militia
• Posts and Telegraph Militia
• Railway Militia
• University Militia

19th century coastal artillery guns preserved in Suomenlinna fortress in Helsinki Coastal artillery is the branch of armed forces concerned with operating mobile anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. ... East German guards wait for the official opening of the Brandenburg Gate George W. Bush in a border patrol dune buggy Border Guard, Border Patrol, Border police, or Frontier police is a state security agency that performs border control, i. ... A highway patrol is either a police agency created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways, such as the California Highway Patrol, or a detail within an existing local or regional police agency that is primarily concerned with such duties, such as...

Ethiopian Campaign

During the 1936 Abyssinian Campaign or the Possibly the VII(7th) MVSN Division "Cirene" may have also existed. Combatants Kingdom of Italy Ethiopian Empire Commanders Benito Mussolini Emilio De Bono Pietro Badoglio Rodolfo Graziani Haile Selassie Ras Imru Strength 800,000 combatants (only ~330,000 mobilized) ~250,000 combatants Casualties 10,000 killed1 (est. ...

World War II

In 1940 the MVSN was able to muster 340,000 first-line combat troops, providing three divisions (1st, 2nd and 4th - all three of which were lost in the North African Campaign) and, later in 1942, a fourth division ("M") and fifth division Africa were forming.

Mussolini also pushed through plans to raise 142 MVSN combat battalions of 650 men each to provide a Gruppo di Assalto to each army division. These Gruppi consisted of two cohorts (each of three centurie of 3 manipoli of 2 squadre each) plus Gruppo Supporto company of two heavy machine gun manipoli (with three HMG each) and two 81 mm mortar manipoli (with 3 Mortars each).

Later 41 Mobile groups were raised to become the third regiment in Italian Army divisions as it was determined through operational experience that the Italian arm's binary divisions were too small in both manpower and heavy equipment. These mobile groups suffered heavy casualties due to being undermanned, under equipped and under trained. The three divisions were destroyed in combat in North Africa. The MVSN fought in every theater where Italy did.  Northern Africa (UN subregion)  geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa. ...

Ranks

Benito Mussolini as First Honorary Corporal of the MVSN.

Mussolini as Comandante Generale was made Primo Caporale Onorario (First Honorary Corporal) in 1935 and Adolf Hitler was made Caporale Onorario (Honorary Corporal) in 1937. All other ranks closely approximated those of the old Roman army as follows: Image File history File links Download high resolution version (269x740, 34 KB) Description: Benito Mussolini during an official visit to occupied Yugoslavia Source: USHMM Photograph #89908 Date: 1941 - 1943 Author: Muzej Revolucije Narodnosti Jugoslavije Permission: USHMM, courtesy of Revolucije Narodnosti Jugoslavije, Public Domain Other versions of this file: Image:Image... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (269x740, 34 KB) Description: Benito Mussolini during an official visit to occupied Yugoslavia Source: USHMM Photograph #89908 Date: 1941 - 1943 Author: Muzej Revolucije Narodnosti Jugoslavije Permission: USHMM, courtesy of Revolucije Narodnosti Jugoslavije, Public Domain Other versions of this file: Image:Image... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• Comandante generale = Commander-in-chief
• Comandante = general
• Console generale = brigadier general
• Console = colonel and commanded a legion
• Primo seniore = lieutenant colonel
• Seniore = major who commanded a cohort
• Centurione = captain who commanded a centuria
• Capomanipolo = First Lieutenant
• Sottocapomanipolo = second lieutenant
• Aspirante sottocapomanipolo = officer cadet
• Primo aiutante = First or Master Warrant officer
• Aiutante capo = Chief Warrant Officer
• Aiutante = Warrant officer
• Primo capo squadra = First Sergeant
• Capo squadra = Squad Leader or Corporal or Sergeant
• Vicecapo squadra = Vice Squad Leader or Lance Corporal
• Camicia nera scelta = Black Shirt Private First Class
• Camicia nera = Black Shirt Private

== Commander-in-Chief (in NATO-lingo often C-in-C or CINC pronounced sink) is the commander of all the military forces within a particular region or of all the military forces of a state. ... Commandant is a military or police title or rank and can mean any of the following: The commander of certain military corps and services, such as the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Commandant of the Coast Guard in the United States or the Commandant of the (now obsolete... Cohort may mean: Cohort (military unit), a Roman legion. ... Centurion can mean: In the military: Centurion (Roman army), a professional officer of the Roman army who commanded a large amount of men. ... Adjutant is a military rank or appointment. ... This article is about the military rank. ...

See also

• Black Brigades
• Blue Shirts Society
• Italian Social Republic
• Militia
• Blueshirts
• Brownshirts
• Paramilitary
• Political color
• Political uniform
• Squadrismo
• Integralismo

For the 1970 film see Black Brigade (film) Black Brigades (Italian: Brigate Nere) were one of the fascist paramilitary groups operating in the Italian Social Republic (in northern Italy), during the final years of World War II, and after the signing of the Italian Armistice in 1943. ... Chaotiangong, headquarter of BSS in Nanjing The Blue Shirts Society (蓝衣社 in Chinese, hereinafter referred to as the BSS) also known as Society of Practice of Three Principles of People (三民主义力行社 in Chinese, hereinafter referred to SPTPP in short ), Spirit Encouragement Society(励志社 in Chinese) and China Reconstruction Society (中华复兴社 in Chinese，hereinafter referred... Anthem Giovinezza (The Youth)¹ Capital Salò Language(s) Italian Religion Roman Catholicism Government Republic Head of State Benito Mussolini Historical era World War II  - Established September 23, 1943  - Disestablished April 25, 1945 ¹ External link The Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana or RSI) was a Nazi puppet state led by... Lebanese Kataeb militia A Militia is an army composed of ordinary [1] citizens to provide defense, emergency or paramilitary service, or those engaged in such activity. ... The Army Comrades Association (ACA), better known by its nickname The Blueshirts, was an Irish organisation set up by former police commissioner and army General Eoin ODuffy in the 1930s. ... Hitler addressing SA members in the late 1920s The Sturmabteilung (SA, German for Storm Division and is usually translated as stormtroops or stormtroopers) functioned as a paramilitary organisation of the NSDAP – the German Nazi party. ... Paramilitary designates forces whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force, but which are not regarded as having the same status. ... Political colours are colours used to represent a political stance, a political ideology, or — in a telling use of terminology — a position on the political spectrum. ... A number of political movements have involved their members wearing uniforms, typically as a way of showing their identity in marches. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... Integralism is a perspective according to which society is an organic unity. ...

External links

• Axis History Factbook/Italy/Militia
• Comando Supremo