56 THE RISE OF ITALIAN FASCISM
cratic. Too democratic, we dare say. It has much in
common with other party programmes. But the Popolari,
in choosing their weapons, must observe the strictest
legality. By so doing they can play a very great part in
national life. They alone can hope to compete with the
socialists for the rural vote at the next election.3
And so it fell out. For two years the socialists had no
opponents—apart from their own stupidity—except the
new party. • The Popolari alone opposed the constituent
assembly and breached the socialist monopoly in the
syndical sphere, especially in the country districts ; and
Italy was still, in spite of the war, an essentially rural
country. In so far as any c bolshevik danger' existed at
all in Italy it was the Popolari who checked it.
The dual character of the Popolari made it difficult for
them to collaborate with the socialists, who for their part
were not ready for any such thing. This was the funda-
mental cause of the successive ministerial crises which used
up the only two leaders then at the disposal of the Italian
bourgeoisie., Nitti and Giolitti.
By the time of his accession to power Nitti had accom-
plished a great deal. He was an honest liberal, widely
read in history and economics and, which was unusual in
an Italian statesman, thoroughly acquainted with the great
modern states, particularly England, Germany, and the
United States. He was abreast of modern movements and
tendencies in international finance. At the same time—
and this curious combination explains to a large extent both
his merits and defects-—he remained, by extraction and
temperament, a typical Italian of the south, brought up in
primitive social surroundings, where organized parties and
advanced labour movements were quite unknown. Con-
sequently he came quickly to the fore, like many of the
pick of the south, who did not have to win their spurs in
local campaigns. They were bound to their native soil by
ties of common feeling, local prestige, or social rank, and
there was no connection between their intense, often
cosmopolitan culture and the local life. They were self-
made men, and when they returned from Naples, Rome,