130 THE RISE OF ITALIAN FASCISM
the national bloc. There was a displacement, therefore, of a
little over half a million votes out of a total of six and a half
million ; this meant a loss of about twenty seats to the
workers5 parties, who had 139 in 1921 (123 socialists and
16 communists) to 156 in 1919, and since the number of
deputies had risen from 508 to 535 their percentage had
fallen from 30 per cent to 26 per cent. The problem of
the majority remained almost unchanged. Socialists and
Popolari, the latter having won more votes and ten more
seats, were still the two strongest groups. Giolitti's grand
design had completely failed. It was the fascists who really
gained most by it. Mussolini was elected head of the list at
Milan and Bologna and the new Chamber included a fascist
group of thirty-five members.
But the real fight had only just begun and the outcome
was far distant. A preliminary swing to the right had taken
place. Would the workers' parties learn from their ex-
perience ? There were no signs at the moment. The
socialists rejoiced in their c victory', celebrated by the
Avanti with huge headlines : The Italian proletariat has buried
the fascist reaction under an avalanche of red posters. The com-
munists, even more blind, directed their campaign against
the socialists rather than the fascists, proclaiming as their
slogan : The May 1921 elections must pass the verdict on the
Socialist Party. Mussolini, overjoyed and arrogant in his
own victory, felt that the hour he had awaited since 1914
was at hand : the hour of vengeance and power.