THE CAPORETTO OF SOCIALISM 221
but because of the strike,, the particular method of suicide
chosen by the workers5 organizations.
With the strike the situation took a definitely reactionary
turn, and the cabinet crisis which had followed the Cremona
acts of violence ended in fascist terrorism on a nation-wide
scale receiving what was practically an official blessing.
The conservative and c liberal' press had shown no en-
thusiasm for the attempted peace pact and had blamed the
fascists for contributing towards socialist participation by
their excesses ; the bourgeoisie, with Gioiitti, had expected
nothing but harm to come of the crisis begun by the vote of
July 19 in the Chamber j1 but now both showed revived
anxiety for c the authority of the state * against the workers
on strike, and congratulated the fascists who were con-
tinuing and extending, in the name of the state, the work of
destruction to which they had devoted themselves with
renewed fury in the past few weeks.
The Labour Alliance decided to end the strike at midday
on August 3, prolonging it for twelve hours so as not to give
the impression of having given way to the fascist ultimatum,
which expired at midnight on August 2. But the fascists
were not going to be baulked of their expected gains.
Michele Bianchi, the secretary of the party, telegraphed the
following circular to all the provincial federations :
c Although the attempted strike has, on the whole, failed
and the Labour Alliance been forced to declare it officially
ended, it must not pass unpunished. The " collaborationist"
socialists are the most to blame, and the fascists, returning
to their homes and demobilizing—where the situation
allows—must not forget it.52 The fascist offensive, then, had
a double political objective : to spread out and occupy other
districts and to strike especially hard at the c collabora-
tionist * socialists. The parliamentary offensive which
Mussolini had planned against them from the beginning of
the crisis was completed under arms throughout the country.
The government connived at it, and wherever its authority
was in the hands of the military, it was used almost every-
1 p-2n-
2 Referring to the strike while addressing the Central Committee of the
Fascist Party on August 13, Bianchi repeated that e,lt was conceived by
" collaborationist" socialism *.