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On this day, 6 July 1921, the Arditi del Popolo, an early militant anti-fascist organisation, had its first official public rally in the botanical garden in Rome, Italy. The police reported that 15,000 people were in attendance, and that “there were numerous red and black flags”, whereas the press reported between 30,000 and 70,000 attendees.
Arditi was the name of the Italian army special forces unit in World War I, so the name “Arditi del Popolo” meant “People’s Arditi”. On July 6 they formed themselves into three battalions of 1000 fighters each, with the purpose of defending workers from violent attacks by the fascist blackshirts of Benito Mussolini.
After the rally there were some clashes and shootouts between the Arditi, fascist squads and the police, during which 10 people were wounded and some Arditi members were arrested for weapons possession.
The group brought revolutionary trade unionists, anarchists, communists, and socialists together, and within its first year it had grown to include over 100 offices and 20,000 members.
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https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/working-class-history/id1355066333
Pictured: Arditi in Rome, 1921 https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/2027899064061900/?type=3
