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The Fasci Siciliani (:ˈfaʃʃi sitʃiˈljani), short for Fasci Siciliani dei Lavoratori (Sicilian Workers Leagues), were a popular movement of democratic and socialist inspiration, which arose in Sicily in the years between 1889 and 1894.〔''Fascio'' (plural: ''fasci'') literally means "faggot" (as in a bundle of sticks), but also "league", and was used in the late 19th century to refer to political groups of many different (and sometimes opposing) orientations.〕 The Fasci gained the support of the poorest and most exploited classes of the island by channeling their frustration and discontent into a coherent programme based on the establishment of new rights. Consisting of a jumble of traditionalist sentiment, religiosity, and socialist consciousness, the movement reached its apex in the summer of 1893, when new conditions were presented to the landowners and mine owners of Sicily concerning the renewal of share cropping and rental contracts. Upon the rejection of these conditions, there was an outburst of strikes that rapidly spread throughout the island, and was marked by violent social conflict, almost rising to the point of insurrection. The leaders of the movement were not able to keep the situation from getting out of control. The proprietors and landowners asked the government to intervene, and Prime Minister Francesco Crispi declared a state of emergency in January 1894, dissolving the organizations, arresting its leaders and restoring order through the use of extreme force. Some reforms followed, including workmen's compensation and pension schemes. The suppression of the strikes also led to an increase in emigration. ==Characteristics== The Fasci movement was made up of a federation of scores of associations that developed among farm workers, tenant farmers, and small sharecroppers as well as artisans, intellectuals, and industrial workers.〔Bruno Cartosio, ''Sicilian Radicals in Two Worlds'', in: Debouzy, ''In the Shadow of the Statue of Liberty'', pp. 120-21〕 The immediate demands of the movement were fair land rents, higher wages, lower local taxes and distribution of misappropriated common land.〔Seton-Watson, ''Italy from liberalism to fascism'', pp. 162-63〕 Between 1889 and 1893 some 170 Fasci were established in Sicily. According to some sources the movement reached a membership of more than 300,000 by the end of 1893.〔 The Fasci constituted autonomous organizations with their own insignia (red rosettes), uniforms and sometimes even musical bands, and their own local halls for reunions and congresses.〔Colajanni, ''Gli avvenimenti di Sicila e le loro cause'', p. 14〕 They were called Fasci (''Fascio'' literally means bundle) because everyone can break a single stick, but no one can break a bundle of sticks.〔 (Il tribunale militare fu un abuso di Crispi ), La Repubblica, 5 February 2009〕 While many of the leaders were of socialist or anarchist leanings, few of their supporters were true revolutionaries. Nevertheless, the peasants who assembled into the Fasci were eager for social justice and convinced that a new world was about to be born. A crucifix hung beside the red flag in many of their meeting-places, and portraits of the King beside those of the revolutionaries Garibaldi, Mazzini and Marx. Cheers for the King were often heard in their marches that almost resembled quasi-religious processions.〔 Many of the Fasci were part of the Italian Workers' Party (''Partito dei Lavoratori Italiani'', the initial name of the Italian Socialist Party) that had been founded at a conference in Genoa on August 14, 1892.〔Colajanni, ''Gli avvenimenti di Sicila e le loro cause'', p. 17〕〔Scolaro, ''Il movimento antimafia siciliano'', p.18〕 The rural Fasci in particular were a curious phenomenon: both ancient and modern. They combined millenarian aspirations with urban intellectual leadership often in contact with workers’ organizations and ideas in the more industrialized Northern Italy.〔Clark, ''Modern Italy, 1871 to the present'', (pp. 124-25 )〕 According to the Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm, the Fasci were millenarian insofar as the socialism preached by the movement was seen by the Sicilian peasantry as a new religion, the true religion of Christ – betrayed by the priests, who were on the side of the rich – that foretold the dawn of a new world, without poverty, hunger and cold, in accordance with God’s will. The Fasci, which included many women, were encouraged by the messianic belief that the start of a new reign of justice was looming and the movement spread like an epidemic.〔Hobsbawm, ''Primitive rebels'', (pp. 98-101 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fasci Siciliani」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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