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Acerbo Law (1923)
An Italian electoral law passed in November 1923, named after Baron Giacomo Acerbo who proposed it. It changed Italy's electoral system to give the party or coalition winning at least 25% of the national vote two-thirds of all parliamentary seats. This "majority premium" guaranteed Mussolini's Fascist coalition would dominate parliament after the April 1924 elections, even if many votes were won through fraud and intimidation.
Aventine Secession
The withdrawal of most non-Fascist Italian parliamentary deputies from the Chamber of Deputies in June 1924, in protest at the kidnapping and murder of Socialist deputy Giacomo Matteotti. Named after the ancient Roman precedent of 494 BC, when plebeians withdrew to the Aventine Hill to demand rights. The secession backfired: it left Mussolini's supporters in sole control of parliament, removed the opposition from the political arena, and relied on King Victor Emmanuel III to act against Mussolini. He did not. By early 1925, Mussolini had used the political vacuum to declare an open dictatorship.