Acerbo Law

The Acerbo Law was a 1923 electoral law forced through the Italian Parliament - if a party gained 25 percent of the votes, they gained 2/3 of the seats. After the 1924 election, this method gave Benito Mussolini a huge majority. The socialists didn't recogize this law and didn't participate in the government, which was fine with the fascists. Later, socialist leaders, such as Giacomo Matteotti, were assassinated. The importance of this law is that it enabled the fascists to establish a political base in the Italian parliament, which Mussolini used to create a dictatorship.