Fasci Italiani di Combattimento

The Fasci Italiani di Combattimento (English: Italian Fasces of Combat, also translatable as 'Italian Fighting Bands' or 'Italian Fighting Leagues') was an Italian fascist organisation created by Benito Mussolini in 1919. It was the successor of the Fasci d'Azione Rivoluzionaria, being notably further right than its predecessor. The Fasci Italiani di Combattimento was reorganised into the National Fascist Party in 1921.

The Fasci Italiani di Combattimento was founded by Mussolini and his supporters in the aftermath of World War I, at a meeting held in Milan in March 1919. It was an ultranationalist organisation that intended to appeal to war veterans from across the political spectrum, at first without a clear political orientation. It was closely associated with Mussolini's newspaper, Il Popolo d'Italia, and Mussolini served as the leader (Duce) of the movement throughout its existence.

After a very poor result in the Italian election of 1919, in which no members of the Fasci were elected to any office, the organisation moved further to the right and developed a reputation for using paramilitary violence against its political opponents, especially members of the Italian Socialist Party. Through the support of its blackshirts militia and a political alliance with the government of Giovanni Giolitti and the Italian Nationalist Association, the Fasci was able to enter the Italian Parliament for the first time after the election of 1921. In November of that year, the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento renamed and restructured itself as the National Fascist Party.