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However, Mussolini though increasingly popular was unable to secure power through constitutional means. The Italian Fascist party only won 35 seats in the election of 1921, far less than the Socialists. Still, Mussolini was determined to win power for himself and his Party. The coalition government was very unpopular and during a period of instability, the Fascists descended on Rome in their thousands, to demand the resignation of the Prime Minister. <ref>Farrell, Nicholas. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1842121235/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1842121235&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=1ded7d46b1d91a3be742b28a7a7209d3 Mussolini: A New Life]''. London: Phoenix Press, 2003, p. 154 </ref> Some 30,000 Blackshirts traveled from all over Italy demanding a change in the government. This became known as the ‘March on Rome’.
Typical of Mussolini the event was stage -managed and theatrical. The Black Shirts were well drilled and disciplined. This was a deliberate policy of demonstrating that the Fascists were a force that supported law and order and the opposite of the Communists and Socialists who were seen as dangerous and destabilizing. During the March on Rome, Mussolini made sure he was photographed with the marchers and made many speeches when he repeatedly stated that Itlay was in danger and that only he and his party could save the country. the March on Rome was a piece of theater designed to win him and his party the popular support they needed to seize the government of the country. The Fascists arrived in Rome and many wondered what would occur. Mussolini and others feared that there would be bloodshed and that the army would fire on the marchers.<ref>Farrell, p. 155</ref>
====A conspiracy?====
