the fasci siciliani were a popular movement of democratic and socialist inspiration, which arose in sicily in the years between 1889 and 1894. 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 sharecropping and rental contracts.