III. Kriegführung, Herrschaftstechnik Und Besatzungspraxis Der Achsenmächte in Südosteuropa Und in Der Sowjetunion H

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III. Kriegführung, Herrschaftstechnik und Besatzungspraxis der Achsenmächte in Südosteuropa und in der Sowjetunion H. JAMES BURGWYN Mussolini’s Troika in occupied Yugoslavia Fascist Commissars, 2nd Army, and Foreign Ministry 1. Fascist imperialism in the Balkans Benito Mussolini waged a brutal imperialist war in Yugoslavia between 1941 and 1943, with the aim of carving out a vast Italian spazio vitale in the Balkans. When the Axis invasion triggered ethnic killing among the Yugoslav peoples, and a Partisan resistance rose to throw out the imperialist predators, an ugly chapter in Balkan history was about to be written. The Italian 2nd Army’s answer to insurgency was draconian repression, involving many soldiers in the perpetration of war crimes. Mussolini had for long mused on expansion in the Balkans. The conquest of Greece and Albania was merely the beginning. But only after acquiring Nazi Germany as an ally did Mussolini dare move from clandestine subversion of Yugoslavia to military invasion across the Adriatic. He rode to victory riding Hitler’s coattails. By the grace of the »Führer«, Mus- solini set up an Ustaša regime in Zagreb under the leadership of Ante Paveli´c to preside over an elephantine Croatia that was intended to evolve as an Italian protectorate. The Italians annexed major portions of Dalmatia, founded la provincia di Lubiana, and gathered in a slimmed-down Montenegro1. Mussolini drove an imperialist chariot in Yugoslavia drawn by a troika of horses: Fascist commissars, the 2nd Army, and the Foreign Ministry. Were the three bound together by a common Fascist ideology that fixed imperialist objectives and defined occupation policy toward the conquered peoples? Or did each one conduct counterinsurgency and empire-building on its own with few guidelines from Rome? Did the ongoing strains and differences among the three throw the troika off its course, or can one dismiss these disagreements as episodic tiffs and back-biting? In the annexed territories of Dalmatia and Slove- nia and in the Montenegrin satrapy, Mussolini appointed Fascists of high stan- ding as civilian commissars to rule with an iron fist. Giuseppe Bastianini was appointed governor of Dalmatia, Emilio Grazioli received the title of high commissioner of Slovenia, and Serafino Mazzolini took over the reins of go- vernment in Mon te negro. Anxious to prove their mettle as imperial lords, 1 Many ideas from this article are drawn from my book: Empire on the Adriatic: Mussolini’s Conquest of Yugoslavia 1941-1943, New York 2005. I have greatly benefited from Davide Rodogno’s recent fine study Il nuovo ordine mediterraneo. Le politiche di occupazione dell’Italia fascista in Eu ropa (1940-1943), Turin 2003. Coming from a country that knows practically nothing about the Italian occupation of Yugoslavia, I owe deep gratitude to many European scholars working in the field. I am particularly indebted to Enzo Collotti for providing me with profound insights in his many writings..

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