Mussolini a New Life

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A 364818 MUSSOLINI A NEW LIFE Nicholas Farrell Weidenfeld & Nicolson LONDON CONTENTS Acknowledgements xi Illustrations xiii Maps xv Foreword xvii 1 The Land of the Duce 1 2 The Youth of the Duce 8 3 The Duce as Tramp and Teacher 21 4 The Duce as Journalist 34 5 Avanti! 47 6 Trench War in the Alps 66 7 The Birth of Fascism 75 The Crisis of the Italian Liberal State The Fascist Movement Is Founded If d'Annunzio's March on Fiume Was Comic Opera, Mussolini's March on Rome Was Opera Lirica Life at Fiume The 1919 General Election: Fascism Fails The Fascist Phoenix Rises Squadrismo 1921: 'L'Anno Fascista' 8 The March on Rome 110 9 Power: Year One of the Fascist Era 124 10 Dux 161 The Five Souls of Fascism The Battle for the Economy and the Corporate State Marriage and the Man The Conciliation of Church and State, 1929 11 The Fascist Faithful and the Cult of the Duce 214 1932: Year Ten of the Fascist Era Duce! Duce! The Glory Years: I Ragazzi degli Anni Trenta vii Mussolini: A New Life The Wall Street Crash and the Corporate State Getting Across the Fascist Message Starace and Lo Stile Fascista Foreign Policy 1925-35: An Italian Place in the Sun Austria 12 Ethiopia 1935-6: Mad Dogs and Englishmen 252 Galeazzo Ciano: The Son-in-Law the Duce Would Have Shot All Silent at Stresa Appeasing the Dictators A Proletarian Colonial War The Hoare-Laval Pact Victory in Ethiopia Ethiopia: Italian Atrocities and Vanity 13 The Spanish Civil War (1936-9): The Blurring of Good and Evil and the Taking of Sides 281 Chamberlain's Secret Contacts with Mussolini The Goose is a Roman Animal Anschluss Anglo-Italian Talks, 1938 The Clash of the Latin and the Teutonic The Munich Conference The Fascist Class War Against the Jewish Spirit The Pact of Steel 1939: Mussolini, Angel of Peace Ciano and the 'Vita Comoda' at the Nineteenth Hole Mildly Mad Mussolini 14 1940-3: Defeat 330 Mussolini's Parallel War Mussolini's Hundred Hours War 1940-1: Greek Farce Barbarossa 1942: The Turning Point Stalingrad Mussolini and the Jews The Plot Thickens The Popolo Stirs Unconditional Surrender Arrivederci Africa 15 July 1943: The Betrayal of Mussolini and the Death of the Fascist Regime 378 Cloaks and Daggers The King The Two Plots that Counted Feltre The Daggers Are Drawn viii Contents Saturday, 24 July: The Duce's 'Last Supper' Sunday, 25 July 24-25 July: Conclusion 16 September 1943: 'Una Tragedia all'Italiana' 414 The Island of Death Mussolini Escapes: The 600 Days of the Repubblica Sociale Italiana of Salo Mussolini Socialista Mussolini Executes his Son-in-Law Civil War: Dad's Army versus the Duce 17 The End 453 Their Finest Hour So Who Pulled the Trigger? Source notes 478 Index 509 IX.

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Chapter One: Introduction
CHANGING PERCEPTIONS OF IL DUCE TRACING POLITICAL TRENDS IN THE ITALIAN-AMERICAN MEDIA DURING THE EARLY YEARS OF FASCISM by Ryan J. Antonucci Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the History Program YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY August, 2013 Changing Perceptions of il Duce Tracing Political Trends in the Italian-American Media during the Early Years of Fascism Ryan J. Antonucci I hereby release this thesis to the public. I understand that this thesis will be made available from the OhioLINK ETD Center and the Maag Library Circulation Desk for public access. I also authorize the University or other individuals to make copies of this thesis as needed for scholarly research. Signature: Ryan J. Antonucci, Student Date Approvals: Dr. David Simonelli, Thesis Advisor Date Dr. Brian Bonhomme, Committee Member Date Dr. Martha Pallante, Committee Member Date Dr. Carla Simonini, Committee Member Date Dr. Salvatore A. Sanders, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies Date Ryan J. Antonucci © 2013 iii ABSTRACT Scholars of Italian-American history have traditionally asserted that the ethnic community’s media during the 1920s and 1930s was pro-Fascist leaning. This thesis challenges that narrative by proving that moderate, and often ambivalent, opinions existed at one time, and the shift to a philo-Fascist position was an active process. Using a survey of six Italian-language sources from diverse cities during the inauguration of Benito Mussolini’s regime, research shows that interpretations varied significantly. One of the newspapers, Il Cittadino Italo-Americano (Youngstown, Ohio) is then used as a case study to better understand why events in Italy were interpreted in certain ways.
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The Startling Rise to Power of Benito Mussolini
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Figure 3 Marshal of Italy Pietro Badoglio
never fully e×plo~ted ~nd reeo~,n~.zed. Them ?ictume of the medn] itne]I’ (See Figure 2 on Pm~e (~) ~,~ n very l-rood ~)roduction of n very ~e~ut~ful med;~l--The Me~al Theft Never ~ibbon~ Altern~t~rl~~, stripes o~" wh~te/li~.ht blue/darkb].ue/ r, ed/whi te/ye],iow/] i~,ht #,reen/bl~1ck/whi te FIGURE 3 MARSHAL OF ITALY PIETRO BADOGLIO -?- ITALIAN MARSHALS OF WORLD WARS I A~) II By Frank C. Dennis ~T312 Since there has not been much written about the men who held Italy’s highest military grade, I am here trying to give the basic facts about the best known of them. I even succeeded in obtaining a picture of a Marshal’s Baton with case (see Figure 4), awarded to two of thems Marshal Count Luigi Cadorna and Marshal Armando Diaz. Especially interesting is the fact that Benito Mussolini was instrumental in the elevation of Cadorna to this exalted rank. Two Marshals, Messe and Roatta, are known Only for rather dubious reasons. Messe was the man promoted by the Duce to Marshal just before he surrendered to the Allies in Tunisia, reminding one of the similar action of Adolf Hitler in regard to Frlederich Paulus at Stalingrad. Rostra was Chief of the Commando Supremo (Armed Forces High Command). Marshal Count Luigi Cadorna is the only man worthy of bearing the title of Marshal. ’What he accomplished during World War I was unbelievable in terms of endurance and stamina. Other generals would almost surely have been relieved much sooner, but he managed to survive through the eleven Battles of the Isonzo, including the catastrophe at Tolmein-Flitsch-Caporetto.
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