The informative Mussolini sketch
concludes.
This time it’s mostly about
Mussolini, gleaned from formal sources of information. I wish these sources had
been more involved, more “subjective,” to tell the truth. Mussolini demands
more scholarly attention than he is getting. More than anything else, he
demands an honest assessment with direct reference to our modern times.
Except for a short closing
remark, the bulk of Part IV of the Mussolini entry consists of important
reference material highlighted by the teal font, with my occasional
interjections done in red. I am quite aware that all of this material can be
dug up by a diligent reader from reference sources, but I consider being
pointed to this material of greater value than keeping an enormous encyclopedia
of facts and figures at hand without a special incentive to open it.
Please keep in mind that I do not
automatically subscribe to the teal-fonted text below, whenever I leave it
without any comment. In fact, I disagree with much in it. I recommend that the
reader go through the information contained here with some attention, but take
all opinions expressed with a rock of salt.
Hopefully, I have presented my
rationale for quoting it at such length with sufficient adequacy. This is my
scholarly pitch in support of further study, whereas my scholarly view of this
matter is scattered throughout the entirety of this very important and
extremely current multi-parter.
***
But Mussolini’s
‘axis’ with Germany was confirmed when he made the “Pact of
Steel” with Hitler in May 1939. Clearly the subordinate partner, Mussolini
followed the Nazis in adopting a racial policy which led to the persecution of
the Jews and to the creation of ‘apartheid’ in the Italian empire. Formerly,
Jews were not specifically persecuted by Fascism. Jewish leaders were high
members of the Fascist Party. Later, he would refuse to allow Jews to be
deported to concentration camps up until Germany occupied Italy during the war.
Members of TIGR, a Slovene anti-fascist group, plotted to kill Mussolini in
1938, but this was unsuccessful. (When with
Berlin, don’t do as the Romans do? A bitter lesson for Mussolini! Forgive me,
but how can I restrain myself from having some cruel fun over modern times: When in EU, don’t do as they’d like to do in
your paltry village…)
The term
Axis Powers was coined by Mussolini in November 1936, when he spoke of a
Rome-Berlin axis in reference to the treaty of friendship signed between Italy
and Germany on October 25, 1936. In May 1939, Mussolini would describe the
relationship with Germany as a Pact of Steel, something, which he had
earlier referred to as a Pact of Blood. (As
for Japan, a presumably Axis power, she never followed Hitler’s bidding, but
fell on entirely her own [?] Samurai sword.)
As World
War II approached, Mussolini announced his intention of annexing Malta,
Corsica, and Tunis. He spoke of creating a “New Roman Empire,” which
would stretch from Libya to Palestine; and from Egypt to Kenya. In April 1939,
after a brief war, he annexed Albania. This campaign strained his military. His
armed forces were unprepared for combat at the time when Germany invaded Poland
leading to World War II. He thus decided to remain non-belligerent until
he was quite certain which side would win. (A
classic example of strategic indecision. Italy tied herself to Hitler at the
time of his success, and next shared his debacle. Alas, Mussolini was not as
smart as Franco. In fact, he wasn’t too smart, after all!)
On June
10, 1940, as the Germans under General Guderian reached the English Channel,
Italy declared war on Britain and France. In October, Italy attacked Greece, in
what is generally seen as a failure. In June 1941 it declared war on the Soviet
Union and in December on the United States. (From
now on, Hitler’s impending doom becomes Mussolini’s impending doom, and
Mussolini’s story becomes as predictable as the story of a stone tossed up high
into the air and then returning back to earth.)
Following
Italy’s defeats on all fronts aggravated by the Anglo-American landing in
Sicily in 1943, most of his colleagues (Count Galeazzo Ciano, foreign
minister and Mussolini’s son-in-law included) turned against him at a meeting
of the Fascist Grand Council on June 25, 1943; this enabled the king to
dismiss and arrest him. On July 8, 1943, King Victor Emmanuel III called
Mussolini to his palace, and stripped the dictator of his power. Upon leaving
the palace, Mussolini was swiftly arrested. He was sent to Gran Sasso, a
mountain recovery in central Italy, in complete isolation.
Mussolini
was substituted by the Maresciallo d’Italia General Pietro Badoglio, who
immediately declared, in a famous speech: “La guerra continua a fianco
dell'Alleato Germanico!” (“War continues at the side of our German
allies”), but was instead working to negotiate a surrender. In a few days
(on September the 8th) Badoglio would sign an armistice with the
Allied troops.
Rescued
by the Germans several months later in a spectacular raid led by Otto
Skorzeny, Mussolini set up the Italian Social Republic, a Republican
Fascist state (RSI, Repubblica Sociale Italiana) in northern Italy, with
him living in Gargnano. But he was now little more than a puppet under
the protection of the German Army. In this Republic of Salo, Mussolini
returned to his earlier ideas of socialism and collectivization. He also
executed some of the Fascist leaders, who had abandoned him, including Galeazzo
Ciano. During this period he also wrote his memoirs, entitled My Rise and
Fall.
On April
28, 1945, just before the Allied armies reached Milan, Mussolini, along with
his mistress Claretta Petacci, were caught by Italian partisans as he headed
for Chiavenna to board a plane to Switzerland. They were both shot on the spot
along with their sixteen-man escort. The next day the bodies were hung in Milan
along with those of other fascists to be abused by the crowds. Mussolini’s body
was then taken to Predappio and to the family chapel. Mussolini was survived by
his wife Rachele Mussolini nèe Guidi, by his two sons, Vittorio and Romano
Mussolini, and his daughter Edda, the widow of Count Ciano. A third son, Bruno,
had been killed in an air accident, testing a military plane. Mussolini’s
granddaughter Alessandra, daughter of Romano, is a deputy in the Republican
Chamber.
Thus ends the story of Mussolini
without ever providing us with a clear answer as to why Italy first saluted
him, then destroyed him and abused his body. The explanation of his rise and
fall by, first, his nation’s high hopes, then, its bitter disappointment, is
obviously true, but too generic and non-specific. The short answer which has to
suffice for the moment is Vae Victis!
A more interesting question is why the Axis Powers lost World War II? My firm
answer gives the only reason that makes sense to me. They lost the war on the
day, June 22, 1941, when Hitler attacked Russia.
The End.
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