---
title: Marble plaque quoting Mussolini's 9 May 1936 empire speech, Catania
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/il-popolo-italiano-ha-creato-limpero-catania-1936/
description: 'A carved marble plaque on a Catania wall, framed by stylised fasces, quotes Mussolini: the Italian people created the empire with their blood, will make…'
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Marble plaque quoting Mussolini's 9 May 1936 empire speech, Catania](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/il-popolo-italiano-ha-creato-limpero-catania-1936.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/il-popolo-italiano-ha-creato-limpero-catania-1936.jpg)

# Marble plaque quoting Mussolini's 9 May 1936 empire speech, Catania

A carved marble plaque on a Catania wall, framed by stylised fasces, quotes Mussolini: the Italian people created the empire with their blood, will make it fruitful with their labour and defend it against anyone with their arms. The abstract nouns (people, empire, blood, labour) stand in for any testable claim, and the plaque is signed with the leader's name and dated in the Fascist-era calendar.

## Text on the object

Original (Italian) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
IL POPOLO ITALIANO HA CREATO
COL SUO SANGUE L'IMPERO
LO FECONDERÀ COL SUO LAVORO
E LO DIFENDERÀ CONTRO CHIUNQUE
CON LE SUE ARMI.
MUSSOLINI

[date line, partly worn:] X MAGGIO MCMXXXVI XIV
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
THE ITALIAN PEOPLE HAVE CREATED THE EMPIRE WITH THEIR BLOOD
THEY WILL MAKE IT FRUITFUL WITH THEIR LABOUR
AND WILL DEFEND IT AGAINST ANYONE
WITH THEIR ARMS.
MUSSOLINI

[date line, partly worn:] X MAY 1936 XIV
```

The accent on FECONDERÀ and the first characters of the date line are not carved or are worn; the day numeral is read as X and may be mistaken. Roman numeral XIV is the year of the Fascist era.

[← 和平實現是我們第一步的勝利 (The Realisation of Peace Is Our First Step to Victory), Xi'an poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/xian-peace-first-step-victory-poster-1936/) [我國肇造五年 (Our Country Founded Five Years Ago), Concordia Association Jinzhou leaflet for 18 September →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/concordia-association-jinzhou-leaflet-mukden-anniversary-1936/)

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