---
title: “No Turning Back!”
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/07-no-turning-back/
description: “No Turning Back!”, from Mussolini as Revealed in His Political Speeches (November 1914 to August 1923) by Benito Mussolini.
section: FRAME
---

![Illustration: an interwar radio-and-newsreel intelligence collage with a 1930s map of Europe and propaganda poster proofs.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/detail/hero-interwar.jpg)

[Library](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/) · Book · [Mussolini as Revealed in His Political Speeches (November 1914 to August 1923)](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/)

# “No Turning Back!”

This text

- **Work:** [Mussolini as Revealed in His Political Speeches (November 1914 to August 1923)](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/)
- **Author:** Benito Mussolini
- **Published:** 1923

Full details

- **Rights:** Published in 1923, more than 95 years ago, so in the public domain in the United States (works published in 1930 or earlier); Project Gutenberg marks the ebook public domain in the USA. The translator and editor, Bernardo Quaranta di San Severino, died in 1934 and Mussolini in 1945, so the term of life plus 70 years has also run out in Italy and the United Kingdom. The editor's introduction and prefatory notes are part of the 1923 book and are included.

Chapters

1. The Editor’s Introduction and the Manifesto
2. [Introduction: A Note on Italian Fascismo](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/01-introduction-a-note-on-italian-fascismo/)
3. [Manifesto of the Fascista National Party (English Translation)](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/02-manifesto-of-the-fascista-national-party-english/)
4. Part I: Mussolini the “Socialist”
5. [“Do Not Think That by Taking Away My Membership Card You Will Take Away My Faith in the Cause”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/03-do-not-think-that-by-taking-away-my-membership-c/)
6. Part II: Mussolini the “Man of the War”
7. [For the Liberty of Humanity and the Future of Italy](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/04-for-the-liberty-of-humanity-and-the-future-of-it/)
8. [“Either War or the End of Italy’s Name as a Great Power”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/05-either-war-or-the-end-of-italy-s-name-as-a-great/)
9. [“To the Complete Vanquishing of the Huns”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/06-to-the-complete-vanquishing-of-the-huns/)
10. [“No Turning Back!”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/07-no-turning-back/)
11. [The Fatal Victory](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/08-the-fatal-victory/)
12. [“In Honour of the American People”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/09-in-honour-of-the-american-people/)
13. [The League of Nations](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/10-the-league-of-nations/)
14. [In Celebration of Victory](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/11-in-celebration-of-victory/)
15. Part III: Mussolini the “Fascista Friend of the People”
16. [Workmen’s Rights After the War](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/12-workmen-s-rights-after-the-war/)
17. [Sacrifice, Work, and Production](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/13-sacrifice-work-and-production/)
18. [“We Are Not Against Labour, but Against the Socialist Party, in as Far as It Remains Anti-Italian”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/14-we-are-not-against-labour-but-against-the-social/)
19. [Fascismo’s Interests for the Working Classes](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/15-fascismo-s-interests-for-the-working-classes/)
20. [“My Father Was a Blacksmith and I Have Worked with Him; He Bent Iron, but I Have the Harder Task of Bending Souls”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/16-my-father-was-a-blacksmith-and-i-have-worked-wit/)
21. [Labour to Take the First Place in New Italy](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/17-labour-to-take-the-first-place-in-new-italy/)
22. Part IV: Mussolini the “Fascista”
23. [The Three Declarations at the First Fascista Meeting](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/18-the-three-declarations-at-the-first-fascista-mee/)
24. [Outline of the Aims and Programme of Fascismo](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/19-outline-of-the-aims-and-programme-of-fascismo/)
25. [Fascismo and the Rights of Victory](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/20-fascismo-and-the-rights-of-victory/)
26. [The Tasks of Fascismo](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/21-the-tasks-of-fascismo/)
27. [Fascismo and the Problems of Foreign Policy](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/22-fascismo-and-the-problems-of-foreign-policy/)
28. [How Fascismo Was Created: Its Evolution and Essence](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/23-how-fascismo-was-created-its-evolution-and-essen/)
29. [The Italy We Want Within, and Her Foreign Relations](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/24-the-italy-we-want-within-and-her-foreign-relatio/)
30. [“The Piave and Vittorio Veneto Mark the Beginning of New Italy”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/25-the-piave-and-vittorio-veneto-mark-the-beginning/)
31. [The Fascista Dawning of New Italy](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/26-the-fascista-dawning-of-new-italy/)
32. [“The Moment Has Arrived When the Arrow Must Leave the Bow or the Cord Will Break!”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/27-the-moment-has-arrived-when-the-arrow-must-leave/)
33. Part V: Mussolini the “Fascista Member of Parliament”
34. [Fascismo and the New Provinces](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/28-fascismo-and-the-new-provinces/)
35. [The Question of Montenegro’s Independence](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/29-the-question-of-montenegro-s-independence/)
36. [D’Annunzio and Fiume](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/30-d-annunzio-and-fiume/)
37. [Italy, Sionism, and the English Mandate in Palestine](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/31-italy-sionism-and-the-english-mandate-in-palesti/)
38. [The Attitude of Fascismo Towards Communism and Socialism](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/32-the-attitude-of-fascismo-towards-communism-and-s/)
39. [The Attitude of Fascismo Towards the Popular Party. The Vatican and Social Democracy](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/33-the-attitude-of-fascismo-towards-the-popular-par/)
40. Part VI: Mussolini the “Fascista Prime Minister”
41. [Mussolini the “Fascista Prime Minister”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/34-mussolini-the-fascista-prime-minister/)
42. [A New Cromwell in the Parliament](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/35-a-new-cromwell-in-the-parliament/)
43. [The Foreign Policy of the Fascista Government](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/36-the-foreign-policy-of-the-fascista-government/)
44. [The Policy of Fascismo for Italy: Economy, Work and Discipline](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/37-the-policy-of-fascismo-for-italy-economy-work-an/)
45. [“Conscientious General Diagnosis of the Conditions of the Country and Its Foreign Policy”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/38-conscientious-general-diagnosis-of-the-condition/)
46. [“I Remain the Head of Fascismo, Although the Head of the Italian Government”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/39-i-remain-the-head-of-fascismo-although-the-head/)
47. [“Our Task in History Is to Make a United State of the Italian Nation”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/40-our-task-in-history-is-to-make-a-united-state-of/)
48. [The Advance in the Ruhr District](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/41-the-advance-in-the-ruhr-district/)
49. [The Government of Speed](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/42-the-government-of-speed/)
50. [The March of Events on the Ruhr the Position of Italy](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/43-the-march-of-events-on-the-ruhr-the-position-of/)
51. [The Ruhr, the Conference of Lausanne and the Port of Memel](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/44-the-ruhr-the-conference-of-lausanne-and-the-port/)
52. [Ratification of the Washington Treaty of Naval Disarmament](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/45-ratification-of-the-washington-treaty-of-naval-d/)
53. [Message from the Hon. Mussolini to the Italians in America Upon the Occasion of the Signing of the Convention for the Laying of Cables Between Italy and the American Continent](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/46-message-from-the-hon-mussolini-to-the-italians-i/)
54. [For the Carrying Out of the Treaty of Rapallo](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/47-for-the-carrying-out-of-the-treaty-of-rapallo/)
55. [The Agreements of Santa Margherita, Italy and Yugoslavia](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/48-the-agreements-of-santa-margherita-italy-and-yug/)
56. [Questions of Foreign Policy Before the Senate. The Ruhr; Fiume; Zara and Dalmatia](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/49-questions-of-foreign-policy-before-the-senate-th/)
57. [A Review of European Politics in Their Relation with Italy](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/50-a-review-of-european-politics-in-their-relation/)
58. [The Italo-Yugoslav Conference for the Commercial Treaty](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/51-the-italo-yugoslav-conference-for-the-commercial/)
59. [“History Tells Us That Strict Finance Has Brought Nations to Security”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/52-history-tells-us-that-strict-finance-has-brought/)
60. [“It Is Not the Economic System of Europe Alone That We Have to Restore to Its Full Efficiency”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/53-it-is-not-the-economic-system-of-europe-alone-th/)
61. [“Only Those Who Profited by the War Grumbled and Still Grumble, Cursed and Still Curse at the War”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/54-only-those-who-profited-by-the-war-grumbled-and/)
62. [“Patriotism Is Not Formed by Mere Words”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/55-patriotism-is-not-formed-by-mere-words/)
63. [Questions of Foreign Policy Before the Cabinet](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/56-questions-of-foreign-policy-before-the-cabinet/)
64. [“Mine Is Not a Government Which Deceives the People”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/57-mine-is-not-a-government-which-deceives-the-peop/)
65. [“In Time Past as in Time Present, Woman Had Always a Preponderant Influence in Shaping the Destinies of Humanity”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/58-in-time-past-as-in-time-present-woman-had-always/)
66. [“So Long as These Students and These Universities Exist, the Nation Cannot Perish and Become a Slave, Because Universities Smash Fetters Without Allowing the Forging of New Ones”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/59-so-long-as-these-students-and-these-universities/)
67. [Italy’s Foreign Policy Regarding German Reparations, Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Russia, Poland and Other Countries](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/60-italy-s-foreign-policy-regarding-german-reparati/)
68. [“The Internal Policy”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/61-the-internal-policy/)
69. [“As Sardinia Has Been Great in War, So Likewise Will She Be Great in Peace”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/62-as-sardinia-has-been-great-in-war-so-likewise-wi/)
70. [“Men Pass Away, Maybe Governments Too, but Italy Lives and Will Never Die”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/63-men-pass-away-maybe-governments-too-but-italy-li/)
71. [“Fascismo Will Bring a Complete Regeneration to Your Land”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/64-fascismo-will-bring-a-complete-regeneration-to-y/)
72. [“As We Have Regained the Mastery of the Air, We Do Not Want the Sea to Imprison Us”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/65-as-we-have-regained-the-mastery-of-the-air-we-do/)
73. [“I Promise You—And God Is My Witness—That I Shall Continue Now and Always to Be a Humble Servant of Our Adored Italy”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/66-i-promise-you-and-god-is-my-witness-that-i-shall/)
74. [“The Victory of the Piave Was the Deciding Factor of the War”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/67-the-victory-of-the-piave-was-the-deciding-factor/)
75. [The Relations Between Italy and the United States](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/68-the-relations-between-italy-and-the-united-state/)
76. [“The Greatness of the Country Will Be Achieved by the New Generations”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/69-the-greatness-of-the-country-will-be-achieved-by/)
77. [The Situation on the Ruhr and Other Questions of Foreign Policy](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/70-the-situation-on-the-ruhr-and-other-questions-of/)
78. [The Electoral Reform Bill](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/71-the-electoral-reform-bill/)
79. [The Massacre of the Italian Delegation for the Delimitation of the Greco-Albanian Frontier](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/72-the-massacre-of-the-italian-delegation-for-the-d/)

[← “To the Complete Vanquishing of the Huns”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/06-to-the-complete-vanquishing-of-the-huns/) [The Fatal Victory →](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/08-the-fatal-victory/)

**Content note:** Speeches and an editor's introduction that praise Fascism and its leader, describe violence against Socialists and Communists as necessary, use hostile wartime terms such as "Huns" for Germans, and make nationalist claims to territory. Shown as printed. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

> Speech delivered in the Augusteo at Rome, 24th February 1918.

> The speech delivered at the Augusteo in Rome may be included among those made by the most fervent patriots to rouse the country to a resolute effort after the Caporetto disaster. It was a summons to resistance, and a strong indictment against the heads of the Government in Italy which was responsible for the moral collapse which took place in the Army, due to the evil influences of blackmail and neutralist Parliamentarism at work in the country. The salient feature of this meeting was the leaving of the hall by the generals representing the “Corpo d’Armata” and the Ministry of War. But it was entirely owing to this meeting of exasperated patriots that the general policy of the then Prime Minister ceased to be lenient to the enemy’s sympathisers and that active resistance paved the way to the victory of the country in arms.

I wonder if there is anyone among you who remembers a meeting in favour of intervention in the war, that we held three years ago in one of the squares in Rome? We were dispersed by the police, but we were in the right. We moved on, and history moved on with us.

Three cities created history. But it does not matter. It is always the cities which create history; the villages are content to endure it. We, after three years of war, notwithstanding Caporetto, solemnly and truly reaffirm all that was deep, pure and immortal in those days in May.

Remember! It was just in the May of 1915 that Italy was not afraid of knowing how to live, because she was not afraid of knowing how to die!

*The Mistake of May.* But we made a great mistake then, that we have since paid for bitterly. We, who wished for the war, ought to have taken command of the situation. (Loud applause.) The Italian people—which is not the plebeian crowd which gets drunk in taverns, for twenty centuries of history have not civilised us for nothing—the Italian people had, even then, a vague apprehension of the dangers which threatened its mission.

In the May of 1915 the nation as a whole presented a marvellous concentration of human force. We men of ’84, when we forded the Upper Isonzo, thought that it was never again to be crossed by the Germans. When we gained the other side, with one accord we shouted: “Long live Italy!” (Loud applause from the whole assembly, who echo the cry.) It was fine human material which we handed over to those men who carried on war as if it were a tiresome task more tedious than the rest. We gave it over—for a war which, after twenty centuries of history, was the first war of the Italian people—to men who did not understand it; to men who represented the past; to bureaucrats who have spilled much too much ink over the trials and sufferings of the people.

But we are here to say to you: Gentlemen! the Germans are on the Piave, the Germans have broken down one gate of the Veneto and are in the process of breaking down the other. The moment has come to see if our hearts are made of steel. (Enthusiastic applause.)

I know these soldiers, because, as a simple soldier myself, I have lived among them, leading the life of a simple soldier. I have seen them under all the different aspects of military life. I have seen them in the barracks, in the hard, bare military transports while going to the front, in the trenches, in the dugouts under ceaseless bombardment when the shells rained down death; I have seen them when every heart has stopped beating, awaiting the command of the officer, “Over the top”; I know them, these sons of Italy, and I tell you, they have not been merely soldiers, they have been saints and martyrs! (Loud burst of applause.)

*The Causes of Caporetto.* How then did Caporetto happen? Let us search our consciences courageously as a great people.

Ah! yes! At first, it may have had a military reason, not later. Later we were face to face with a gigantic hallucination. (Applause.) Great words were flashed across the horizon. The formulæ of “salvation” had come from Russia, and from Rome came a fierce outcry against the war, saying that it was “a useless massacre.” You cannot conceive the profound disturbance this outcry caused in the minds of the multitude. And, as if that were not enough, without anyone having the courage to take summary proceedings against the authors, another sacrilegious message came from Parliament: “No more trenches next winter.” And, it is true, we are not any longer in the trenches beyond the Isonzo; we are on *this* side of the Piave.

*Justice for All.* All this was the result of a falsehood that lay at the bottom of our national life. The words “political liberty” had been said. Ah! liberty to betray, to murder the country, to pour out more blood, as said the man in France. (General applause. Cries of “Long live Clémenceau!”) This political liberty is a paradox. It is criminal to think that men are requisitioned, dressed, armed and sent to be killed, whilst every liberty of speech and power of protest is denied them; that they are terribly punished for the slightest act or word not in keeping with given orders, while at the same time, behind, in the secret meeting-places, in the club-houses of brutalised drunkards, plans are allowed to be matured and words to be spoken which are death to the war. (Loud general applause.)

But did you not feel, after 24th October, that there was a great change in us, both collectively and individually? Did you not feel that the vultures had torn away the flesh and fixed their claws in the open wounds? Did you not understand that we were going back to ’66? Did you not take into account the danger that the military system of ’66 would be accompanied by the same diplomatic manœuvring which we have not yet expiated? One does not deny one’s country, one conquers it! (Warm applause.)

*The Example of Russia.* Take a lesson from what has happened in Russia. The Latin sages used to say that Nature does not work by sudden leaps. I think, on the contrary, that she does sometimes. But in Russia they wanted to make things move too fast. They got rid of Czarism in order to form the democratic republic of Rodzianko and Miliukoff. That was in itself a big step, and I pass over the intermediate action of the Grand Duke Michael. But, not satisfied with this republic, they wished to become more Socialist and called for Kerensky. Kerensky went, because he was a mere figurehead—(Laughter.)—and now there are other people who still want to make things move too fast. But now the Germans, under the pretence of a future pseudo-democracy, have unmasked their brutal and barbarous annexationist projects. At Petrograd, it is said, all citizens must dig trenches, and those falling under suspicion of vagabondage or espionage will be shot immediately.

*An Iron Policy.* But meanwhile the Germans advance, and I think they are impelled by three motives: military, political and dynastic. I think that the Hohenzollerns propose to put the Romanoffs back on the throne. Well! I don’t care if they do! As the Russian people have proved that they don’t know how to live under a régime of liberty, let them live in slavery. But, in the meantime, the defection of the Russians increases our task.

It is not the moment to bewail idly or to follow a weak policy. I seek ferocious men! I want the fierce man who possesses energy—the energy to smash, the inexorable determination to punish and to strike without hesitation, and the higher the position of the culprit the better. (Loud applause from the assembly which understands the allusion.)

You send the simple soldier, burdened with a family, full of cares, and whom you have never taught anything about the country, to court-martial because he has disobeyed some order. If you put this soldier with his back against the wall, I approve of what you do, because I am a believer in rigid discipline. But you must not have two kinds of law. If there is a general who infringes the Sacchi decree, strike him too. If there is a deputy who, after the experience of Caporetto, says again that war is a “useless massacre,” I tell you that he, too, ought to be arrested and punished! (Ovation.)

Whoever has been to the front and lived in the trenches, knows what an effect the reading of certain speeches and Parliamentary reports had upon the minds of the soldiers. The poor man in the trenches asked himself: “Why must I suffer and die, if they are still discussing at Rome whether there ought to be war, if those who are at the head of affairs there do not know whether or not it is a good thing to be fighting?” That is deplorable and criminal talk, gentlemen! And now, even after Caporetto, after defeat, irresponsible people are allowed to make public anti-war demonstrations. (Loud applause.)

*Ghosts!* After Caporetto men showed themselves again whom we thought to have swept away for ever. But we have driven them back into their holes, because we are still on our legs.

Yes! Many of our comrades have not come back from the Carso and from among the Alps. But we carry their sacred memory in our hearts. I think of the indescribable torture of mind of those men of the Third Armata, when they had to abandon the Carso. I think they must have cried out, “For what reason, as the result of what unexpected catastrophe, are we forced to abandon these rocks?” Because in the end one loves the tracks, the stones, the trenches and the dugouts among which men have lived and suffered. We love the Carso, this heap of stones dotted with little crosses which mark the graves of those fallen in the cause of the liberty of our country. (Applause.) We love the Carso, from which we can view the coveted coast-line, the riviera of our Trieste. We still carry, alive and splendid, the torch of the dead; the torch of those who fell in the face of the enemy. And we are not moved by motives of gain. We want clear and explicit recognition of the fact that we have done our duty. And we find ourselves still in the breach, that we may tell this people, in case they have forgotten, that there is no turning back. There is no possibility of choosing. Worry your brains as you will, there is nothing else to be done, nothing else can be thought of!

*Until Victory.* The game is such that we must go on, because there is no other solution than this; victory or defeat! And it is the life or death of the nation that is at stake. Also those who assumed power with different ideas, with the intention of mending the situation, have had to change their minds. There is no turning back; we must win!

The warning has come from Russia. The Russian rulers tried to turn back and make peace. They have talked for days, weeks and months without coming to any conclusions, because if Massimalism had sent lawyers more or less smart, Prussia had sent armed generals who from time to time tapped the pavement with their swords so that German rights might be the better understood. Then they accepted peace. But Prussia, thirsty for land, the Prussia of the Hohenzollerns, insatiable and implacable, marches into Russia and occupies territory.

If there is anybody to-day who does not wish for peace, who prevents talk of peace, who wants to continue the war, you must not seek him among the people, but at Berlin in the company of Hindenburg and Ludendorff. These are the enemies of mankind and to these one does not kneel. No! The Latin race holds itself upright! (Ovation.)

We who desired the war and make it our boast that we did so, we who do not go humbly soliciting electoral divisions, we shall not follow the cowardly demagogic example of those who wish to ingratiate themselves with the people. Democracy does not signify descent. It means ascent. It means raising up those who are down. And so for all the sacred and youthful blood that has been shed, and that we have not forgotten, and for the sake of all that is still to be shed, let us renew the solemn pact of our faith in the certainty of victory.

No! Italy will not die, because Italy is immortal! (Frantic applause.)

[← “To the Complete Vanquishing of the Huns”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/06-to-the-complete-vanquishing-of-the-huns/) [The Fatal Victory →](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/08-the-fatal-victory/)

Mussolini as Revealed in His Political Speeches (November 1914 to August 1923), Benito Mussolini. Published in 1923, more than 95 years ago, so in the public domain in the United States (works published in 1930 or earlier); Project Gutenberg marks the ebook public domain in the USA. The translator and editor, Bernardo Quaranta di San Severino, died in 1934 and Mussolini in 1945, so the term of life plus 70 years has also run out in Italy and the United Kingdom. The editor's introduction and prefatory notes are part of the 1923 book and are included. [Provenance and rights](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/).