---
title: “My Father Was a Blacksmith and I Have Worked with Him; He Bent Iron, but I Have the Harder Task of Bending Souls”
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/16-my-father-was-a-blacksmith-and-i-have-worked-wit/
description: “My Father Was a Blacksmith and I Have Worked with Him; He Bent Iron, but I Have the Harder Task of Bending Souls”, from Mussolini as Revealed in His…
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/)

# “My Father Was a Blacksmith and I Have Worked with Him; He Bent Iron, but I Have the Harder Task of Bending Souls”

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/)

[← Fascismo’s Interests for the Working Classes](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/15-fascismo-s-interests-for-the-working-classes/) [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/)

**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 at Milan, 6th December 1922, before the workmen of the iron foundries, in answer to Engineer Vanzetti, the manager.

> On the occasion of his first visit to Milan after assuming the Premiership of the Council, the city where he had lived and the centre of his victorious political strife, Mussolini was urgently summoned to the works of the Lombard Iron Foundries (Acciaierie Lombarde), where he was welcomed with enthusiastic demonstrations of support and appreciation. During the stormy years of 1919–20 these very works were the scene of extraordinary events.

I am particularly glad to have seen these works, already known to me by what has been accomplished in them in the last five strenuous years. I am not going to make a speech, but, as has always been—and always will be—my way, I shall tell you things clearly as they are, things that will interest you.

The Government over which I have the honour of presiding is not, cannot and does not wish to be anti-proletariat. The workmen are a vital part of the nation; they are Italians and, like all Italians, when they work, when they produce and when they live orderly lives, must be protected, respected and defended. My Government is very strong and does not need to seek a great deal of outside support; it neither asks for it nor refuses it. If the workmen’s organisations choose to give me support, I shall not reject it. But we shall have to come to a clear understanding and to make definite agreements in order to avoid dissension later.

I was deeply moved just now while I was visiting the factory, and seemed for an instant to be living again the bygone days of my youth. Because I do not come of an aristocratic and illustrious family. My ancestors were peasants who tilled the earth, and my father was a blacksmith who bent red-hot iron on the anvil. Sometimes, when I was a boy, I helped my father in his hard and humble work, and now I have the infinitely harder task of bending souls. At twenty I worked with my hands—I repeat, with my hands—first as a mason’s lad and afterwards as a mason. And I do not tell you this in order to arouse your sympathy, but to show you how impossible it is for me to be against the working class. I am, however, the enemy of those who, in the name of false and ridiculous ideologies, try to dupe the workmen and drive them towards ruin.

You will have the opportunity of realising that more valuable than my words will be the acts of my Government, which, in all that it does, will be inspired by and keep before it these three fundamental principles:

First: The NATION, which is an undeniable reality.

Secondly: The necessity of PRODUCTION, because greater and better production is not only the interest of the capitalist but also of the workman; since the workman, together with the capitalist, loses his livelihood and falls into poverty if the productions of the nation do not find a market in the trade-centres of the world.

Thirdly: THE PROTECTION OF THE LEGITIMATE RIGHTS OF THE WORKING CLASSES.

Keeping these three essential principles in sight, I intend to give peace to Italy and to make her more respected at home and abroad.

Nobody wants to go in search of adventures which will imperil the lives and wealth of the citizens; but, on the other hand, neither do we wish to follow a policy of renunciation nor allow Italy to be the last considered among the nations. In order that we may be listened to in international conferences—conferences which are of the greatest importance to you workmen—it is necessary that the most rigid discipline be maintained at home, as no one will listen to us if we have a disturbed and unsettled country behind us.

You, workmen, must not think that it is only the head of the Government who is speaking to you now, but a man who knows you well and who is known by you; a man who understands your value and what you can and what you cannot do. But, as the head of the Government, I tell you that this one over which I preside is serious, strong and sure of itself, and no slow-moving bureaucracy; it is a Government that wishes to act in the interests of the working classes, interests which will always be recognised when they are just.

The workmen thought that they could, and ought to, disassociate themselves from the life of the nation; and this has been a great mistake. They ought, instead, to be a most intimate part of the nation, so that all our long and laborious toiling may not be miserably lost.

This is the message which comes from our dead, who, hovering above us, repeat this command.

The Italian people must somehow find that medium of harmony necessary for the reconstruction and development of civilisation; and if there be rebellious and seditious minorities they must be inexorably stamped out.

Treasure up these words in your hearts and remember the motto of the Fascista Syndicates:

The country must not be denied but conquered.

I raise my glass with you and drink to the future and the fortunes of Italian industry, that it may take a glorious place in the eyes of the whole world.

[← Fascismo’s Interests for the Working Classes](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/15-fascismo-s-interests-for-the-working-classes/) [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/)

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/).