---
title: Fascismo and the Rights of Victory
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/20-fascismo-and-the-rights-of-victory/
description: Fascismo and the Rights of Victory, 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/)

# Fascismo and the Rights of Victory

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/)

[← 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/) [The Tasks of Fascismo →](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/21-the-tasks-of-fascismo/)

**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 Florence, 9th October 1919, at the first Congress of the Fascisti.

> At Florence was held the first Congress of the “Fasci Italiani di Combattimento,” which was the name originally given to the Fascista movement. This Congress succeeded the improvised, unorganised meeting of 19th March at Milan, and was held in an atmosphere of isolation and hostility, amid continuous tumult and interruption; so much so, that the members of the Congress were repeatedly obliged to suspend their proceedings and go out into the streets to defend themselves against hostile demonstrations.

> At that time Florence, the cradle of art, and famed for courtesy and hospitality, had been temporarily submerged under waves of Bolshevism; Serrati and Lenin, referring to the Italian situation, could point to the capital of Tuscany as “the most fertile soil for the imminent revolutionary harvest.”

> But even on that occasion Italian Fascismo was able to hold the centre successfully, in spite of the numbers of the adversary.

Fascisti comrades! I do not know if I shall succeed in giving you a very connected speech, as I have not had the opportunity of preparing it, as is my habit. I had intended to make a Fascista speech to-morrow morning for a personal reason which might also interest you, and which gave me the right to ask some hours of rest.

The other day I left Novi Ligure in a “S.V.A.” with a magnificent pilot, and, having crossed the Adriatic, came down at Fiume, where D’Annunzio gave us a great welcome. Returning yesterday, we were caught in a storm on the Istrian tablelands, and were obliged to go out of our course and to come down at Aiello.

At Fiume I lived in what D’Annunzio justly calls “an atmosphere of miracles and prodigies.” In the meantime, I bring you his message; he was thinking of writing one especially for our meeting. (Applause.) My arrival at Fiume coincided with the capture of the ship *Persia*, about which Captain Giulietti of the “Federation of the Sea” was so agitated.

The situation at Fiume is splendid from every point of view. There are supplies for three months. The Yugoslavs have no intention of moving. Not only that; the Croats, to a certain extent, are supplying the town, which shows how inappropriate and insidious the movement was which tried to stir up the people and make them believe that we were on the verge of a war against the Yugoslavs. Nothing of this exists. D’Annunzio has not, so far, fired a single shot against those who are on the other side of the line of the armistice; on the contrary, he has issued a proclamation to the Croats, which is a magnificent document both from the political and the human point of view. It ends with these words: “Long live the Italian-Croat brotherhood! Long live the brotherhood on the sea!”

Now, as regards international relations, the position of Fiume is perfectly clear. D’Annunzio will not move, because everything is in his favour. What can the plutocratic powers of Western capitalism do against him? Nothing! Absolutely nothing, because to strive against a *fait accompli* would be to let loose a still greater calamity which nobody thinks of either in France or England. In France—and we can say so with tranquillity—there is a sacred horror of further bloodshed; and as for the English, they have made war very well and brilliantly, but now all their ideas are contrary to any warlike undertakings and any adventures of even a slightly complicated nature. To-morrow Fiume would be a *fait accompli* for everybody, because nobody would have the strength to modify it. If the Government had been less cowardly, the problem of Fiume would be settled by now, and the Allies would have had to accept it.

*The Forces of the Socialist Party.* And now we come to our affairs. We must keep the Socialist Party within sight. Let us look a little closer at their forces. They have had lately to number their forces, and 14,000 of its 80,000 members have disappeared. They are the disbanded. As many as 500 sections were not represented in what they call the Assizes of the Italian Proletariat. Nothing of very great importance was said or done during the congress. Bordiga is not a great general. He is only a little above mediocrity. What he said to the tribune was what I told the crowd in 1913. Only Turati’s speech was of any real significance. All the other unlimited speeches did not, in the end, give practical indications of that which the Socialists wish or ought to do.

Our statements are much more definite than theirs, and we tell you at once that we must present an ultimatum to the Government, saying that, if the censor is not abolished, we Fascisti will not take part in the elections. It is necessary to protest against an enforced censorship during the period of the elections, otherwise we shall seem to show that we are ready to accept an arbitrary act. To this we can add another positive and effective protest. As for the Socialists, the larger part of them are distinguished by physical cowardice. They do not like fighting, they do not wish to fight; fire and steel frighten them.

On the other hand, and I want to draw your attention to this, we must not confuse this creation, which is for the most part artificial, with a party of which the proletariat is a lowest minority, while those members abound who want a seat in Parliament, or in the communal councils and in the organisations. It is really a political clique which wishes to substitute itself for the ruling clique. We must not confuse this group of mediocre politicians with the immense movement of the proletariat which has a reason for its existence, development and brotherhood.

*Against every Idol.* I repeat here what I said before. No demagogism. Work-worn hands are not yet enough to show that a man is capable of upholding a State or a family. We must react against these “cajolers” and these new semi-idols, in order to uplift these people from the moral and mental slavery into which they have fallen. We must not approach them in the attitude of partisans. We are syndicalists, because we think that by means of the mass it may be possible to determine an economic readjustment, but this readjustment involves long and complicated consideration. A political revolution is accomplished in twenty-four hours, but the economic constitution of a nation, which forms part of the world system, is not overturned in twenty-four hours.

But we do not, by this, mean to be considered as a kind of “bodyguard” of the bourgeoisie, which, especially where it is composed of the new rich, is simply unworthy and cowardly. If these people do not know how to defend themselves, they must not hope for protection from us. We defend the nation and the people as a whole. We desire the moral and material welfare of the people.

I think that, with this as our attitude, it will be possible to approach the masses. In the meantime, the Federation of Seamen has separated itself from the General Federation of Labour; the railwaymen have proved in the big strike that they are Italian and wish to be Italian; and while the upper bureaucracy of the public administration is, on the whole, in favour of Nitti and Giolitti, the proletariat of the same administration tends to sympathise with us. For fifty years generals, diplomats, and bureaucrats have been taken from the upper classes and from a certain limited number of persons of rank and position. It is time to put an end to all this, if we want to infuse new energy and new blood into the body of the nation.

*For the Elections.* And now we come to the elections. We must deal with them, because whatever happens it is always a good thing to keep together and not to burn one’s boats. It may happen that in this month of October events may be hurried on at such a rate that the elections may be side-tracked. It may be, on the other hand, that they will take place. We must be ready also for the second contingency. And then we Fascisti must do our utmost by ourselves, we must come out clearly marked and numbered, and if we are few, we must remember that we have only been in the world six months. Where there is no probability of isolated success, a union with the “interveners” of the Left might possibly be formed, which must vindicate, on the one hand, the utility of the Italian intervention in the name of humanity and the nation against all those who opposed it, whether followers of Giolitti, Socialists or Clericals. On the other hand, this programme cannot exhaust our action; and we shall then have to present to the masses the fundamental principles upon which we wish to build up a new Italy. Where the situation may prove more complicated we might also be able to identify ourselves with a group of “interveners” in a wider and fuller sense of the word.

*After Vittorio Veneto.* But we wish, above all, to reaffirm solemnly at this meeting of ours the great Italian victory, vindicating it before all those who wish to deny and forget it.

We have subdued an Empire which was our enemy, which had advanced to the Piave, and whose leaders had endeavoured to overthrow Italy. We now possess the Brenner, the Julian Alps and Fiume, and all the Italians of Dalmatia. We can say that between the Piave and the Isonzo we have destroyed that Empire and determined the fall of four autocracies. (Enthusiastic applause.)

[← 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/) [The Tasks of Fascismo →](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/21-the-tasks-of-fascismo/)

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/).