---
title: Fascismo and the Problems of Foreign Policy
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/library/mussolini-political-speeches-1923/22-fascismo-and-the-problems-of-foreign-policy/
description: Fascismo and the Problems of Foreign Policy, 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 Problems of Foreign Policy

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/)

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

**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 the Politeama Rossetti, Trieste, 6th February 1921.

> Just as, a few months before, at the time of Italy’s darkest hour, when the Bolshevist movement was at its zenith, Mussolini had addressed to the people of Trieste wise words of faith, so in the spring of 1921, the spring famous for anti-Socialist reaction, Trieste was once more the city he chose as the place best suited for the exposition of his analysis of the problems of foreign policy. On that occasion the patriotic and liberated town, which gave the first impulse of assault in the energetic offensive against the local Austrian Bolshevists, accorded to the leader of the new Italy hearty manifestations of general assent.

In order to indicate the direction which Italian foreign policy should take in the immediate future, it is a good thing to give a glance first at the general situation in the world, and at the forces and currents which are at work, with a view to finding out what may be the possible developments and results.

All the States of the world are in a condition of fatal interdependence. The period for splendid isolation is passed for everyone. It can well be said, that with the war the story of mankind has acquired a world movement. While Europe, severely weakened, struggles to recover her economic, political and spiritual balance, already beyond the boundaries of the old Continent a formidable clash of interests is shaping itself. I allude to the conflict between the United States and Japan, and to the accounts of recent episodes, from the Affair of the Cable to the Bill against the Yellow Immigration in California, which have occupied the papers. Japan has a population of 77 millions, and the United States 110 millions. That it was known that a struggle between these two States was inevitable is proved by the very significant fact that the book which had the widest circulation among all classes in Tokio was called *Our Next War with the United States*, a book which outlined the war between the continents for the dominion of the Pacific. The centre of world civilisation is tending to alter its position. Up to about 1500 it was in the Mediterranean; after the discovery of America, it shifted to the Atlantic; to-day its passage to the biggest ocean of the planet is indicated. I said, last time I spoke here, that we were approaching the “Asiatic” century. Japan is destined to be the fermenting element of all the Yellow world.

As the result of shifting the centre of civilisation from London to New York (which has already seven million inhabitants and will soon be the largest agglomeration of human beings on the earth), and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, there are those who foresee a gradual economic and spiritual decay of our old Europe, and of our wonderful little continent, which has been, hitherto, the guiding light of all the world. Shall we live to see the eclipse of the European rôle in the history of mankind?

*The European Situation.* To this disquieting and depressing question we answer, “It is possible.” The life of Europe, especially that of Central Europe, is at the mercy of the Americans. Europe presents a troubled political and economic panorama, a thorny maze of national and social questions, and it happens that Communism is sometimes the mask of Nationalism and *vice versâ*. European “unity” does not seem to be any nearer realisation. Egoism and the interests of nations and classes exist in proud contrast. Russia is no longer an enigma from the economic point of view. In Russia there is neither Communism nor Socialism, but an agrarian revolution of the democratic lower-middle-class kind. She only remains an enigma from the political point of view. What foreign policy does Russia follow? Is it a policy of peace or war? The variety of facts which reach our ears make us continually waver between one opinion and another. Perhaps under the emblem of the sickle and the hammer is hidden—or not hidden—the old Panslavism, which to-day is dominated, besides, by the immediate necessity of extending the revolution to the rest of Europe, in order to save the Government of the Soviet in Russia. If Russia adopts a policy of war, the fate of the Baltic States (Lithuania, Lettonia and Esthonia) will be sealed. The fate of Poland would also be uncertain, and she might find herself driven against the unfriendly German wall by an eventual breaking loose of the Russian forces. There are serious conflicting interests between the different States of those north-east shores. There is a disagreement between Poland, Lithuania and Russia as regards Wilna and Grodno. The rights on the basis of history and statistics are with Poland. There are 263,000 Poles in the district of Wilna as compared with 118,000 Lithuanians, 8000 White Ruthenians and 83,000 Jews. The same figures, proportionately, are found in Grodno. As for Upper Silesia, which keeps the Polish and German worlds in a state of continuous agitation, the German statistics give these returns: 1,348,000 Poles, 588,000 Germans. Upper Silesia is, therefore, Polish, but its final destiny will be decided by the plebiscite summoned for the 15th March.

*The Treaties of Peace.* The Great War has resulted in six treaties of peace up to the present: Versailles, St. Germain, Trianon, Neuilly, Sèvres, Rapallo. Not one of these treaties has wholly satisfied the victors; not one, even the Treaty of Rapallo, which was supposed to be a masterpiece of friendly and peaceful negotiation, has been accepted by the vanquished. As far as the Treaty of Versailles, the greatest of all, is concerned, even at this moment the important question of the indemnity which Germany ought to pay is still under discussion. It is a figure which makes us feel giddy and the last word has not yet been said. All the settlements, especially those made by diplomats, have an ironically provisional character.

The Germans, who have formed the “sacred union” of non-payment, announce that they will make counterproposals by the same representatives who will speak at London in a few weeks’ time. Our opinion is, that if the Germans can pay they ought, as far as it is possible, and the experts must ascertain the truth of this possibility. We must not forget, before allowing ourselves to pity the Germans—who had already fixed our indemnity at 500 milliards of gold, in the case of their victory—that it was the Germans who began the war, and that the first Irredentism was directed against Italy, on account of those minorities which had descended, without right, into the Upper Adige.

*German Austria, Macedonia and Smyrna.* The present Austrian Republic was the result of the Treaty of St. Germain. Can it continue to live, formed as it is at present? It is generally thought not. There remains the alternative of a Danube Confederation with its centre at Vienna and Budapest, but the “Little Entente” sees to it that there shall be no return, under any form, of the old régime. We think that, by the force of events, an economic Danube Confederation will be formed sooner or later, in which case the conditions of Austria, and especially of Vienna, would improve until she had arrived at the point of lessening the pro-German annexationist movement. From the standpoint of justice, and whenever there was a clear manifestation of the will of the people, Austria would have the right of separating herself from Germany. This possible eventuality cannot leave us indifferent, because of the boundaries of the Brenner, which is a question of life or death for the Paduan valley. A hungry and pauper Austria cannot organise a dangerous Irredentism against us; but as the result of union with Germany the question of the Upper Adige would certainly become more acute.

As for Hungary, she can certainly expect a revision of the treaty which mutilates her on every side. It must be added, however, that the chapter of Fiume is definitely closed in Hungarian history.

Centres of infection for another war exist all over the Balkan world. Let us quote Montenegro and Albania, for example. We are in favour of the independence of both these States, provided that they show themselves capable of enjoying it. Bulgaria has a right to Macedonia[7] and also to a port on the Ægean. And this is of capital importance for the economic expansion of Italy in Bulgaria. The Treaty of Sèvres crushed Turkey in order to exalt the Greece of Venizelos and Constantine, which gave the European war the sacrifice of 787 “euzoni.” We consider, as far as the Eastern Mediterranean is concerned, that Italy, on the whole, should follow a pro-Turkish policy.

> [7] Population: 1,181,000 Bulgarians, 499,000 Turks, and 228,000 Greeks.

*The Treaty of Rapallo.* Immediately after the signing of the Treaty of Rapallo, the Central Committee of the Fascio passed its judgment upon it, finding it “acceptable for the Eastern boundaries, inacceptable and deficient as regards Fiume, and insufficient and to be rejected as regards Zara and Dalmatia.” At three months’ distance this judgment does not seem to be contradicted by successive events. The Treaty of Rapallo is an unhappy compromise, against which pages of criticism were printed in the *Popolo d’Italia*, which it is now useless to repeat.

It must be explained why victorious Italy ever arrived at the point of signing the Peace of Rapallo. And the explanations do not need much mental exertion. Rapallo was the logical consequence of the line of foreign policy followed by us or imposed upon us before, during and after the war. It is explained by Wilson and his so-called experts and the absolute lack of Italian propaganda abroad and the dead-tiredness of the people. Rapallo is explained by the meeting of the oppressed nationalities held at Rome in April 1918, which meeting can be directly connected with the ill-fated story of Caporetto. Everything is paid for in this life. On 12th November 1920, we paid at Rapallo for the breakdown of 24th October 1917. Had there been no Caporetto, there would have been no Pact of Rome. In that congress the Yugoslavs threw dust in our eyes because in reality they did nothing towards breaking up the Dual Monarchy from within, of which they were the faithful slaves to the last, with traditional Croat loyalty. Not for nothing did the Hapsburg monarchy, upon its decease, try to present the Jugoslavs with its navy. But it was in the April of 1918 that the irreparable was committed, with the consent of all currents of Italian public opinion, including ours and the Nationalists—that is to say, our worst enemies were raised to the rank of effectual and powerful allies, and naturally, when the victory was obtained, there was no accepting of the rôle of vanquished, but they adopted that of co-operators with a relative share in the common booty. After the Pact of Rome it was no longer possible to place our knee on the chest of Yugoslavia—this is the truth. And so it happened that the Italian people—tired, impoverished and unnerved by two long years of useless negotiations, demoralised by the policy of the Government and the tremendous wave of after-war sabotage (against which only the Fascisti reacted powerfully)—accepted, or rather suffered, the Treaty of Rapallo, without manifestations of grief or joy. And, in order to finish it once and for all, many people would also have accepted the terrible line of Montemaggiore. All the parties of all the grades of Left and Right accepted the treaty as a lesser evil. We, too, submitted to it, considering it merely as a transitory and ephemeral act (has there ever been anything definite in the world, much less upon the moving sands of diplomacy?), and with the intention of gathering our forces to be ready for the revision which, sooner or later, would improve the treaty and not make it worse, would carry our boundaries to the Dinaric Alps, but never again allow the boundaries of Yugoslavia to reach the Isonzo.

The fate meted out to Dalmatia makes us very sad. But the fault does not lie wholly with the negotiators of the eleventh hour; the renunciation had already been made in Parliament, in the papers and in the universities themselves, where a professor printed a book, which was naturally translated at Zagabria, in which he proved, in his own way, that Dalmatia is not Italian. The Dalmatian tragedy lies in this ignorance, bad faith and want of understanding; faults which we hope to repair with our work by making Dalmatia known, loved and defended.

The treaty, once signed, could be annulled in one of two ways: by outside war or internal revolution. Both equally absurd. You do not make the people throng the squares in order to change a peace treaty after five years of bloodshed. Nobody is capable of working such prodigies. It was possible to cause a revolution in Italy in order to obtain intervention; but to cause a revolution in November 1920, in order to annul a peace treaty which, good or bad, had been accepted by ninety-nine per cent. of the Italian people, could not be considered. I do not mind much about coherence, but there are stenographic records which bear witness to the fact that I steadily refused to go against the treaty either by promoting outside war or internal revolution. I considered that it was also dangerous to get mixed up in an armed resistance to the treaty.

*The Tragedy of Fiume.* Two months of polemics and daily articles during November and December bear witness to my support of the cause of Fiume, and my open and strong opposition to the Parliament.

It is a pity that oblivion falls so quickly on the words of a daily paper; and I have not the melancholy habit of unearthing what I publish. But the undeniable truth is this: that day after day I fought so that the Government at Rome should recognise the Government at Fiume; so that the representatives of the Regency should be invited to Rapallo; and so that the Government at Rome should avoid any armed attack on Fiume. At the outset I called the attack of Christmas Eve an enormous crime, and I always upheld the spirit of justice, liberty and free-will which were the inspiration of the legions of Ronchi.

*The Audience in the Gallery.* It sometimes happens in history as in the theatre, that there is an audience in the gallery, which, having paid for its tickets, demands that the performance shall run to a close at all costs. Thus in Italy to-day there are two types of individuals: those who blame D’Annunzio for having lived to see the end of the Fiume tragedy, and those who blame Mussolini for not having brought about that easy, pretty little thing which is called a revolution! I have always disdained the cowardly method by which, in Italy, impotence, anger and misery are laid upon the heads of real or imaginary scapegoats. The Fasci had never promised to bring about revolution in the event of an attack on Fiume, nor have I ever written or made known to D’Annunzio that revolution depended upon my caprice. Revolution is not a Jack-in-the-box which can be worked at will. I do not carry it in my pocket, any more than those who fill their noisy mouths with its name and in practice do not get beyond disorders in the squares after unimportant demonstrations accompanied by a providential arrest to avoid any more serious complications. I know the breed. I have been in politics for twenty years. In the war between Caviglia and Fiume, either great things should have been accomplished, or else, for reasons of self-respect, excessive shouting and raising of smoke, which vanished at once without trace and without bloodshed, should have been avoided.

*With Whom and Where?* History learned from far-off events teaches men little; but that which we see written daily under our eyes ought to be more successful. Now these chronicles of every day tell us that revolution is made with an army and not against an army; with arms, not without arms; with movements of trained squadrons, not with the untrained masses called to meetings in the squares. They succeed when they are made in an atmosphere of sympathy on the part of the majority; if this is lacking they die down and fail. Now in Fiume the army and navy did not fail. A certain revolutionary spirit of the eleventh hour did not take definite shape; it was the work sometimes of anarchists and sometimes of Nationalists. According to some emissaries it was possible to put the devil and holy water together, the nation and that which was against the nation: Misiano and Del Croix. Now I reject all forms of Bolshevism, but if I were obliged to choose one, I should choose that of Moscow and Lenin, if for no other reason because at least it has gigantic, barbaric and universal proportions. What revolution was it to be, then? National or Bolshevist? A great uncertainty, complicated by a great many minor considerations, confused men’s minds, while the nation, in a mood of revolt against that which had happened round Fiume, abandoned itself to an attitude of grief, in which the only bright spot was the hope that the episode would retain its local character and come quickly to a peaceful conclusion.

*Hypotheses and Certainties.* If there had been an insurrection on our part—and this was not possible owing to the armed forces which the Government had at its disposal—there must have been one of two results: defeat or victory. In the first case, everything would have been irretrievably lost in the abyss of civil war. Let us, for the sake of argument, presuppose the second hypothesis: that of victory with the fall of the Government and of the régime. After the more or less easy period of demolition, what form would the revolution take? Social, as some Bolshevists wish—those with the motto “Always further Left,” the equivalent of the grotesque “Go to the reddest”—or national, Dalmatian and reactionary, as others desire?

There is no possibility of reconciliation between the two currents. In a revolution of the social order, what importance would the territorial questions, and more precisely that of Dalmatia, have had? In the other event of a national revolution against the Treaty of Rapallo, everything would have been limited to a formal annulment of the treaty and to a substitution of men; to be followed later by another treaty in another Rapallo, in order that one day or another the nation might have her peace. An episode of civil war was not remedied by letting loose a bigger war in times like these through which we are passing, and nobody is capable of prolonging and creating artificially historical situations which are over and done with. Only the man who knows how to lift himself above common passions, who knows how to draw conclusions from conflicting elements and how to distinguish the pure grain from the equivocal chaff, is able to understand that Fiume Christmas, which can be called the tragic crossroads between the reasons of the State and of the ideal: the meeting-place of all our deficiencies and all our greatness.

*Suspended Problems.* The first is that of Fiume. We do not feel the necessity of reaffirming our sympathy for the sacrificed city. We have given the most tangible proofs, recently, of our solidarity with the Fascio of Fiume, in order to put it in a position to undertake the struggle against the Croats, who are now beginning to show signs of life. The action of the Fascisti must tend, for the moment, towards economic annexation of Fiume to Italy, to arousing the interest of the Government and private individuals, and at the same time keeping alive, by every means, the torch of Italy, so that in due time economic will be followed by political annexation. We shall achieve this in spite of everything. All the Fascista force, national and parliamentary, must be concentrated on Zara, so that the little city shall be able to accomplish her important and delicate mission in history. There must be efficacious education for the Italians who have remained in the principal cities of Dalmatia, and no separate constituencies for the Slavs in Istria and the Germans in the Upper Adige. It is not possible to establish such a precedent, as it would carry us far. The French of the Val d’Aosta, who are in reality excellent Italians, have no special constituencies and privileges of that sort. These duplicate constituencies would be a grave mistake. It is up to the Fascisti of Trento and Trieste to prevent this happening at any cost.

*Old and New Directions.* The lines of the programme laid down at the meeting at Milan in May last year have not become out of date or in need of revision. Fascismo has the name of being “imperialist.” This accusation goes together with that of being reactionary. Fascismo is against renunciations when they mean humiliation and diminution.

Given these general premises—*first*, that Fascismo does not believe in the principles of the so-called League of Nations nor in its vitality; *secondly*, that Fascismo does not believe in the Red Internationals, which die, reproduce themselves, multiply and die again: for they are small, artificial organisations, small minorities compared to the masses of the population, which, living, dying, progressing or retrogressing, finishes by deciding those changes of interests before which the international organisations of the first, second and third order crumble to pieces; *thirdly*, that Fascismo does not believe in the immediate possibility of general disarmament, and *fourthly*, considers that Italy, in the present historical period, should follow a policy of European equilibrium and conciliation—it follows that the Italian Fascio of Fighters demands:—

1. That the treaties of peace shall be revised and modified in those parts which have proved inapplicable, or which might prove in application the cause of formidable hatred and new wars.

2. The economic annexation of Fiume to Italy, or the care of the Italians resident in Dalmatia.

3. The gradual economic emancipation of Italy from abroad by the development of her productive forces.

4. The renewal of relations with the enemy countries—Austria, Germany, Bulgaria, Turkey and Hungary—but with dignity and holding fast to the supreme necessity of maintaining our northern and eastern boundaries.

5. The creation and intensification of friendly relations with the peoples of the East, not excluding those governed by the Soviet and South-eastern Europe.

6. The vindication of the rights and interests of the nation as regards the colonies.

7. The abandonment of the old systems and the replacement of all our diplomatic representatives with others from the special university faculties.

8. The furtherance of the Italian colonies in the Mediterranean and beyond the Atlantic by economic and educational means and by rapid communications.

*Towards a New Italy.* I have enormous faith in the future greatness of the Italian people. Ours is the most numerous and homogeneous of the peoples of Europe.

The war has enormously increased the prestige of Italy. “Long live Italy!” is now cried in far-off Lettonia and still more distant Georgia.

Italy is the tricolour wing of Ferrarin, the magnetic wave of Marconi, the baton of Toscanini, the revival of Dante, in the sixth centenary of his departure. Let us prepare ourselves by energetic everyday work for the Italy of to-morrow of which we dream; an Italy free and rich, resounding with song, with her skies and seas populated with her fleets, and her earth fruitful beneath her ploughs. And may the coming citizens be able to say what Virgil said of ancient Rome: “Imperium oceano, famam terminavit astris” (The Empire ended with the ocean, but her fame reached the stars.)

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

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/).