Sometimes one encounters a revelation which nestles itself in at the root of a great frustration. For me, this is always the case when I discover to have been in the dark on a certain topic, in contrast to the bright view I believed I had. And momentarily, I have to admit to myself that I have discovered a considerable void in my knowledge about the second World War in general. But I was also quite clueless about the relationship between – and the different roles of – Germany and Italy and their leaders Hitler and Mussolini in particular.
I had always thought that Italy had been a meek follower of Germany, and that it was towed into the war without much resistance. But now that I am actually reading about this particular relationship, I have to come to the conclusion that my ideas have been wrong all along. So wrong even, that I could totally & justifiably convince myself of the idea that Italy was innocent until the last moment and that it had the grave misfortune of having a leader who was unable to withstand his own insatiable ego. Mussolini’s keenness to show the world that he was better than Hitler and his unshakable conviction that a war would be a great thing for the Fascist education of the Italian People, proved to be Italy’s bane.
As Mussolini worded it himself: ” I am not going to stand at the sideline, while other nations are writing history!”
The bottom line is: maybe unlike the Germans, although opinions and analysis differ on that matter (see also this article), the Italians did NOT want the war and even Mussolini tried to maintain neutrality until the very start of the hostilities. Unfortunately for him, he was unable to step over his own vanity and he couldn’t resist Hitler’s determination to subject Europe to a militaristic Führer-regime. Mussolini, in turn, was determined to be on the winners side. And in 1939, it still looked as if Hitler was going to be exactly that.
Here is another, even better one if you ask me: At some point just before the war, Mussolini states to his minister of foreighn affairs and son in law, Galeazzo Ciano, that he would have no problems “taking care” of the Catholic priest and anti-fascist Pope Pius XII, if he converted the Italians, who were not a very religious people anyway, to fascism first. I am counting at least three things here I didn’t know before: First, I had a very different impression of the Pope, Pius XII. I never knew that the communiques he wrote in the Vatican Newspaper were blatantly anti-fascist and that this newspaper was subsequently banned by Mussolini. Second, I thought that Mussolini had more respect for priests. But third and most earth-shattering for me: I never knew that the Italians are not very religious.
But now that it is mentioned…..
Since I am an Italian, and spent a sufficient part of my young life in Italy’s northern region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, I had the opportunity to take a good look at the Italians. And for all I know, religion and the Catholic church are VERY important to them. It is of course possible that Mussolini was wrong about his own people, but there is a more interesting proposition: what if the Italians have TURNED religious AFTER the second World War? It figures. It is fully in line with the opportunism I know to be deeply rooted in them, and it is also consistent with the Italian resistance to order, rules and regulations.
Come to think of it: possibly even because of the proverbial Italian aversion to the law and anything like it, that Fascism, an Italian invention ‘pur sang’, never stood a real chance with the population anyway. It was basically too structured to be Italian.
I am no friend of Mussolini’s, Fascism or anything advocating strong leaders, violence and obedience. But despite the love-hate relationship I have with the Italians, I do have a deep sense of kinship. And if I see a reason for absolution for them in the light of Italy’s involuntary belligerent history, I will grab it with both hands. I am not an opportunist, though, only if it suits me.
