Chapter 10: Wealth and Power, Not Freedom
"The main problem of contemporary Italy is not that democracy is insufficient and freedom is not active enough. On the contrary, Italy's current democracy has long exceeded actual needs, and freedom has also surpassed the necessary level... It is precisely because of our democracy and too much freedom that an Italian has his own political ideas and cannot help but point fingers at the country's politics and development strategies. Think like this today and think like that tomorrow. These politicians come to power and do this, and those politicians come to power and do this, and the cabinet prime minister changes like a lantern, and never forms a clear, long-term, constructive strategy. 40 million Italians are like a mess, and the whole country is like dancing rumba in a dance hall, moving forward two steps and retreating three steps, always standing still! Every time democracy and freedom are like stabbing the country's body!"
"There are three most important issues in contemporary Italy: the first is prosperity and strength! The second is prosperity and strength! The third is prosperity and strength! We do not have strong technology, no strong national defense, and no strong economy... All the strong countries in the world are called strong countries by relying on technology, economy, and national defense. We have never heard of becoming strong countries by relying on democracy and freedom. We always claim to be European powers, but at the Paris Peace Conference and at the Washington Conference, which of the three countries, Britain, France and the United States, regarded us as great powers? They treated Italy like clowns and deceived them like children. Do we have the courage to fight? Do we dare to say no?"
"...You always attacked Germany in the past with only dictatorship, only dictatorship, no democracy, no freedom. Now, the Germans have freedom - they have freedom to lose their territory! The freedom to disband the army! The freedom to monitor the finances! The freedom to plummet the economy! The freedom to starve and unemployed people! Any German with patriotism does not want this kind of freedom and democracy. They would rather return to the autocracy and dictatorship of the Second Empire. I want me to say that Germany's suffering is not about to end, but is about to fall into a greater abyss!"
"I have asked many young people, soldiers, intellectuals and even university professors the same question - 'What price are you willing to pay for Italy's prosperity and rise?' Every patriot told me with tears that as long as the motherland is strong, it doesn't matter even if they are crushed to pieces. Then I want to say, if you are not afraid of sacrificing your life, why are you afraid of temporarily limiting some democracy and freedoms and restricting those democracy and freedoms that hinder the prosperity of the country? When Italy becomes a major power in the world, and when the Italian people can stand up straight and speak loudly in any country in the world, our democracy and freedom have hope, and true democracy and freedom will come."
"...The connotation and essence of a ideology, a political party, and a leader is very clear, that is, to unite the vast majority of the Italian people, to concentrate the most overwhelming forces to fight for the national living space and international status for Italy. It is not that this party is not fascist, and this leader is not Mr. Mussolini. But at this stage and in this historical period, no political party can better reflect the demands of the Italian people and represent the power of Italy than fascist. No political leader can be more favorable than Mr. Mussolini, and can lead the Italian people to win the prosperity, stability and order that the country needs most!"
"We support Mr. Mussolini. As long as we give him 3-4 years, he will surely bring us unprecedented and incredible national miracle..."
On the morning of November 12, thousands of Union students walked on the Rome link and distributed the first issue of the Italian Youth Daily to the citizens for free. The biggest visual impact was the article written by Contini. In order to expand the influence of the newspaper, the Union not only tried its best to spread it, but also set up a podium at the most prosperous intersection, focusing on this article "One Scripture, One Political Party, One Leader". The students who unified the badge and armband of the Italian Youth League gave great impact to the Roman citizens, and nearly 30,000 first issue numbers were dispersed in one day.
Ordinary citizens mainly watch the fun, but for intellectuals, petty bourgeoisie and middle class with a certain cultural foundation, this article resonates with them - they are tired of the endless changes in political parties and cabinets, tired of the political chaos where you have finished singing and I have appeared, and they are extremely eager for stability and order, and of course they also hope that the country will be strong.
By the afternoon of that day, more than 1,000 people had decided to subscribe to the newspaper.
The first shot of the Youth Daily is Contini's strategy. Because he attacked several printing factories, those left-wing explosions could not find a place to print. Even if he temporarily found other printing factories to replace them, he was taken down by Boji and others with paper. This news has spread throughout the printing industry. Although news control is the job of other departments of the Ministry of the Interior, seizure of the printing factory is the right of the police. Even if there is no conclusive evidence, it is okay to arrest him and go to the bureau for interrogation?
To avoid trouble, the bosses directly rejected the printing needs of other left-wing newspapers. Anyway, the police made it clear that this temporary measure only lasted for one week and would not be taken into account after one week.
As for some newspapers printing in other cities, the act of secretly transporting them to Rome was also stared at by the police. They found that even the newspapers and vehicles were confiscated. At the beginning, except for the newspapers and the fascist camp, all the newspapers could not be distributed.
Even if other newspapers want to use force, Contini had already connected with old Ziano and mobilized more than 1,000 people. The fully armed black-shirted army defended the Youth Daily. Not to mention that ordinary gangsters dare not approach, they would take a detour even when the police station saw it.
This argument of "being prosperous and strong, not being free" immediately shocked the political circle. The Italian People's Daily and other fascist series and other right-wing newspapers were published in the full text on the second day and were launched nationwide. The Italian People's Daily also wrote a long editorial, commenting:... This is an epoch-making and heavy-weight article, which expresses the voice of the Italian people, reflects the expectations of the Italian people for the fascist movement, and reflects the support of Italian youth for the leaders. We are not striving for personal power and interests, nor for the illusory democracy and freedom, but for Italy's prosperity and rise!
In the newspaper the day after the founding of the publication, Youth Daily conducted a random survey ingeniously asking, "Who is the priority between the country's prosperity and individual freedom?" Statistics show that 95.4% of people choose the country's prosperity and strength, among which the proportion of young students who think that the country's prosperity and strength is preferred is as high as 98.4%. Even among the most free and casual Bourgeois class, 92% of people think that the country's prosperity and strength are preferred." This is of course a trick designed by Contini to oppose the country and individual, prosperity and strength and freedom. No matter what everyone really thinks, at least the superficial "political correctness" will not be wrong.
As if to prove the correctness of Youth Daily, Mussolini's steps were also very powerful. In order to eliminate people's impression of his "one-party dictatorship", he organized a mixed cabinet under the absolute leadership of Fascisti. He himself served as prime minister and also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Interior. Among the ministers and deputy ministers of various ministries, there are 15 members of the Blackshirt Army, 3 nationalists, 3 Liberal Rights, 6 Catholic Party, and 3 Social Democratic Party, but the Deputy Prime Minister, all important positions such as the Internal Affairs, Diplomacy, Judicial Affairs, and Finance are members of the Blackshirt Army.
The Army Secretary was appointed former Army General Diaz, who supported the seizure of power, and the Admiral Daund Revel, a former Admiral of the Blackshirt. After the cabinet was formed, Mussolini immediately posted a notice announcing the dissolution of the Blackshirts, claiming:
"...Our movement has been won, and the leader has now controlled the state power, internal affairs and diplomacy. For peace, there are other political parties among the new government cabinet members - all politicians loyal to the country. Our party is brave enough to advance and retreat, and has now won. In the future, we will devote all our energy to achieving national prosperity and strength and striving for national interests!"
Chapter completed!