Gabriele D'Annunzio was one of the most flamboyant figures in the
political history of modern Europe. A poet in the Byronic style and
a popular hero of the First World War, D'Annunzio passionately
believed that the sacrifices of war should prelude a new social
order. His capture of the city of Fiume in 1919, which had been
claimed by Italy as part of the settlement before the Versailles
Peace Conference, has been popularized and romanticized ever since.
Ledeen uses information gathered from Italian and American archives
and from personal interviews to examine the sixteen months of
D'Annunzio's personal rule in Fiume, seeing it as a harbinger of
successful mass movements of the twentieth century.
The connection between D'Annunzio and Fascism is central to
Ledeen's narrative. Virtually the entire ritual of Fascist politics
made familiar by Mussolini-the balcony address, the Roman salute,
the dramatic dialogues with the crowd, the use of religious symbols
in a new secular setting-was influenced by D'Annunzio at Fiume.
Both were masters of a political style based on personal charisma.
Each spoke for a "new" Italy and, eventually, for a new world. Each
attempted to transform his countrymen into more heroic types by an
ethic of violence and grandeur. But Ledeen brings sharply into
focus profound differences between D'Annunzio's vision of a new
world and that offered by Fascism. Significantly, D'Annunzio
enlisted support from the most diverse elements of
society-politicians and businessmen in addition to representatives
of radical trade unions, anarchist groups, and the armed forces.
Often sensationalized as a precursor of a sixties-style "dolce
vita," D'Annunzio's Fiume presented many of the phenomena
considered novel or unsettling today: sexual promiscuity,
widespread experimentation with drugs, clergymen wanting to marry,
women demanding equal rights, youth calling for the elimination of
the old, soldiers insisting on a democratic army, poets yearning
for a beautiful world instead of a purely utilitarian one,
minorities clamoring for their fair share of political power. From
the dispassionate distance of half a century, Ledeen views Fiume as
a microcosm of the larger chaos of our contemporary scene. Although
he was removed from Fiume after a pitched battle on land and sea,
D'Annunzio remained an influential figure in Italian politics.
Ledeen presents him as "one of the great innovators and watersheds
of the modern world." This book will be of interest to historians,
political scientists, and those interested in Post World War I
Italy.
An authority on Italian fascism and contemporary Europe, Michael
A. Ledeen is Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute
in Washington. In addition to being a frequent contributor to The
New Republic, The American Spectator, and 11 Giornale (Milan), he
is the author of 15 books on contemporary history and politics.
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