Mussolini as revealed in his political speeches (November 1914-August 1923)Mussolini, Benito
History
Mussolini as revealed in his political speeches (November 1914-August 1923)
Mussolini, Benito
Fascism -- Italy; Italy -- Politics and government -- 1914-1945; Mussolini, Benito, 1883-1945; Partito nazionale fascista (Italy)
Citizens! Black shirts! Chivalrous people of Cagliari! Of late I have
visited several towns, including those which belong to the place where I
was born. Well! I wish to tell you, and this is the truth, that no town
accorded me the welcome you gave me to-day. I knew that the town of
Cagliari was peopled by men of strong passions, I knew that an ardent
spirit of regeneration throbbed in your hearts. The cheers with which
you welcomed me, the crowd crammed into the Roman amphitheatre, all this
tells me that here Fascismo has deep roots. I thank you, therefore,
Citizens, from the depth of my heart.
I have come to Sardinia not only to know your land, as forty-eight hours
would not be enough for that purpose, and still less would they be
enough to examine closely your needs. I know them; statesmen have known
them for the last fifty years. Those needs are already before the
nation, and if up to to-day they have not yet been solved, this is due
to the fact that Rome was lacking that iron will for regeneration which
is the pivot, the essence of the Fascista Government’s faith in the
future of our country. (Applause.)
Passing through your land, I have found here a living, throbbing limb of
the mother country. Truly this island of yours is the western bulwark of
the nation; is like a heart of Rome set in the midst of our sea. Amongst
all the impressions I have received in coming here, one has struck my
heart. I was told that Sardinia, for special local reasons, was
refractory to Fascismo. Here, too, there was another misunderstanding.
But from to-day the cohorts and the legions, the thousands of strong
“black shirts,” the syndicates, the _fasci_, the whole youth of this
island is there to show that Fascismo, representing an irresistible
movement for the regeneration of the race, was bound to carry with it
this island where the Italian race is manifested so superbly.
(Applause.)
I salute you, Black shirts! We saw each other in Rome and the groups
coming from Sardinia were cheered in the capital. You bear in your
hearts the faith which at a given moment drove thousands and thousands
of Fascisti from all the cities, from all the villages of Italy, to
Rome. (Applause.)
Nobody can ever dream of wrenching from us the fruit of victory that we
have paid for by so much blood generously shed by youths who offered
their lives in order to crush Italian Bolshevism. Thousands and
thousands of those who suffered martyrdom in the trenches, who have
resumed the struggle after the war was over, who have won—all those have
ploughed a furrow between the Italy of yesterday, of to-day and of
to-morrow.
Citizens of Cagliari! You must certainly play a part in this great
drama. You, undoubtedly, wish to live the life of our great national
community, of this our beloved Italy, of this adorable mother who is our
dream, our hope, our faith, our conviction, because men pass away, maybe
Governments, too, but Italy lives and will never die! (Loud applause.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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