The pedigree of fascism : $b A popular essay on the Western philosophy of politicsLion, Aline
Philosophy
The pedigree of fascism : $b A popular essay on the Western philosophy of politics
Lion, Aline
Italy -- Politics and government -- 1914-1945; Partito nazionale fascista (Italy); Political science; State, The
[1] The author wishes to state that being a Nationalist herself she has
been unable to assume towards Nationalism the purely critical attitude
that she has kept towards Socialism.
[2] Just as the idea of family in any one individual makes him feel
that the rest of the people are to him _not his family_, are to him
objective reality, whilst his people are to him THE FAMILY, and part of
his subjective reality.
[3] The author has lived in Italy as a student since May, 1913, in
constant contact with people of all classes.
[4] To refer to one single district and to facts directly known by
the author, it may be stated that in May, 1920, most of the province
of Udine having been organised under Don Sturzo’s white banner, the
peasants had their minds perverted by the very priests to whom they
had looked hitherto for moral guidance, to the extent of starving
their own cattle, of ceasing to milk their cows, leaving hundreds of
beasts howling day and night for a week. (Some of the land-owners,
above all those who were sportsmen, did their best, at the risk of
their life, to relieve the poor animals, but could not manage to go
round the stables every day.) The present writer is a Roman Catholic,
a friend of peasants wherever she goes and an animal lover; she could
not therefore speak with equanimity of a party who used the priests of
her own church to speak words of violence on the steps of the altar
or in the parsonage-houses, making bullies of country folk she has
known for thirteen years as excellent people, looking after their
cattle with so much humanity that they never sit down to a meal before
their beasts are fed. It is therefore better to state a few facts with
names and dates. In May, 1920, in San Martino al Tagliamento, Count
Francesco di Prampero was sequestered in his house with four men of
the white legion mounting guard on his doors, to compel him to yield
to the will of the priests and their followers. The same might be said
of all the land-owners of the villages where Don Sturzism flourished.
But Count Francesco di Prampero is selected here as being such a friend
of peasants, that he never lived with his family, since he was in his
teens preferring the company of his tenants, although he belongs to the
most ancient aristocracy.
In the same year groups of followers of Don Sturzo and some _Arditi
Bianchi_ went about with their white flag compelling people to kiss the
hem of it and caning those who would not, the _Arditi Bianchi_, who
were the armed legion of the party, being ready to shoot the obdurate
men or women. As a matter of fact, the most terrible harm was that of
the sacraments, in a province as religious as that of Udine, so that it
is no wonder that Benedict XV, asked by the present writer if he could
approve such things, was absolutely shocked and let her understand that
since the war it was his greatest torment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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