FW: ITALY: Benito Mussolini

Christopher Jones writes: "Last night, a short documentary on German TV traveled to the Mussolini family crypt in the Emilia Romagna and showed the honor guard of two young black shirts who stand watch over the remains of the Duce, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I decided to open My Rise and Fall (Da Capo, 212pp) by Benito Mussolini so WAISers might better understand why, still today, many Italians and indeed Europeans express their respect and admiration for this remarkable but flawed man. The book is essentially two publications in one: My Rise was written in 1927 as La Mia Vita and its English version was introduced by Richard Washburn Child, the US ambassador to Italy. The second part was written after Mussolini's dismissal by the King in 1943 and reveals a Mussolini who knew full well that he was now the most hated man in Italy. Ambassador Washburn Child describes the difference between mere statesmanship and "superstatesmanship" as good way to understand Mussolini. A statesman manages the existing state, like all US presidents or British PMs . However according to the US ambassador, Mussolini had to create the state (as was the same for Charles de Gaulle) and so achieved "Superstatesman" status. In the book, Mussolini describes this transformation of Italy from a basket case into "The Garden of Fascism." The Duce writes how his essential building block for this was financial policy. Mussolini's reorganization of the state's finances led the country to budget surplus and the ability to start repayment to the US and UK of First World War debt. In fact, the first repayment to the US was a spontaneous collection by the Italian people themselves. When you read this book, you rub your eyes and ask: "Is this Italy I am reading about?" Mussolini stressed the individual and banned unhealthy, disruptive centrifugal forces. He hated politics for politics. Since 1945, a completely false image of Mussolini has been set in stone to justify what came afterward. Read this book and undergo a transformation in your thinking". RH:I lived in Italy in 1935, and what Christopher says of Italian pùblic opinion was true then.