Morale in Fascist Italy in Wartime

Author(s): Saville R. Davis

Source: American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 47, No. 3 (Nov., 1941), pp. 434-438
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2769292
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MORALE IN FASCIST ITALY IN WARTIME

SAVILLE R. DAVIS
ABSTRACT
Fascist propaganda was not successfulon the home front.The outcomeof Italian
militaryventuresin Albania and in Libya was a logical consequence. Whileallowed to
circulate,Swiss and Vatican newspaperswere extremelypopular while Italian papers
were accepted with contemptuousamusement.By means of the foreignpress,shortwellinformed.
wave radio,and the grapevinethe Italian people have kept surprisingly
It appears that the Italians would ratherlose to the Britishthan to the Germans.

of
For eighteenyearsMussoliniprojectedintotheconsciousness
theItalianpeoplehisslogan,"Believe,Obey,Fight." He employed
exeverydeviceofmodernpropagandatechnique.He confidently
pecteda highstateofcivilianmoraleonthedaywhenfascismshould
meetits supremetestin anotherworldwar.
wentintoaction
He was deceived.Whenthe Italian conscripts
in Albaniaand in Libya,theirbeliefwas flagging;theirobedience
was mechanical.Theyhad no heartto fight.
The monthssinceItaly enteredthewar,then,presenta remarkable case studyin nationalmorale.To thoseofus on the scene,it
was apparentthat the Italian people won the battleof domestic
militarized
forthe
propaganda.Theyrefusedto becomegenuinely
sake oftheFascistparty'sgambleon quickGermanvictory.They
ofGermany
to convertthemintofriends
managedto resistall efforts
and of Germannationalsocialism.
Fascism,then,was defeatedon thehomefront.Whathappened
oftheantiinAlbaniaandinLibyafollowed
as a logicalconsequence
war feelingback home.It is not possibleto fightmodernbattles
withan armyofconscientious
objectors.
I cannotciteany statistics,
any Galluppolls,in supportofthese
statements.
At presentwriting
onlytwoaccountsofthebreakdown
offascistmoralehave been broughtout of Italy underconditions
freewriting.AndwhiletheaccountintheChristian
whichpermitted
tallieswiththatofJohnT. Whitakerin theChicago
ScienceMonitor
ofmorediversimustwaitfortheassembling
Daily News,historians
fiedsourcematerial.
American
I believeit is fairto saythatthequalified
Nevertheless,
434

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MORALE IN FASCIST ITALY IN WARTIME

435

in Rome duringthe past year are in substantialagreereporters

menton the essentialfacts.As longas Mussolinikeptwarpurely
in the realmof oratory,as long even as he confined
war to the
in Ethiopiaand in Spain,thebulkoftheItalian
smallerexpeditions
people continuedto toleratefascismas a domesticsystem.But
whenhe triedin earnestto directtheirallegiancetowardGermany,
discontent
becamegeneral.Whenhe declaredwara greatfearseized
the wholepeople and theybegan to talk withastonishing
fervor
and thepeople
againsttheregime.Whentheballoonwaspunctured,
realizedthatthe Fascistparty'smilitarism
was a hollowmockery,
onlythe ironhold of the GermanGestapoon the reinsof power
managedto save appearancesfortheDuce. Had it notbeenforthe
therewasmorethanan evenchancethatMussoliniwould
Germans,
have thenbeenoverthrown.
Throughoutthis period I lived in Rome, traveledregularly
to talk to
throughcentraland northern
Italy,and made an effort
peopleofall classes.These,briefly,
weremyobservations:
People of all classeslaughedat the newspapers."Give me my
oflies,"said a workingwoman
to thenewsvendor
thirtycentesimi
at a Romankiosk.The fascistpropagandists
weresparingno lanoftheGermans.Newsreportswere
guagein theireffusive
courting
but thinlyveiledpolemics.VirginioGayda and GiovanniAnsaldo
pouredtheirscaldingrhetoric
downthecolumnsofpage one,often
printingthreeor fourthousandwordsin a singleissue. And yet
theseprophets,
so oftenquotedin theAmerican
press,wereignored
in themostclassicalfashionat home.It shouldbe recognized
that
Italians both understandand expect that theirpoliticswill be
servedup steaming.Theyacceptit witha millennial
patience;indeed,theyknowpropagandaofold.
The attitudeof the averageItalian towardthe press was one
eitherofcontempt
or ofindifference.
MeanwhileSwissnewspapers
weresnappedup by all whocouldreadFrenchor German.Andthe
Osservatore
romano,organof the Vatican,was the most popular
newspaperin Italy untilthefasciststrong-arm
squads droveit off
the streetsshortlybeforeItaly enteredthe war and compelleda
strictneutrality
in its columns.
thereafter
The radiowas likewisegivenscantyattention
inso faras itspread
propaganda.It carriedthe usual line of talks, Germanhookups,

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436

THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

thedegreeofsuccess.
biasednews,etc. But an incident
willillustrate
AfterItaly was severalmonthsin the war,the party observeda
greatindifference
on thepartofthepublictowardthebroadcasting
of the GeneralStaffcommunique
at i P.M. daily. So theorderwas
issuedforall Italians in publicplaces to stand and remainsilent
calm.
duringits reading!Theydid so, withan ineffable
The Fascistpartyitselfwas leadenwithdissension.Amongmy
friendsand acquaintanceswerescoresofpartymemberswhowere
hotlyat variancewiththepartyline. ShortlybeforeItaly entered
the war,the partyleadershipwas changed,and someof the most
ruthlessmembersof the so-calledOld Guardof fascism-theveteransofthestreet-fighting
discipline.
days-weresentoutto enforce
Theyweredrawnchiefly
fromtheelementwhichwas activelyprothe editorof the Regime
German,such as the groupsurrounding
whose only
fascista,RobertoFarrinaci,or fromthose old-timers
ethicwas loyalty.These men imposeda partialterrorism,
to be
insilencing
themoreseriouscritisure. But theirsuccesswas chiefly
cism;theydid notconvert.
well informed.
The upper
The Italian publicwas astonishingly
andmiddleclasseshad theirSwissnewspapers
and theirshort-wave,
radios.The lowerclassesgleanedmuchwhileservingtableorlistening to conversation
in the salon. Theirgrapevinewas raisedto a
ifnotofaccuracy.A callfrom
highdegreeofspeedand enthusiasm,
in an apartment
houseto their
all thedomestics
thekitchenbrought
fromone
in
news
balconies
a
The
milk
trice.
boy sped
courtyard
chickensand eggsfrom
houseto another,and thecorriere
bringing
thecountryservedas liaisonofficer
betweentownand country.
"You may say that thisis the reactionof the Italian people,"
said GuidoRocco,thegraciousheadoftheForeignPressDirection,
whengivingto theforeign
pressan answerto a speechofChurchill.
Thenhe smilingly
corrected
"No, youcannotsay that. The
himself,
speechhasn'tbeenpublishedin thepress;thepeopleare not supradio." Andundercoverofthelaughposedto listento theforeign
"But ofcoursewe all
doubtlessinadvertently,
ter,he addedsoftly,
knowtheydo!" This fromthechiefofforeign
propaganda.
to numberthem
As forthesupporters
ofthewar,it is impossible
elementin the
pro-German
accurately.Theyincludedthegenuinely
menwhobelievedin thefascistideal. Theyincluded
party---those

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MORALE IN FASCIST ITALY IN WARTIME

437

the disciplinedand loyal men and womenwho followedand did

notquestion.Andtheyincludedtherankseitherofthepassiveorof
thetolerantamongthepeopleat large.Thisconglomerate
maywell
have embraceda majorityofthepeoplea yearbeforeItaly entered
thewar. On Juneio, I940, it was clearlya minority.It may improve

itspositionhenceforth,
butwhenI leftItalythisspringI doubtiften
thewar
percentcouldhavebeenfoundto voteeitherforcontinuing
The
be
smaller.
or fora fascistfuture.
proportion
mightwell
forces
It is essentialto understand
howmanyare theconflicting
whichconditioned
thepeople'sattitudetowardwarpropaganda.
In the firstplace, thesewereItalians. The complexity
of their
nationalcharacterand of theirsocialbehavioris too casuallydiscounted-in the Anglo-Saxonworld. Italians becomeenthusiastic
loyalreadily,kindleto thesparkofa crusader,
pourouta torrential
and defeats,and rety,bruisetheirspiritagainstdelays,betrayals,
lapse suddenlyintofatalismand apathy-emotionally
spent.They
inthedayofsunshine
andplungeintoorgiesofdespair
areexuberant
in thedayofmisfortune.
Theyhavenoneofthestable,constructive
mentalityof the morenorthern
peoples,or theirresistanceto adversity.The depthoftheirculture,indeedeventhe stonesaround
ofhisthem,giveeventhehumblest
peasanta livelyconsciousness
of thepresent.Speakingoffascismand
toryand ofthetransiency
war,he willgiveyou his vernacularequivalentof "This, too,will
pass." Italiansare an exploitedpeople,accustomedto havingtheir
thinking
imposedupon them;and yet thisveryweightof steady
to indoctrinahas builtup in theirsystemsan immunity
oppression
tionwhichmaygo farto explaintheirbehaviortoday. Inevitably,
such a people as the Italianswouldbe the despairof a Goebbels.
theseLatin qualitiesoperatedsubstantially
to vitiate
Obviously,
the effectof propaganda.There are otherfactors,whichcan be
aboutas successfully
as onecanpatterntheunpatternable:
classified
The Italiansremainpassionately
nationalistic.Theirtraditional
enemieshave been the Germans.They don'tsee whytheyshould
do otherthanfearthe Germanstoday. "We cannotwin,"people
said tomeoverand overagain,indifferent
words,butwiththesame
meaning;"even if we win,we lose-to the Germans.We would
ratherlose to theBritish."
inTheywereby natureanti-National
Socialist.Theyrecognized

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438

THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

tuitivelythat the rigorof genuinefascism,at which Mussolini was

onlyplay-acting,had been carriedout to its grimmestconclusionby
Germany,and they felt this to be the negation of their gracious,
way of life.
sunshine-filled
They were in large part pacifist. In the last war, it is true, they
were aroused to a highmilitaristpitch; but only fora period. They
remaina nation of arists,poets,musicians,tillersdfthe soil. War is
repugnant to them. Their debilitating war-wearinessincreased
throughthe Ethiopian and Spanish venturesto a point where all
groups of Italians spoke to me about it with lacklusterwords or in
actual agony of spirit.
Meanwhile there were characteristicdeficienciesin the propaganda itself. For Mussolini was neverthe rigorous,relentlessfascist
type. He shiftedfromconservativeto radical, frompeacemaker to
militaristas the internationalwinds changed their quarter. He
changedhis advisersand officialsreadilyso as to avoid theformation
ofoppositiongroups. All thismade fordisorganization,vagueness of
policy-and forthe temporarysecurityof Mussolini's personalrule.
The people recognizedthis essentiallyeasygoingItalian softnessbehind the ironmask offascism,and thepropaganda was consequently
denatured in their eyes. Furthermore,Italians are accustomed to
political posing, to oratorywhich sounds flamboyantin its English
translationbut whichin its own settingflowsquite naturally from
the Italians' innerurgeto put on a good showand to see a good show.
Finally, it should be recalled that the Germans had had but a
scant fiveyears to come to termswith the new subtletyand effectiveness of modernpropaganda and to learn fromexperiencehow
to neutralizeit. The Italians had nineteenyears of fascism-more
than enoughformany a hypnoticchant to wear out its strengthand
fora healthyreactionto set in.
Much of the collapse of fascism,then, can be laid to the quirks
and characteristicsof its Italian environment.Nevertheless,I left
Italy convinced that therewas more of significanceto the Italian
storythan merelythe discreditingof one more Italian tyranny.In
other countries,under more favorable conditions,the fascist idea
may prove more tenacious. But its weaknessmust be basically the
same-and its end should not be otherwise.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

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