The Wilmington morning star., 1940-06-11

asserted, Italy will keep her pledge
to Germany to march to the end
with friends"
The plunge clearly was seen here
as the fruition OF the historic con.
versation ct last March Is between
Mussolini and Adolf Hitler at Bren.
ner Pass.
AL the world wondered what was
decided at that crucial meeting.
The agreement apparently gave
Italy the promise Of Mediterranean
control.
Vigorous Exhortation
Mussolini, standing In his fam,
iliar balcony. made a characters.
tically vigorous exhortation. with his
fist continually clenched and pound.
ing upon the balustrade to enforce
his points.
Cheers punctuated every sentence.
But at the end Of his shrilling Is,
minute call to arms, many women
wept openly in the Piazza Venczia
below and young women chung sadly
to smartly uniformed young lieu
tenants.
Fathers wandered off. leading
wide'eyed sons by the hand.
A group of $50 uniformed German
Nazis, including men, women and
boys, shouted "heils" under the bal.
cony as Mussolini proclaimed his
intention of keeping the pact of steel
| with Hitler.
Afterward they paraded, singing,
to Nazi headquarters at the Brown.
house."
Mild Confusion
Scenes of mild confusion followed
the war announcement in the streets
Of Rome. Several hundred troops
rushed to turn away a mob of sailors
and civilians from the British con,
sulate in the Piazza Espana. Fire
men held one end of the piazza with
hoses attached to fireplugs ready to
put down any rioting.
Students and fascists roamed the
streets for hours shouting and sing.
ing and speaking at demonstrations
against what Mussolini called the
western %plutocratic and reactionary
d~emocracies."
Mussolini opened his war state
ments by saying the declarations al.
ready had been handed to the Allied
ambassadors.
The formal welding Of the Rome
Berlin axis in the steel Of war was
set officially for tomorrow. but Der
lin reports said Italian troops al.
ready had entered hard-pressed
France through the Riviera.
Mussolini's announcement of the
long-deferred decision from his bal.
cony above blackshirted thousands
packed in the square, and to millions
at lo%udspeakers over the kingdom
came as a partial surprise
1t long had been anticipated that
open hostilities would signify the
Italian plunge after nine months OF
threatful non.belligerency.
The Italian war aim as outlined by
Mussolini is control of the Mediter-
ranean by Italy, translation of Mare
Nostrum" literally into our sea-
for Italy.
Holds Out Promise
He held out the promise of non.
ENHANCEMENT to Italy's neighbor ma.
tions-but only II they rigidly retain
their neutrality and he made an
o~ratorical attempt to wean away
Egypt and Turkey from their pledges
to the Allies.
All Italy and the annexed Balkan
state Of Albania was ordered to "lend
their ears to the moment-to listen !
Clustered and jamming about loud
speakers rugged up wherever fascist
ears might hear, the millions heard
their leader, II Duce, declare war on
the "plutocratic reactionary democ'
racies."
Our WILL" he told them, "is that
Italy does not intend to bring other
people into the conflict.
"Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey and
Egypt will take notice Of this fact
He also mentioned Switzerland,
which recently has been involved in
aerial skirmishes with German bomb.
ers infringing on Swiss neutrality
while cutting on their re-
turn from attacks on France.
Last-minute efforts were made by
British and French ambassadors to
avert the entry Of Italy and the
sandwiching of Paris between at
tacks from the hard-pressed north
and the new southern front.
(The Italian foreign minister,
Count Ciano, was quoted in Paris as
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