Evening star., 1941-04-11
MussoIini Called Mentally III,
A Man Corrupted by Power
Axis Pact Held Result of Paralysis Stroke;
Pictured as Most Reved Man in Italy
(Eiqhth OF d Series, }

always some alluSlOn to sex. MUS
solini was exceedingly boastful of
his sexual prowess and tried in
every way to belle his years. His
loneliness was a horror to him.
His brother Arnaldo, the editor,
was his only friend, and Arnaldo
died He turned to his daughter
Edda, the Countess Ciano, and she,
with no interest in anything beyond
the frivolities Of life, failed him
utterly. He had no companion, no
one to whom he could confide.
Fascism Had Run Down.
Politically, the situation two
years ago was equally bitter and
Disappointing. After II years
Fascism had run down. 1t was all
very well to talk about living like
lions; Italians were tired. Ethiopia
and Spain had been exhausting.
Instead of having trained up a
people of steel, Mussolini found
that the Italians wanted bread, not
circuses. Instead of having trained
up an elite, Mussolini found that
his most trusted ministers wanted
graft and letup in the tension.
This came at a moment when
Mussolini felt certain that the fu-
ture of the world would soon be
decided. And then suddenly, with
out warning, he was stricken.
These are the personal and politi-
cal disappointments that he mulled
over as he lay in bed. I think that
he decided to make an alliance
with Hitler in order to revitalize
Fascism through a union with the
younger and more violent Nazi
movement. I think the decision was
based on internal politics and
theological considerations, not on
any analysis of the international
situation. The dictator put Fascism,
not Italy, first.
Faust and Mephistopheles.
Mussolini thought he could ham
die Hitler, but once the alliance
was made he found that he had
signed in blood compact as bind
ing as that of Faust with Mephis-
topheles. Confident that the British
and French would not wantonly at
tack him, Mussolini thought that he
had bought of a German invasion
and secured a balance of power
position for himself.
Aware of Mussolini's stroke and
his resultant fears and apprehen-
sions, Hitler and his agents dealt
shrewdly with the italian. They
fattered him. The two revolutions
were the same. If Hitler won his
war this would become "the century
of Mussolinf.s They told him such
things and the aging dictator, fear
full for the future of Fascism, relish
ed the sound of them.
Except for his stroke I think
Mussolinis peasant shrewdness
would have saved him. Because he
was not very well Mussolini had to
give up public appearances and pri-
vate conversations. He lost the feel
OF his own public opinion and he
saw almost no advisers or counselors
except the Germans.
Duce Frightened at War.
1t is no wonder therefore that
he was impressed when Hitler told
him a few months before the in
vasion of the Low Countries and
France exactly how that offensive
would go. Mussolini had been
when Hitler, telling
Count Ciano that the British and
French were afraid to fight, invaded
Poland over Italy's protest. But
when Hitler's most optimistic pre-
diction proved true Mussolini's
doubts vanished.
Clutching at the coattails of the
triumphant Nazis, the Fascists were
safe. Mussolini told a friend of
mine: 1--WE must 60 to war i'm
France will collapse in a
matter of days and Britain's capi-
will follow swiftly. If we
are to share in the spoils, we must
strike before Hitler brings the
1ostilities to an end" And so on
June 10, in one of the least i'm
oressive speeches of his long career,
Mussolini declared war on Great |
Britain and France.
This act was criminal blunder.
Italy was in no way prepared for
var. Every type of armament and
was lacking for the army.
No reserves of fuel had been stored
either for the air force or the navy.
No raw materials had been stocked
for Italy's war industries. Worse,
the Italian people felt a. profound
distrust for the Germans, their
foes, and wanted strict |
neutrality. The nation was not
prepared for the sternest of |
Ill national tests.
The extent of Mussolini's blunder |
1as been proved in Libya and AL
,ania. It would re proved In Italy