Evening star., 1943-07-27
What Next in Italy?

OlluCulCleS ana grave TlSkS.
What Next in ltoIy?
The situation in Italy precipitated
by the sudden ousting of Mussolini
and the emergence of a military
dictatorship headed by Marshal
Badoglio, at the order of King Victor
Emmanuel, is so extraordinary and
so unprecedented that it is suscept-
ible of many interpretations. How
ever. few facts are fairly clear.
To begin with. the elimination of
Mussolini involves the crumbling of
the whole Fascist regime That
elaborate hierarchy, ranging from
the flamboyant figure of II Duce
himself down to the smallest party
ward or village boss. is toppling to
earth, like a scaffolding superim-
posed upon building, revealing the
outlines of the original edifice, rela-
lively unchanged. The question now
is whether that edifice. which itself
seemed so jerry built when the
Fascists put up their scaffolding a
generation ago, can be salvaged, or
whether the entire structure of mod
ern Italy will collapse and must be
rebuilt from it's very foundations.
The King and Marshal Badoglio
represent the Italy erected less than
a century ago by the statecraft of
Cavour and the dynamism of Carl
baldi under the aegis of the royal
house of Savoy. This means that
Italian nationhood is relatively re-
cent. Cavour sensed the need of
ripening process by his famous re-
mark: Italy is made. We must now
make the Italians" Modern Italy
dates only from its complete unif1ca-
ton in 1870. Behind lies a vista of
more than a thousand years from
the downfall of the Roman Empire,
during which the country was merely
geographical expression" Modern
1taly's political life was not edifying
and its inherent weaknesses were
disclosed by the strain of the First
World War. It was in the disorgan-
ization and disillusionment which
followed that conflict that Mussolini
came to power with mis- alluring
nostrums for imperial greatness.
But all he created was plaster cast
of the Roman Empire which now lies
c1 f{oroI i,, thu duet
At this hour of panic and supreme
disillusionment, two old men, the
King and the marshal. step forth to
stay the spreading disintegration and
avert the threat of chaos. That
Badoglio's government can be more
than a temporary stop-gap is almost
inconceivable. Mussolini and his
henchmen had so monopolized the
sources of power and authority that
the disappearance Of the Fascist
hierarchy must inevitably produce a
political vacuum into which all sorts
of forces will be drawn. On one side
is the dynamic pressure Of the VIC
torious Allied armies. air squadrons
and fleets. On the other side is the
continued presence within Italy of
German divisions, Gestapo agents
and economic integration with the
Reich. The King and the marshal
are probably striving above all else
to preserve some semblance of order
and TO prevent Italy from becoming
a chaotic battle-ground between it's
technical allies and it's formal
enemies
That the Italian Army is capable
of continuing the war as disciplined
entity is manifestly impossible.
Badoglio is probably trying to ease
the Germans out of Italy and make
such terms with the Allies as would
minimize further devastation OF the
country. Secretary Hull has made it
clear that America and Britain will
not permit Italy merely to drop out
of the war and become a bruised
spectator. Yet the western powers
draw a clear distinction between
Italy and The Reich, and are disposed
to treat the Italians with as much
consideration as is possible.
The larger strategic results of
Italy's collapse as an integral men,
Der Of the Axis are by no means con-
fined to the peninsula itself. Fully
half of 1taly's remaining forces are
engaged in garrison duty in the
Balkans and Southern France. Their
withdrawal would greatly complicate
the task of the Germans. while the
example of Italy is already shaking
allegiance of all the Axis satellites.
Meanwhile. the Allied armies keep
up their pressure. AS Badoglio him.
self admits: THE war goes on"