Evening star., 1947-11-30
Milan: Episode or Portent?.

Despite bloodless outcome, the Milan
ese affair has very grave implications. It
was deliberate and flagrant defiance Of
the National government by the Com
munists, who have been avowedly seeking
its overthrow, albeit hitherto by political
and parliamentary methods. Now, in
Milan, they have staged an impressive
demonstration of their power-and have,
to all intents and purposes, gotten away
with it.
The affair was occasioned by the gov
ernment's replacement of the local pre-
feet, Ettore Troilo. In Italy, the central
government has its appointed officials
headed by prefect to represent the
federal authority, alongside the local
elected civic bodies. In Milan, the mu
nicipal government already was dominated
by the Communists, while Prefect Troilo
though not himself Communist, served
with Communist Partisans in the Resist
ance movement against the Germans and
is notoriously left-wing in his sympathies.
Because of his failure to take effective
action against Communist disorders in
Milan fortnight ago, the central gov
ernment determined to replace him by a
more reliable official, sugaring the pill by
offering him post on the Italian delega-
tion to the United Nations.
The Communist high command there
upon determined to show its displeasure
at the move. So it staged what amounted
to local coup d'etat. Fully ten thousand
workingmen, unarmed, but in military
formations, marched from the industrial
suburbs into the heart of Milan. They
were headed by Partisan battalions wear
ing uniforms of red blouses cut in Russian
style. The local police and carabinieri
made no resistance. They stood by i'm
passively while the demonstrators took
over the prefecture or federal building,
the radio station and other key points.
These were manned by Red garrsons pro-
tected by barricades. At the seized pre-
lecture, a Communist leader was pro-
claimed high commissioner apparently
designated to run the city for the new
provisional regime.
When this sensational news reached
Rome, the central government ordered
the local general to take over all authority
In Milan. But the army heads, after an
emergency council, politely declined to
carry out the governments orders, alleging
that, since there had been no violence, 1t
was police matter. Next day, the Com
munists evacuated the prefecture and gov
ernment authority has been formally re-
established, though Prefect Troilo remains,
at least temporarily at his post.
Thus the affair has ended peacefully.
But the aftermath may be portentous.
The government has been successfully
challenged, while the police and the army
have alike proved themselves to be un-
reliable. The governments authority and
prestige must thereby be gravely dimin-
ished, while that of the Communist Party
has been proportionately exalted. The
psychological effects upon italian public
opinion could be far-reaching. Communist
spokesmen have boasted in recent months
that they can take over Italy whenever
they wish. Apparently the Communist
high command intended its action in
Milan to be a demonstration rather than
the start of revolution. But the weakness
Of the central government has now been
made plain for all to see. The logical
deduction is as obvious as 1t is disquieting
for all except the Communists and their
SvmpathiZerS