Fascist Spectacle.pdf

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No. . . . It is a duty" (ibid., pp. 70-71).
135. On this question, see Aquarone, op. cit., pp. 161-162.
136. Scritti e discorsi , vol. V, p. 153. In April 1926, he proclaimed: "The Fascist state is the Fascist government, and the
Leader of the Fascist government is the Leader of the revolution" (ibid., p. 310).
137. Scritti e discorsi , vol. VI, p. 70 (Ascension speech). He then continued: "Is it then a libido of power that holds me?
No. . . . It is a duty" (ibid., pp. 70-71).
138. Emil Ludwig, op. cit., p. 131.
139. Scritti e discorsi , vol. VIII, p. 256.
140. According to De Felice, Mussolini, from the beginning of his mandate, tried to replace the title of leader of the party with
that of Duce of fascism ( Mussolini il fascista , I, op. cit., p. 439). Robert Michels wrote that with Mussolini the axiom "the Party,
it is I" had assumed its maximum development ( First Lectures in Political Sociology , op. cit., p. 137).
141. Yvon De Begnac, Palazzo Venezia: Storia di un regime (Rome: La Rocca, 1950), p. 286.
142. Oswald Spengler, The Hour of Decision. Part One: Germany and the World.
Historical Revolution (i.e. Evolution) (New York: Knopf, 1962), trans. Charles Francis Atkinson (first published in English in
1934), pp. 187-188.
143. According to De Begnac, Mussolini believed in predestination, "in a fate that predisposes facts and events and
indicates to men the open way to humanity" (op. cit., p. 39). Mussolini himself said: "The sensation of being called to announce
a new epoch I had it for the first time when I became close to the group of La Voce . . . . Predestination! Something that grasps
us and takes possession of us, of our days, without us realizing it, and thus becoming 'destiny:' or with us realizing it and thus
becoming 'fate'" (ibid., p. 131). Also see Mussolini's introduction to Scritti e discorsi , vol. I, in which he invokes destiny with
reference to his own role in Italian history.
142. Oswald Spengler, The Hour of Decision. Part One: Germany and the World.
Historical Revolution (i.e. Evolution) (New York: Knopf, 1962), trans. Charles Francis Atkinson (first published in English in
1934), pp. 187-188.
143. According to De Begnac, Mussolini believed in predestination, "in a fate that predisposes facts and events and
indicates to men the open way to humanity" (op. cit., p. 39). Mussolini himself said: "The sensation of being called to announce
a new epoch I had it for the first time when I became close to the group of La Voce . . . . Predestination! Something that grasps
us and takes possession of us, of our days, without us realizing it, and thus becoming 'destiny:' or with us realizing it and thus
becoming 'fate'" (ibid., p. 131). Also see Mussolini's introduction to Scritti e discorsi , vol. I, in which he invokes destiny with
reference to his own role in Italian history.
144. Ludwig, op. cit., p. 99.
145. "Comment se pense un pouvoir qui se désire absolu? Quel est la fantasmatique dans et par laquelle se rationalize la
politique de ce désir? Quel'est l'imagerie de l'absolutisme?" (Louis Marin, "Récit du pouvoir. Pouvoir du récit," Actes de la
recherche en sciences sociales , 25 [January 1979], p. 28).
146. The prayer was published in La Tribuna on July 25, 1927 (cited in Camillo Berneri, Mussolini: Psicologia di un dittatore
[Milan: Azione Comune, 1966], p. 41). The original credo goes: "We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of
heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.—We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten
of the Father. . . . For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of
the Virgin Mary, and became man.—For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died, and was buried. On the
third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He
will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. . . . We believe in one holy catholic
and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the
life of the world to come. Amen."
147. Also see the Balilla organization's credo in George Seldes, Sawdust Caesar: The Untold History of Mussolini and Fascism
(New York: Harper, 1935), appendix, pp. 409-410.
148. The definition of Mussolini as "envoy of God" was by Cardinal Mercier. See Dino Biondi, op. cit., p. 159.
149. Paolo Ardali, San Francesco e Mussolini (Mantova: Paladino, 1926).
150. Cited in Giuseppe Vettori, ed., Duce & ducetti: Citazioni dall'Italia fascista (Rome: Newton Compton, 1975), p. 140.
151. On the relation between Church and fascism see Pietro Scoppola, "La Chiesa e il fascismo durante il pontificato di Pio XI," in
Alberto Aquarone and Maurizio Vernassa, eds., Il regime fascista (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1974).
152. The Pacts were a true success for Mussolini, both at home and abroad. See De Felice, Mussolini il fascista , vol. II (Turin,
1968).
153. See, for example, Cardinal Nasalli Rocca of Bologna, who in a 1929 interview to Avvenire d'Italia declared that Mussolini
had been "the instrument of Providence." Cited in Oreste Del Buono, ed., op. cit., p. 117.
154. Vettori, ed., op. cit., p. 140.
155. Scritti e discorsi , vol. VII, p. 13.
156. Ibid., p. 25.
157. Biondi, op. cit., p. 201.
158. Scritti e discorsi , vol. VII, p. 25 (speech to the assembly of the regime of March 10, 1929).
159. Cited in Vettori, op. cit., p. 38.
160. Scritti e discorsi , vol. III, p. 153.
161. Cited in Del Buono, ed., op. cit., p. 39. The report continued: "[W]ords come out slowly through his semi-closed lips,
almost kisses" (ibid).
160. Scritti e discorsi , vol. III, p. 153.
161. Cited in Del Buono, ed., op. cit., p. 39. The report continued: "[W]ords come out slowly through his semi-closed lips,
almost kisses" (ibid).
162. In 1937, in an interview to the United Press, Mussolini described his incredible regimen: "I made of my organism an engine
constantly surveyed and controlled that marches with absolute regularity." From Il Popolo d'Italia of March 9, now in Opera
Omnia , vol. XXVIII, p. 136.
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