square official

[Exatem]

square official – discussions about World War II and its surroundings.

“The First World War explains the second, and it was actually the cause, as an event can cause another one.” this wrote a.j.p. taylor in the essay “original of the Second World War”, “Germany fought the second war to overturn the verdict of the first and to cancel the imposed.” Although some do not fully agree with this position, almost everyone agrees that the Second War is not explained without referring to the first.
Of course, the winners preferred to attribute to the expansionist myres of germany the cause of the outbreak of the great war as they then did for the second.
However, by analyzing the facts, perhaps reality cannot be reduced to such a simple and common explanation of why the world was overwhelmed for two consecutive times, and so short distance, by mass conflicts that caused millions of dead, injured, invalid.
who erased entire generations, who consumed enormous wealth by inflicting more suffering on humanity than any other previous event.
four years of conflict caused 10 million deaths and burned Europe, mesopotamia, africa and cina, north and south, east and west.
after twenty years, the same protagonists resurfaced on the same battlefields, causing the death of over 50 million people mostly civilians and leaving the world under no better conditions.

the increase in resources, wealth and population, resulting from the industrial revolution, had transformed the society of the xx century.
the world was connected by railways, roads, air and maritime routes, the "infrastructures" were born, schools, universities and above all armies, armies increasingly numerous and equipped with destructive means never seen before.
the combination of human ingenuity and industrial capacity made it possible to build weapons with which the armies would inflict huge losses.
sometimes these inventions were due to the case or the concaus of events apparently disconnected between them.

For example, hiram maxim had long been devoting himself to electrical engineering experiments when an American colleague told him: “to hell with your electricity! if you want to make a fortune, invent something that allows those European fools to kill each other faster” and the machine gun was born.

four were the factors that made possible the manufacture of new war machines:
- the diffusion of steam machines that will provide energy for industrial production.
- the development of the “American method” i.e. the production of interchangeal parts thanks to the use of the pantograph, which will allow the huge increase of the production in series (e.g. the dreyse needle rifle, was produced in 1847 in 10,000 pieces. the enfield built in only 1863, 100,370 rifles while the French will succeed three ances after producing 300,000 chassepot rifles.
- the bessemer converter furnace thanks to which the krupp foundries built their famous cannons.
- chemical applied to explosives with products capable of pushing bullets and bullets faster and further.

and when the weapons were applied the recovery of energy, on the battlefields appeared the machine guns and fast shooting guns capable of bringing death quickly and at a great distance.

We will try to talk about the conflict, causes and consequences by focusing on the technical innovations that accompanied the events and to do this, we will give the word to some officers, sub-officials or sailors, who with their stories, will guide us narrating the events from the point of observation "privileged" of workers.

are all imaginary characters, invented. but that tell stories true, really happened.

books, publications of all kinds that speak of World War II, are full of books from all over the world. hoped to be able to maintain objectivity and critical vision, we will stress in particular on the Italian war, on why we entered the war, with what expectations, with what results. I say “we” not by chance but in the hope that whoever wants to contribute, put his opinion available, keeping in the tracks of correctness and mutual respect even in the face of opposite opinions.

 

[Exatem]

2 the mutilated victory. (facts and names, though inspired by reality, are the fruit of fantasy)the spice, 10 June 1940 - xviii
the building overlooks the docks and the windows of the accommodation you can see the boats moored one by the other, black and sharp like blades.
the city sleeps, few lights and silence and the smell of the sea that arrives transported by a light hot breeze as it happens in June nights.
today the duce spoke, at six o'clock in the evening, but everyone already knew what the meaning of his words would be.
Now it is war and we all feel thrown suddenly in front of something immensely serious as grave is the end of peace.
“How did we get to this? because humanity has decided to annihilate itself, to inflict unspeakable suffering and torments again? ”
the captain of royal corvetta was born in 1906 in a country of the Roman hills and enlisted in the marine direction in 1922.
He left the academy of livorno with the rank of guardian in 1928 and obtained the following year, his first boarding on a cruiser, the thirty.
he is promoted lieutenant and in '30 he attends the upper course to the academy. Finally in 32 he is transferred to submarines where he can attend the course of underwater weapons. in 1933 he was a lieutenant of the ship and later embarked on two boats.
Since 1938 he has been assigned to the second submarine squadron of spice and today, he is the young commander of a “600” of the first series.
is not at sea because its boat is ending a cycle of checks and controls after maintenance work.
Many of his friends have been on a mission for a few days.
he must “dead the brake”. tonight his thoughts are for the fate of his homeland which he has reserved and will reserve from now on, to him and his men, sacrifices and daily difficulties.
“My second, the vessel lieutenant draws youth. a young but experienced Modenanese, always calm and solar. the lieutenant antonio fork, Neapolitan, excellent officer of course and great navigator; The warlock guard, officer of the weapons equally capable. the director of a venier machine, a professionally unparalleled Venetian.
and then the submarines, the pillars on which the "structure" rests, old sea wolves with years of boarding on practically all the samples of submarines available to the marine direction. and submarines and sailors; all wonderfully brave. ”
not exceptional men but an exceptional crew.
It is difficult to understand the spirit that unites the crew of a submarine to its commander, but they must blindly trust their boss. It can't be otherwise...

at this moment other young people like him are living the same anxieties. his brother-in-law is official of the army. She married her sister two years ago. He smiles thinking when the comrades created a gallery crossing their swords as officers under which lightly flew the wedding veil of a radiant elena. smiles because imagine how difficult it should be for the submariners to cross the torpedoes to a marriage...

but now the homeland calls its children to claim what is up to him after the great war.
winners exalted but uncertain, certainly not recognized and underestimated.

the facts...

the London pact of 26 April 1915, signed secretly at the time of the entry into war and that it previewed the annexation of much of the Dalmatian and of territories along the Adriatic coast, had not been respected despite it wanted to ensure to Italy greater security of the eastern coast and above all, it wanted to prevent the Russian annexation of a Slavic state.
Italy had in fact engaged to enter the war alongside France, Russia and the land, in exchange for the Trentino, of the high adige up to the brenner, of tries, gorizia and gradisca, of the isria (excluding river) and of the northern Dalmatia. the pact proved impractical already during the war and on 20 July 1917, with the signing of the declaration of corfù, the creation of the kingdom of serbia, Croatian and Slovene on the remains of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was sanctioned.
but at the end of the war the political-military situation had changed. Yugoslavia would never have been able to build a fleet capable of evading Italy.
Moreover the expansionist myres of the Russian had been dissolved by other events.
the Paris Peace Conference was a clamorous failure. the Italian government represented by the President of the Orlando Council and the Minister of Foreign Affairs sonnino, had asked for respect for the pacts of London and the annexation of river, a town with an Italian majority wishing to become Italian. but the agreements of London, secretly signed by Italy and Great Britain, were not supported by the United States and Italy had seen rejected its demands.
the question of the territories claimed by Italy was clashed with the hostility of the Yugoslavs who tried to obtain besides the Dalmatia also the cities of Trieste, gorizia and the istria.
the American president wilson turned out strongly hostile towards the Italian demands (and in particular towards the river that, in his intentions, would have to become the port of Balkan Europe) and accused our country of "imperialism".
the government had been forced to resign and it was succeeded by the Franciscan Saverio nitti, who, had no nationalistic feeling and who, on the contrary, signed the treaty of sannt-germain that established the Austrian Italian borders but left unsolved the Eastern problem.
the feeling that Italy would renounce any claim, had pushed gabriele d'annunzio to command an irregular military expedition of nationalists and former fighters who, on 12 September 1919, occupied river asking for annexation to Italy.
Niti also resigned from the position of Prime Minister and succeeded Joolitti youth who inherited the question of eastern borders. Giolitti appointed Foreign Minister Carlo strain.
to the difficult international political situation, it had to counter a dramatic internal economic situation. We had fought a war that had dramatic effects on the Italian economy and society.
Italy was almost entirely dependent on overseas imports of wheat and coal and had contracted very heavy debts with the United States. the state crates were almost empty also because the lira during the conflict had lost much of its value, with a cost of life increased by at least 450%. the lack of a solid internal market and the crisis of foreign ones prevented - however - that the production could find vent, and consequently many simply closed manufacturing.
exports covered only 36% of imports. the cost of life was 4 times higher than that of 1913, while the budget deficit had reached unprecedented levels. prices increased and wages declined.
the wages blocked, the unmobilized army without anyone finding a solution to the number of unemployed who, left the uniform, found themselves without a job, the industry to revert.
the friction between the masses of former fighters and the workers immediately delinted, with the accusation against the latter of being "bosed" and in the first of being "serves of bourgeois war". At first this had caused an important growth of left parties and movements, especially the Italian Socialist Party, whose revolutionary minority was galvanized by the success of the Russian revolution. the end of the war, political restrictions and censorship allowed us to resume the propaganda and trade union activities. on the right, instead, nationalist and interventionist formations were unleashed in the dispute of the government and the peace treaties, while around the dannunziani circles was born the "vowed victory", which would become the slogan of the dissatisfied.
Italy ran the risk of a revolution, in 1919 1871 strikes were made until the spice broke out the revolt. the many city factories, which had had great orders during the war, had now to convert to a reduced civil production. to face the situation, companies fire half the employees. On June 11, 1919, the chambers of labor decided the tightening of traders in protest against the increase of taxes, and destroyed entire loads of fruit and vegetables. to the news, fifteen thousand workers descend into court and assault the shops plundering them. the military sent to face the situation refuse to shoot on people but not so the carabinieri who kill two workers.

(follows...) )

 

[Exatem]

(...cont'd)

In short, the revolt extended first to the nearby verse, then to the whole national territory with violent clashes against police forces. between September and November the peasants occupy the uncultivated lands while strikes and protests spread throughout the peninsula in what is remembered as the "red biennium". a little with the occupation of the factories, a little with violence, the workers had some advantage but more so they could not get. Meanwhile, the maxilist wing of the socialist party attempted to overthrow the capitalist system with waves of strikes which had the effect of creating a strong resentment among those who saw a threat in strikes. Unemployment with graduates and graduates who did not find employment, increasing inflation, disillusioned expectations after the great war, had created an explosive mixture that would soon be inflamed. between 29 July and 31 August 1929 the anarchist brown Filipino, dreamer of the "Soviet revolution" is the protagonist of three attacks in the squares of Milan. The fourth goes wrong and the device explodes in his hands killing him. Other attacks took place until the most serious episode, that of March 23, 1921 when a bomb was exploded in the diana theater of Milan causing 21 dead and over 100 wounded. in this context of blood and death, from the east came signs of encouragement to the "armed struggle". lenin itself by order of "to be implacable in an exemplary way" encouraging mass terror. "fucilate without asking anyone and without stupid slowness" feel the pravda.

from the most discouraging social strata and subject to the suggestions of nationalist propaganda that, following the peace treaties, became inflamed and nourished the myth of the mutilated victory, emerged organizations of reduces and, in particular, those who collected ex-ardites. The latter, immediately recognized by military commanders as a source of political turbulence, were dissolved and the dismissed members, returning to civil life tens of thousands of former agguerriti soldiers and bearers of an aggressive, violent and hierarchical ideology. between them, and among others dismissed the generalized dissatisfaction, a resentment caused by not having obtained an adequate recognition for the sacrifices, courage and contempt for the danger shown in years of hard fights at the front and for the offenses suffered by socialist militants, arrived until the bastonation of the officers in uniform and insulated against the decorated that flaunted the medals. As many historians have pointed out, it is especially from the small bourgeoisie, especially the rural bourgeoisie, that the primitive fascism draws on its militants. This social layer - tendentially forced in Italy by an industrial and agricultural proletariat more or less organized and represented by mass parties (Psi and popular) and trade unions and the high bourgeoisie, protagonist and hegemon of Italy of the liberal period - with the war had acquired a fundamental role, providing the armed forces with the nerbo of complement officials. to some extent, in the face of the other social classes, already organized or represented, the small bourgeoisie in the post-war period found itself devoid of referents and threatened to be brought back to a second-floor role, threatened as it was from below by socialist agitations and, from above, by the great capitalism that promised to absorb markets and resources.
in just three years seven governments have succeeded until, worried about the socialist election result of 1919 (32%), the Prime Minister of Giolitti tries to mediate with the workers. the pact proves weak and denotes the very serious crisis in which the liberal state was poured, unable to cope with the civil war that is bleeding the country, to satisfy the demands certainly not exaggerated of the workers, to listen to the voice of the veterans. opposed to former fighters is the serious mistake committed by socialists before and by social-communists later. their neutralist position towards the war makes them feel like defeatists and against them, organized teams of former fighters are organized. immediately before the end of the world conflict, blessed mussolini, one of the most important exponents of interventism, gave life to a movement that imprisoned the war a revolutionary turn. However, his efforts were able to materialize only six months after the end of hostilities, when a small group of veterans and intellectual interventionists, nationalists, anarchists and revolutionary trade unionists gathered in a local square san sepolcro a milano, giving rise to the fighting bundles (March 23, 1919), whose program was constituted as revolutionary, socialist and nationalist at a time, groups in which the fascism and the state is still. It is precisely from the veterans who are born the first teams that oppose the "red squares": the "futurists" and the "national defense beam" in particular, are groups made up of soldiers often belonging to the elite of the armed forces like the "arditi", to which the state does not grant any recognition. officers and sub-offices that see in mussolini and of announcement the natural reference.
the first assembly sees to collection a hundred faithful among which those who will be the "quadrumviri" of the march on roma ie, balbo, de bono, white and de old and a audience of about two hundred sympathizers. the most important national press welcomes the birth of the movement.
the courier of the evening writes that "fascism now interpreted is the most intense aspiration of all true Italians".
while the torino print: "The mussolini government is the only way to go to give back to the Italians the order that everyone now demands intensely".
but the beginning numerous obstacles are to the movement, the communes of mussolini are often dissolved because of the serious incidents caused by the opponents and the newborn party suffers a heavy defeat in the elections of 16-17 November. were the first elections with proportional system and participated little less than 5,80,000 Italians. the socialist party turns out to be the first party with 32.3% of votes and 156 seats, followed by the Italian popular party of don luigi sturzo with 20,5 and 100 seats. the party of fighters gets only 4.1% of votes equivalent to 20 seats. this poor result seems to sanction the end of the fascist movement. the possibility that the fascists organize themselves to join a government, with a step considered ideologically contrary to their beliefs, is rejected by many men of government including the same guiolitti. the Italian courier of 14 October 1922, organ of the popular party, writes: " ... the going to the government of the fascists would be possible if they renounced to their attitude against the state and placed themselves as the other parties with whom they should collaborate, on the constitutional ground ... but for the moment? ... ”

(follow...)

 

[Exatem]

(...cont'd)

but the fascists have come from years of hard military discipline and are well prepared to obey a precise hierarchical order. They promise order and stability.
all the contrary of their antagonists, anarchists who despise discipline.
This is one of the reasons why they gather consensus in the squares and among the peasants, now tired of the abuses, the disorders and the blood.
in a short time, the desire for "normality" brings the number of "fasci" from 88 to 834 and the members pass from 20,000 to over 250,000 thus becoming a mass phenomenon, strongly rooted also among the workers and peasants (the fascist unions count 400,000 tiles among the peasants and 200,000 among the workers).
It is undeniable that this wide consensus is also obtained with the use of violence, but it is interesting to read what writes giorgio mouth (which can certainly not be considered a sympathizer of the right) on the topic: "fascism was violent and overwhelmed, but it was because it found before it an anti-democratic, violent, authoritarian and overwhelmed left." also de gasperi writes on the "new trentino" on 7 April 1921 "fascism was on the beginning an impetus to reaction to communist internationalism that denied the freedom of the nation. We do not share the opinion of those who intend to condemn any fascist action under the general condemnation of violence. there are situations where violence, even if it assumes the appearance of aggression, is actually a defensive violence, that is, legitimate."Let's get back to the river.
during the Treaty of Rapallo of 12 November 1920 which established the boundaries between the kingdom of Italy and the kingdom of the Serbs, Croatians and Slovenians (which since 1929 will become Yugoslavia), the minister exerted his conditions. the border was fixed by tarvisio to the Gulf of the Kvarner for which it was established that almost all the istry had to be considered Italian territory with the border represented by the snowy mountain. the Dalmatian coast, excluding the cities of Zadar, which was placed under Italian control and river, which remained independent.
The Slovak Minister for Foreign Affairs agreed to the borders proposed by the Italians and signed the agreement.
despite the signing of the treaty, gabriel of announcement, which in the meantime had proclaimed himself governor, refuses to leave the city despite the order of the government of Rome.
but both among his volunteers and among the citizens begins to serpate the mood and also mussolini, who initially had supported the initiative, approves the Treaty of Rapallo and the new definition of the borders defining them "the only possible solution".
the government orders the announcement to leave the city by 24 December or intervene the army.
the vate is convinced that roma will never attack river then rejects the ultimatum and does not move from the city.
but to forget it is thought of the Andrea Doria armour that at six of the evening of 24 opens fire against the residence of the poet who surrenders 31 after 50 of his faithful are dead (natal of blood).
on 18 January of announcement, leaves river and retreats into his mansion of gardone riviera, disappointed by the development of events.
From now on, it will have an increasingly marginal role in the history of fascism.
to complete the picture of those years it must be considered that the bourgeoisie, concerned by the threat represented by Bolshevik communism, sees in the fascist squadron the defense of the nation and property. the liberal state also considers the squadronism the minor of the evils and leaves room for fascism as the guarantor of national peacekeeping. in the elections of 15 May 1921 the fighting bundles get over 700,000 votes and 35 seats.

on 11 November of the same year in Rome is held the ii congress and is founded the pnf, national fascist party. within a year the members pass from 300,000 to 783,000 and in 1924 the votes are 4.306,000.
the objectives of the squadrons are now the workers' movement, the left administrations and the unions. to the cry of "eia eia alalà", teams in black shirt and Roman greeting attack palace of accursio, municipal seat of bologna where the socialist junta is located.
Starting from the first months of 22, mussolini begins a series of meetings and close contacts with major political representatives looking for alliances.
in particular mussolini dedicates his attention to luigi facta, considered the dolphin of what he considers the most dangerous of his opponents i.e., giolitti.
on 26 February 1922 the victorious king emanuele iii, from a facta assignment to form the new government. strong of the king's will to resolve the crisis as soon as possible, facta succeeds in gaining the support of the popular and to constitute a new government of compromise strongly influenced by the increasingly strong and present dexter.
This government stands on a precarious balance which can be a transitional government. among the countless problems to be faced, the main is represented by the public order.
the call made to the magistrates on the maximum impartiality in the judgments, is in fact not credible for the same conditionings that the right imposes.
It shows how, in the face of continuous attacks on local administrations, facta initially attempts a weak defence to then bend and impose the directors or prefections. the public order remains the greater of the problems and following the occupation by the fascists of bologna, Ferrara and cremona, the government is forced to resign receiving the vote of distrust by popular, socialist, communists, republicans and fascists. the new crisis catches the political forces unprepared and even the indication of a socialist-popular government is rejected for fear that it appears as a clear anti-fascist move with consequence of even more serious actions.
Since there is no agreement for the formation of a new government, the king again gives a facta mandate which presents a list of ministers practically equal to the previous one.
the new executive was even weaker than the previous one but the purpose of facta is to lay the foundations for a return to the government of giolitti with the agreement of the fascists.
from the talks between giolitti and mussolini emerges the availability of the latter to enter as minister in a government led by facta. but in reality it is only a move to avoid the crisis and an assignment to giolitti while the assembly of napoli was in progress.
while taking shape the hypothesis of a reshuffle, we have news of the failure of the negotiations. Indecident on to be done, obtained confirmation that the fascists are preparing the march on roma, facta presents to the king a document that decrees the state of siege for the capital but the king refuses to sign.
facta then resigns and the king accepts resignation.

Moreover fra facta and mussolini, the country had already made its choice: “the first is an onest man, with two white mustaches, unknown to all, unable to leave the gyolittian protection; the second has two authoritarian eyes, the sent step, the resolute voice. the first hopes, the second wants, and all the Italians want”

 

[numero1]

(...cont'd)

It is undeniable that this wide consensus is also obtained with the use of violence, but it is interesting to read what writes giorgio mouth (which can certainly not be considered a sympathizer of the right) on the topic: "fascism was violent and overwhelmed, but it was because it found before it an anti-democratic, violent, authoritarian and overwhelmed left." also de gasperi writes on the "new trentino" on 7 April 1921 "fascism was on the beginning an impetus to reaction to communist internationalism that denied the freedom of the nation. We do not share the opinion of those who intend to condemn any fascist action under the general condemnation of violence. there are situations where violence, even if it assumes the appearance of aggression, is actually a defensive violence, that is, legitimate."Moreover fra facta and mussolini, the country had already made its choice: “the first is an onest man, with two white mustaches, unknown to all, unable to leave the gyolittian protection; the second has two authoritarian eyes, the sent step, the resolute voice. the first hopes, the second wants, and all the Italians want”

on the fact that the left of the time to the government in Italy would have been (if it had gone to power) violent ........ Well, I have a lot of doubts.
However even if I do not share it entirely, I can understand the sense of what writes mouth, as if I do not err it was written after everything that happened.
I do not understand at all what he wrote about gaspers, the great politician in 1 921, that is, before everything started, or however it was still in embryonic phase.
that obviously so great was not and saw us less than nothing, since he already thought with those words of "use" the fascists in anti-communist key.
to be able to rule them... vain hope.

"Musolini, did not invent themselves: in 1919 he took 4,000 votes, turati 180.000; three years later in October bento conquered power, and for turati instead he prepared exile. The muslins don't get invented. "
nenni in an interview with enzo biagi after the war obviously, the exact date............... I don't remember, I'm sorry.

Where did you treat her?
Hi.

 

[sampom]

...the last quote from whom is it from?

by Leo Longanesi. . nothing strange therefore, perfectly "adherent".
in the same ropes also this of the founder of the popular party, don luigi sturzo:"Today there is a government: the head shows firm will; one hears that commands: after about two years that you did not hear the word I want, there is a man who wants. Italy needs who commands and who wants, and forget the twists. "talking about phrases that today sound at least strange, rather these:
-"the duce is a statist of very first order, completely disinterested. a superman. "
-"mussolini is the savior and renewer of his homeland. "both of them. .

So? What do we have to do today?
is difficult (or easy?) to speak now about the situation, the condition, the "feel" of then. Apparently it was really "what it took."...(?) )
better would, as far as possible, stick to the facts without expressing categorical judgments.

greetings
Mar
p.s. _ as always congratulations, for every topic you treat:finger:

 

[Exatem]

...and he saw us less than nothing.. .

if it was myopia, it was not only myopia of some Italians.
also blessed cross and heirs einaudi saw in mussolini the man able to raise a system in full crisis.
the use and the same great bretagna saw the duce and fascism that represented a bastion against the expansion of communism in Europe.
pio xi in a discourse to Milan, he called benign mussolini "the man of providence"
you could continue for a long time. to make an example, following the Italian attack on Ethiopia, the society of nations decreed the embargo against us. in practice it was the only “dangerous albione” to observe the rules of the embargo. both Germany and the United States supported us openly and the Russians themselves continued to supply naphtha Italy.

by Leo Longanesi. . :

Right.

...better would, as far as possible, stick to the facts without expressing categorical judgments. :

in fact I am trying to make a simple historical account in which to insert themes, technical developments realized in the war context without having the claim to express judgments.

p.s. @ exatem_ as always compliments, for every subject you treat:

as always thanks marco.

 

[numero1]

ah of course on this we agree, there was half a country that went behind the magic piper even though, and on this you have to give me reason, it only started from a certain point onwards.
prove it's the phrase I've written about.
How did it pass by 4,000 votes in power? and in fact some people do not invent themselves.
Moreover the same person, before taking definitive power, was + and + times on the edge of losing everything.
It was enough that some people (the king for example) showed a minimum of spine to stop the march on roma at the beginning.
as many testimonies report.
on the fact that the pope and the foreign states at some point were killed by him I agree, but why did this happen?
for the reason I said, and as you write, they saw it in anti-communist or anti-left function if you prefer.
Finally on the cross let me say this, it is true what you write, but cross understood in time his error, which did not make his kind friend, who continued to support the regime even when it was clearly unsustainable.
Hi, I'll keep following the 3ad, I like it.

 

[numero1]

talking about phrases that today sound at least strange, rather these:
-"the duce is a statist of very first order, completely disinterested. a superman. "
-"mussolini is the savior and renewer of his homeland. "both of them. .

So? What do we have to do today?
is difficult (or easy?) to speak now about the situation, the condition, the "feel" of then. Apparently it was really "what it took."...(?) )
better would, as far as possible, stick to the facts without expressing categorical judgments.

the facts also say that as far as gandhi has said what he has said he has extensively and enormously redeemed from this.
this person:http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/subhas_chandra_bosethat in the times of Gandhi (before and during the war) had a popularity at least equal to its, was the preferred interlocutor of Italian and German, and for obvious reasons as you can read.
And now who is remembered between the two?
just see the space they have today on wiki both one and the other.
My judgments are not categorical, they are what I think.
I look at the lenses of history, the history of that period, because I think we have to try to put ourselves in the shoes of those people at that moment.
and doing so some things I understand her others neither, some things I accept her others neither, some things I justify her others neither etc. etc.
but my judgments are only mine, although sometimes comforted by well + authoritative opinions of mine.
Hi.

 

[Exatem]

ah I close your questo siamo d'accordo, ...

We must consider the context.
the moment was what I described. with a war just finished that we had won (perhaps more right to say "paid").
but we were treated as losers.
However many of your comments are shared and/or understandable

I'll keep following the 3ad, I like it.

I am happy and thank you.
Bye.

 

[numero1]

In fact, when I write (responding to sampom) "lenti della storia, della storia di quel periodo" I mean the historical context, the era, the period can be called in many ways.

If you refer to the First World War in my opinion we have won, that then the orlando minister has made the figure of the foul during the peace negotiations is another story, serious of consequences in fact.

hello to you and thank you for the history lesson.

 

[MBT]

Hi, I'll keep following the 3ad, I like it.

I like it too...

the use and the same great bretagna saw the duce and fascism that represented a bastion against the expansion of communism in Europe.

Sir winston churchill, which I doubt can be considered unproven and myopic, said of the duce:
Mr. Mussolini is the greatest legislator among the living.

Italy […] It is governed by a government which, under the sure leadership of Mr Mussolini, does not give rise to the logical consequences of economic reality and has the courage to impose the financial corrections necessary to stabilize the recovery of the country

If I had been an Italian, I'm sure I would have given my enthusiastic adherence to your victorious fight against appetite and the beastly passion of Leninism... Italy offered us the necessary antidote to the Russian poison. from now on no great nation will be deprived of the decisive means to protect itself against the growth of Bolshevik cancer

If I were Italian I would have been with you [Mussolini] from the beginning [...] Your movement has made a service to the whole worldor was a widespread myopia, or it was seen, at the time, the advance of communism as the evil of evils and every "cura" was appreciated and desired

 

[numero1]

for the second hypothesis.........

 

[Exatem]

the march on rome the spice, 22 June 1940

already ... the Italians want...
but how many of them want war?
the order arrived and the crew was gathered. they have left their families, their homes, their affections and they are all here.
they are perfectly lined up on two lines, each one of them is proud to be part of this family and for no reason would have given up being here.
the submarines do not mark visit before departure.
no one “beams”.

My second officer when he comes home, he always wears a bag full of tortelli prepared by his mother. this time it was like this, smiling asks me permission and hand it over to the cook to prepare a dish for the whole crew. Could I object to such a request?

the cook is, after the commander, perhaps the most important figure on a submarine. in his tiny kitchen he works as a damn in a Dante’s lap and manages to make men smile that make sacrifice and deprivation, starting from the air, their “daily bread”.
all the crew is deployed on the dock, with their proud and safe eyes pointed on me, while behind them the black silhouette of the boat tower stands. it seems as if it is “painting” them in a firm image destined to history.
a particular at that moment attracts my attention.
the bronze quarrel, represented on it...

28 October 1922, mussolini has long prepared the moment of insurrection. He needs only the certainty of being able to concentrate in Rome a sufficient number of men but for this reason he has the right man in the right place.
vincenzo riccio, responsible for the railways of the state, consents to provide the necessary trains to carry the black shirts.
general evidence is made in napoli on 24 October with a massive public assembly.
is in this place that the decision to move to “revolution”. the columns are formed and appointed the commanders of the columns (dinner compañeros, juseppe bottai, ulisse igliori), who march in spite of the perplexities of de old and de bono. during the approach to the capital are taken post offices and telegraphs, useful to maintain communication between mussolini and team leaders, railway stations, prefectures and, some barracks.
except for an unhealthy call to the general strike of the pci, no one opposes the march. in the night between 27 and 28 October facta tries in vain to convince king Emanuele iii to sign the declaration of state of siege that, with the presence of the army, it would be enough to stop the teams.
but the king, following also the councils of federzoni and Marshal diaz, considers more appropriate an agreement with mussolini. the crisis falls after a failed attempt by old, big and cyan, to establish a government led by Salandra and, after the total support of the confindustria to fascism.
so mussolini, who had remained in Milan waiting for the events, took a train and went to the king who gave him the task of forming the new government.
On October 30, the new government, which could be called extraparliamentary since the fascists could only count on 35 Members, takes shape with a semblance of legality (it was the sovereign who gave Mussolini the position).
How could this minority take power?
for one of those conjunctions in which the squadron, the consensus of the middle classes, the support of the strong institutional and military powers, were found so to speak, “allineati”.
now the guide of the country is formed by a coalition between fascists, popular, nationalists and independent pro-fascists as the philosopher gentle youth who becomes minister of public education. Other ministers were the fascists de stefani to the finances, old to the assistance and pensions, sworn to the ministry of the liberated lands, obvious to justice.
mussolini, in addition to the Presidency of the Council, also takes over the ministries of the interior and the foreign. the other ministries are divided between right-wing liberals, demo-social, and popular, while at war and navy, go two military, arming diaz and paolo thaon of revel.
the new government is seen with confidence by the agrarians and the industrialists and also prominent figures as blessed cross and einaudi men see in mussolini the man capable of raising a system in full crisis.
the fascist teams are transformed into the voluntary militia for national security (mvsn) so as to legitimize them, while on 23 July 1923 a law was passed (the so-called acerbo law), which revolutionizes the electoral system passing to a system with majority prize and for whose approval was fundamental the favorable vote of the popular don sturzo who, under the pressure of the holy headquarters, must withdraw from political life.
on December 31, 1923, the chamber approved a bill giving the government full powers.
are this (and the following), particularly important years for the future Italian history.
On the one hand fascism lowered the parliamentary system constituted on the basis of free elections and political confrontation, on the other it began a transformation of the central state and its peripheral organisms that will lead from the liberal system to the fascist regime with the creation of a parallel power network that is called "double state" (from the two sides of power, that of militia and that of the great council of fascism).
The latter was a college that met once a month and was composed of ministers and undersecretaries of ministries considered “useful for the delibere” whose task was to verify all decisions made by ministers not belonging to the fascist party, that is a sort of “supergovernment”. The merger between fascists and nationalists with the birth of the fascist national party, which completed the process of solidarity between the Italian districts.
in 1924 mussolini dissolves the rooms and announces its refusal to any political alliance with other parties and, to marginalize a party that still enjoyed strong consents such as the popular one of don sturzo, undertakes a approaching manoeuvre with the Vatican that leads to gentle reform.
Don sturzo, abandoned by the clergy, in the same year leaves Italy.
On 6 April 1924, in an atmosphere of violence and abuse, the political elections leading to the fascists 64.9% of the votes equivalent to 374 Members, as well as 29 others close to the government. the Secretary of the Socialists, Jacob Matteotti, denounces in a warm speech to the chambers, the illegality and intimidation that had characterized the election and asks for its annulment.
after ten days he is kidnapped and killed by decision of men very close to mussolini such as the secretary of the marine party, the undersecretary to the inside finzi, the chief police and the militia de bono, the head of the press office of the red presidency. the murder of matteotti unleashes in the country a wave of indignation and protest that forces the responsible to resign and be arrested. However, the trial does not lead to any condemnation and, for example, de bono, is sentenced to five years later amnesty.

Fascism is however shaken by a predominantly internal crisis with militiamen and squadronrs (such as flourishes) who consider mussolini too reliable.
or the revolution or mussolini has to be done aside.
after three days mussolini, obtained the trust from the sovereign, gives the room the speech from which the dictatorship begins. so on January 3, 1925 the crisis of fascism ended which had risked to overturn its leader.
of that period are some of the most significant laws such as that of 24 December 1925 which attributed to the head of government almost absolute powers, of 31 December 1925 with the political control of every publication (i.e. the suppression of freedom of press) and of 25 November 1926 that declared the illegality of dissent with the institution of the political court that established the death penalty.
after this the party is prodigal in an intense propaganda work with the birth of specific organizations such as: the national opera balilla (onb), the Italian youth of the littorium (gil), the fascist university groups (guf), the rural massacres and the female bundles.
a clever move to bring the working masses closer to the party, is the establishment of the national after-work work that assures workers a network of welfare and recreational activities.

 

[Exatem]

the battle of wheat and quota 90diary on board. 22.6.1940 xvii.

23.30.
“molla aft ... free stern - spring to prora ... prora dropped – equal ahead adagio, five degrees to the left”
slowly the boat departs from the dock and starts to the exit of the port of spice.
cross the obstructions and the dam, we slip to the left of the island of the thyno while the hull rolls softly cradled by still friendly waves.
wsw route in the direction of the Sardinian as you see in the distance glows of an enemy air bombing on the Ligurian coast.

on the night of 13 June, three days after the beginning of the hostilities, the French team, consisting of 4 heavy cruisers (algèrie, foch, dupleix and colbert) and 11 destroyers, left toul and, at the dawn of the next day, placed undisturbed in front of go and genova bombing industrial plants.
How is it possible that a enemy team came from where it was natural that it came, absolutely unnoticed?
Yes! we had two submarines engulfed off the blue coast, but they had not seen anything (the poor reliability of a submarine in sighting tasks will always be confirmed despite the stubbornness to insist on such use). the air force would have had to have the task to patrol the Italian coasts but the total absence of collaboration interforze will be our prerogative for the whole conflict.
the chief of state will never succeed in obtaining correlation of intent between weapons and each of them will seize in the conviction of their superiority towards others.

I dive to avoid being spotted by planes going and coming from the bombing zone.
“dive, timoni to descend - director, take us to 60 meters. ”
and the submarine disappears in the black of the abyss.

6:00. emergence. the bow makes water like a blade and two white mustache rise to fall a little further. the sky is dark and from there to little the sun will warm the morning air. the viewers scrutinize the horizon in search of a thin strip of smoke, a signal that indicates the presence of a prey even if, objectively, we are far from our hunting area that we hope is fruitful.
I turn to one of them to exchange two words. so doing I know to divert his attention but I want to maintain a relationship of absolute friendliness with my crew. they are in my hands as I am in theirs. in a submarine the commander is a god. His word is law and is indisputable and for this reason, men must have blind trust in him.

I call emilio giving him you, as I do with all the crew. I responded to an Italian dialect that I initially struggled to understand the origin. is a country in the hinterland of Molisano.
emilio enlisted in the navy, the least “fascist” of the armed forces, not to burden on the family. his father, in fact, was a farmer found himself in great difficulty after the terrifying reforms of fascism.

the conquests obtained from the peasants and the laborers in the first post-war period had been eliminated and the landowners had reintroduced heavy burdens. a law was also passed that restricted the movements of peasants from the countryside to the cities. in June 1925, the so-called “battle of wheat” was launched, whose goal was to achieve national self-sufficiency. to disincentive imports, a customs duty on wheat was introduced as production mechanization was encouraged, chemical fertilization, experimentation.
even if the main objective was not achieved, however the propaganda spreading the photos of the duce that trebbiava did only increase consent. consent that increased further thanks to the intense reclamation campaigns of the swampy and unhealthy areas then afflicted by malaria. the great public works started in this period, ended in 1934 with the reclamation of the Pontine agro and the foundation of five new cities: littoria, sabaudia, pontinia, aprilia and pomezia.

the first major problem that the dictatorship had to face was the heavy devaluation of the lira. production after the end of World War I had negative effects such as the shortage of raw materials due to the great demand and excessive productivity related to the real needs of the population. the first signs of the crisis were a general increase in prices, the increase in unemployment, a decrease in wages and the lack of investments in Italy and in loans to the state. as it had already done Germania was decided to print further money necessary to pay the debts of war against the United States and Great Britain. Obviously this had the double result of increasing inflation and losing credibility to the lira, which was heavily devalued both against dollar and pound.
to try to cope with the crisis, some emergency measures were adopted.
bread with less flour, gasoline was added alcohol, working hours passed from 8 to 9 without any changes in wages, the tax on celibacy was established, all possible tax withdrawals and tax controls were increased, the construction of luxury houses was prohibited, the prices of newspapers were decreased as the prices of railway tickets and stamps, rentals blocked.

In the meantime, between 25 and 26 the laws called “fascistissime” were introduced in defense of the order and that they became the “rocco code”.
the pretext were four mussolini attacks.
the first, discovered in advance, by the former socialist MP zaniboni.
the following were the work of the Irish violet gibson, of the anarchist luccetti and, the one never fully clarified, of zamboni anteo. These episodes caused a real earthquake at the top of the police and in the government but above all they gave reason for the approval of the laws of public security with which the passports were canceled, the parties were dissolved and the publications opposed to the regime were banned.
the confino was established for those who had manifested subversive acts against the state and introduced the death penalty for those who had become protagonist of attack on the rulers or the head of the government. the law was passed and at the same time the opposition MPs were declared to be deceased.
among them was arrested the communist Antonio Gramci. In parallel to the special court, the organization for the vigilance and repression of anti-fascism acted. a secret organization that counted on informants, spies and delatories also abroad where many anti-fascists had taken refuge.
In 1926 the Minister of Finance de stefani resigned and was replaced by foxes who managed to obtain a large loan from the United States.
Meanwhile, in favour of large companies, the “privatization of profits and socialization of losses” was introduced.
in '27 the lira was reassessed and the change was fixed to "quota 90" (90 lire for a pound against the previous 150). This operation also had a remarkable propagandistic effect as it went to facilitate small savers. but these measures had as a consequence too strong a lira. this caused a decrease in exports resulting in crisis of some productive sectors.
when on October 29, 1929 there was the famous wall street collapse, passed to history as “the black Thursday”, the slogan of mussolini was to totally ignore the event thinking that it would not touch Italy.
the immediate effects of the crisis hit not the industries, but the workers. with an intensity never seen before, the state intervened on the economy, with a policy of saving industries in difficulty.
I, born in 1931, replaced banks in the financing of industries. In 1933, the company was replaced by the iri, which took over 50% of the heavy industry, and an even greater percentage of the banks.
the novelty was that the iri became in fact a public enterprise entrepreneur, that thanks to the participations in private enterprises, obtained useful for the state.

from that moment on, Mussolini no longer cared for the economy of the country, devoting all his energies to the war of Ethiopia and the Spanish Civil War before and in the Second World War alongside Nazi Germany.

 

[Exatem]

lateranens skatesdiary on board. 25 June 1940, xviii.

we cross the mouths of boniface pointing towards the area of agguato assigned us. We must pay great attention, the area is scattered with our and French mines many of which are drifting. I order the closing of the tinned doors (who knows how useful they can be in case we hit one of the funny ones).
sea f2,wind v2.
we go down, hidden navigation in dive.
at 21,00 reached catch point 10 miles per w from the race coast. emergence.
the directives preview that the Italian submarines remain immersed during the day, about 40 meters deep, listening to the hydrophones going from time to time to periscope quota to take a look around. the night instead, you have to stay on the surface using the boat as a torpedo. In short, the submarine is considered as a static medium according to tactics in force at the time of the great war. Of course, the German u-boots have achieved great results in Atlantic where enemy planes cannot arrive.
but in the Mediterranean, a narrow sea, with an enemy equipped with modern and efficient air means, able to cover the whole basin, to which we must add the experience gained in nine months of struggle from the Anglo-French against our allies. a limited sea and practically without traffic and we, thrown against the better prepared marina in the world, without naval aviation, without carriers, without aircraft, without naphtha ...

a viewer is called to the guard officer by diverting me from these thoughts “ships on the left” – “fighting place, ready to dive” while with the binoculars to seven magnifiers scrutinize the night in the direction indicated. in fact you see indefinite shadows when ...
Here, you see a white mustache at the bottom of the shadows. “Enemy dog, proceed to zig-zag. they are without the antisom screen for other units otherwise they would proceed in line.” Young men, my second turret rooms and tells me that the crew is all at the places of combat, the electricians are ready like the torpedoes. “Let us let them pass” without detaching our eyes from the binoculars,” we wait to see what they are escorting.”
Of course, if they saw us, at 5/800 meters away, a hunting that runs over twenty knots takes a few seconds to reach us while to dive it takes no less than a minute. our submarines prefer the habitability and are characterized by voluminous superstructures that stretch the dive times. the war will teach to reduce its size by adopting false towers from the design called "German".
luck is from ours, the four fighters parade without realizing us and as quickly as they appeared, disappear in the dark. the minutes pass long, endless in absolute silence then, appear the silhouettes of two cruisers in line of row. are two “caledon” class easily recognizable by the forms of superstructures. are old cruisers of 4,200 tons, dating back to the First World War, modernized and remitted in service.
“Electric motors ahead, ten degrees straight” you have to reach a favorable position of launch, the one in which the triangle created between the submarine-bersaglio, the route of the enemy ship and that of the torpedo, guarantees the impact. the head cruiser is now in good position, the beta is good. “out!”
the submersible rises as the torpedo abandons the launch tube and emits a showy air bubble. the compressed air used for the launch is entirely expelled at sea instead of being recovered and for this form a large bubble of air breaking into the surface, reveals the position of the boat. the same torpedoes release a showy wake of bubbles. are complex and costly and yet excellent under the technical aspect, they are few and valuable because of the poor production capacity for which orders currently prohibit the launch of torpedoes.
After a short while, a column of water and an orange flame rise between the bridge and the smoke of the English ship.
immediately after a strong explosion shocks the old hull projecting scraps in the sky. the second cruiser immediately pulling away at full speed.
Now we have been discovered and risking again is useless. “dive, altitude 60 meters” and the submarine disappears in the abyss.

Meanwhile, with the boilers devastated by the explosion that caused 39 dead and many wounded, the old hull turns and sinks.
26 June.
03.40. emersion for charging air and electricity. an air vent and a cigarette in turn.
the fearless enemy hunt was not there and we managed to get away without being discovered. while the crew clings to the turret and the blanket to enjoy those few minutes of freedom and air, I approach the head of the torpedo. I give him a pat on his shoulder and I congratulate him on his “silver fish” who has done his duty. the head of the Silurist is a Turinese, blonde, tall and infinitely cultured. he studied in seminary and talking to him is always an exceptional cultural enrichment. we often talk about religion and politics and so today we end up discussing the role of the church in the rise of fascism.
in fact the relations between Italy and the church had been abruptly interrupted in 1870. the dialogue was resumed with the Mussolini government in the summer of 1926 to end on February 11, 1929, with the signing of the lateran-style pacts, commonly called "conciliation". basically you could split them into three parts:
- an international treaty, with which the holy seat recognized the Italian state by ending the Roman question, and the Italian state recognized the sovereignty of the holy seat on the territory of the Vatican city and other particular buildings;
- a financial agreement, with which the Italian state committed itself to correspond to the holy seat a substantial sum, to compensation of the lost territories with the annexation of the papal state to the Kingdom of Italy;
- and finally an agreed, which defined the rights of the church in Italy, elevating the Catholic Christian religion to state religion, limiting the rights of other cults admitted and limiting also those incurring ecclesiastical sanctions. conciliation benefited the church on the practical level, and fascism, which being recognized by the church strengthened its positions and strengthened its power.
a few days after the signing of the lateran pacts, on 13 February 1929, pio xi had given a speech to Milan and to an audience granted to professors and students of the Catholic university of the sacred heart had defined benign mussolini "the man of providence". “and sometimes we have been tempted to think, as we say it with glad confidence to you, yes good children, that perhaps to solve the question really wanted a mountaineer pope, a mountaineer immune to dizziness and accustomed to facing the most ardent ascents; as we sometimes thought that perhaps it also wanted a librarian pope, accustomed to going to the bottom of historical and documentary research, because of books and documents, it is evident, it has had to consult many. We must say that we were also on the other side nobly indulged. and perhaps he also wanted a man like what providence brought us to meet; a man who did not have the concerns of the liberal school,”... this vision had been shared by the regime and was the result of extensive negotiations between government officials and pope emissaries. mussolini, although he was always declared atheist, knew very well that to rule in Italy one could not go against the church and Catholics. the church for its part, although not seeing fascism good eye, preferred it by far to communist ideology.
with the ratification of the agreement the Catholic religion became the state religion in Italy, the teaching of Catholic religion was established in schools and the sovereignty and independence of the Holy See was recognized.

 

[Exatem]

peritero1/7/1940 xvii
21.30 emersion for charging air and electricity. sea f5 by w. wind f6 by w. rv.258° - v4 knots. hindered by sea conditions.
2/7 hours 06.10 dive for occult navigation. 50m. rv 258° engines at minimum and staggered turns. v2.
hours 06.35 occurred water entry from the valvolone. despite attempts at opening and closing, the loss is not eliminated therefore, is due to avaria.
at 06.50 the motorist head has installed a rubber tube that conveys water in the compensation box n°4 and from here, discharged into the sea. this notice avoids to discharge into the saloon and to soil the water of oil residues visible on the surface. We board about 450 liters now from a lesion on the traction sleeve of the tinned bulkhead.
08,00 hours. the start is not repairable. I have to return. route to home.
09,33 detected smoke on the horizon. immersion immersion
10.13. hydrophone detection. aft turbines quickly approaching. Timoni down, we go 40 meters while the boat continues to board water.
11,25 am above us. hunting began. the peritero (asdic in English) “frusta” the hull. here is the first bomb rescue followed quickly by the second. close, very fixed. The hull is shocked violently. prora launch chamber infiltrations. "selection, stop everything, turn it off!"
You have to save energy.
the air sibila from the lesionated conducts of high pressure air. all instrument glass is skipped. the hull begins to resent all those blows and the water level rises. we have descended to 70 meters, motors to the minimum and turns staggered, ahead adagio. the right braid makes water. the mechanical head has tightened the abbey but so doing the axis heats a lot. I have to stop the right engine. I support the bottom of 76 meters.

3/7/40
02.15. hydrophones no longer reveal noise. the enemy has given up hunting. It is necessary to emerge, the air is dense and poisoned by the chlorine produced by the outflow of acid from the batteries and came into contact with sea water. air to the crates, timoni to climb. the submarine seems not to want to go back to the surface but then shakes and starts moving.
"periscope rate." a lap of lens, nothing in sight. "emersion."
the right compressor is in the avary. we are bad but alive.. We're afloat, we're draining all the water we've got into with the bilge plant and reentry. The boys behaved nicely.

in our war it is essential to identify the enemy without being discovered. the means at our disposal are the hydrophone and the view...
the enemy has the peritero, which they call asdic, whose sound is so much known by the submarines as feared.
the hydrophone simply records the noise without revealing its position. some operators, of the true masters in this sense, can hear the propellers of a convoy from forty miles away and recognize the source precisely identifying the type of ship. after the attack you must keep the maximum silence and get down to the maximum depth possible and beyond to escape the bombs.
but the asdic is effective and sadly famous. when his "ping" whips the hull, bounces and returns back carrying his load of valuable information for the expert operator. Now you know if we're moving away or approaching... He doesn't know what height we find and loses us on the vertical.
we can try to lay on the bottom hoping to confuse us with it waiting for the best time to emerge and move away at full speed. In fact the asdic does not serve anything. the ship can only count on the sharpness of the sight of its sight. the English were the first to develop a technology capable of detecting an object thanks to sound. thanks to a translator contained in a "cupola" hanging under the keel of the ship, they send acoustic waves that are reflected by every submerged object within 2700 meters. I
and corvette of the "flower" class use an asdic (anti-submarine detection committee investigation) type 123, whose transducer is located in a fixed dome.
the hunting "campbeltown" instead, have an asdic type 124 with retractable dome.
at first the hunt carried out with the asdic was not simple and left discrete possibility to the submarine to escape. false eco caused by currents, temperature differences, fish stocks, were sources of such false signals. Moreover the ship had to maintain a speed necessarily less than 15 knots beyond which the noise would overstate the echoes.
Moreover the scanning of the transducer occurs only horizontally so if the submarine was placed on the vertical of the ship, it was invisible.
contrary to the old hydrophones, which allowed a passive search to which you could subtract by stopping all the equipment on board and keeping the absolute silence, the asdic carries out an active hunt by moving the transducer along a arc that goes from one wall to the other of the ship. every few degrees the transducer stops and sends a signal . Once a contact has been obtained, through a simple calculation on the move of the initial detection angle, you get the approximate position of the boat and its speed and traces the movement on the plotter.
now the hunter points the target and tries to approach less than a thousand meters from it to start then the launch of clusters of deep bombs according to a scheme that "jail" the prey.
a depth bomb, however, to be effective, must explode within six meters from the hull of the submarine. but the asdic is not able to determine the dive fee for which the bombs are regulated to explode at different odds.
at first this limit made life relatively easy to submarines. especially the Germans who could descend with their u-boot over 200 meters deep. the underwater explosions then disturbed the use of the asdic.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why they lost us and we escaped. at 21,00 we are at point 1 of the port of spice. After an hour and a half we attract. now report to the command, a hot shower and then a clean bed.
the submarine will enter the basin for a cycle of works that will put it back in full efficiency and ready to resume the sea.
This time it went well.

 

[Exatem]

winds of war16 September 1940, xvii

we go out from the famine basin with the help of a small rp. the boat has been subjected to the restoration works made necessary by the damages reported in the last mission, and now we head off the Ligurian waters for a series of tests of testing of the works performed after which we will again be on mission
27 September. 23:00. we are out in the direction of gibilterra but there are problems.
the right diesel, nicknamed ernesto by the crew, quiet bottle slowly pushing the boat.
instead, the left thermal, is decoupled by the propeller while turning the dynamo for charging the batteries. It bursts and emits a strip of sparks from the exhaust that in a moonless night like this, could be a real invitation for the English. but the batteries are zero, I cannot dive and there is no way to cope with the air. I have to risk continuing navigation in emersion and return to the base. the saws strain their tired eyes to see every slight signal of the enemy presence.
we hope to see soon the contour friend of our coast...
“combates of land, sea and air. black shirts of revolution and legions. men and women of Italy, the empire and the kingdom of Albania. Listen!
an hour marked by fate beats in the sky of our homeland. The time for irrevocable decisions. the declaration of war has already been delivered to ambassadors of great brethren and France.. .
...the password is one, categorical and challenging for all.
it already flies and lights the hearts from the Alps to the Indian Ocean: Win!
and we will win, to finally give a long period of peace with justice to Italy, to Europe, to the world.
Italian people! run to arms, and demonstrate your tenacity, your courage, your value!”with these words, on June 10, 1940 mussolini gave, from the balcony of the Venetian palace the announcement of the entrance to war. the next day he assumed the command of the troops operating on all fronts confirming care in the head of general state. Graziani remains as Chief of Staff of the Army, first of all as Chief of Staff of the Air Force and Knights as Chief of Staff of the Navy.
in a few days all the country, which had long been prepared, wears its warrior garment.

It is now since 1938 that war air is breathing in Europe. with the annexation of the austrian and the sweats before and, with the monk’s conference later, hitler had free to the annexation of all Czechoslovakia and mussolini, not to be less of the ally, between 7 and 8 April 1939 invaded with 22,000 men and 140 tanks armed albania, easily conquering tyrant.
on 1 September 1939, 60 German divisions invaded Poland. honoring their commitment to guarantee the territorial integrity of the lungs, great brethren and france, on 3 September 1939, declare war on germany.
on 17 the Soviet Union invades the eastern part of the poon while the Germanic army manages to conquer the path that surrenders on 27 September.
the Polish government escapes into exile through Romany while Germany and Soviet union split up the lung. on 30 the Soviet Union invades Finland and begins the so-called winter campaign. Finland asks for the armistice with which, the northern part of the lake and the coastal area along the Arctic sea yield to the Soviet Union. on 9 April 1940, Germania moved its attention to the north by invading the danimarca and Norwegian. the danimarca surrenders the very day of the beginning of the attack; the Norwegian resists until 9 June. on May 10, germany attacks Western Europe – France and the low countries, which had remained neutral. Lussemburg is occupied on the same day; the heath surrenders on the 14th; the Belgian on the 28th.

the doubts that the duce had about opportunity to enter the war vanished on May 29, 1940 when he summoned the abbey and the chiefs of state greater than the three weapons to communicate his appointment as supreme commander.

This has no other meaning: war is imminent!

abandoning the policy of non-belief and keeping faith in the steel pact between us and Germany, Italy enters war after the German armies have already conquered half of Europe. in a burning Europe, ideological analogies and thought are indisputable and Italy in a context that imposes choices, maintains its political coherence: “we did not choose the easiest way, but the most natural one, that of the fight against the false Western democracies, which in the previous years had hindered by all means the Italian colonial and national expansion”.on 5 June Badoglio summarized the directives of mussolini “defensive district, no initiative on land or air” – “to immediately prepare an action against mortar”. delivery to almost all commands is to maintain a defensive count. the duce is in fact convinced that, once the France surrendered, even the great brethren will quickly accept a compromise solution to the conflict. the first action of Italian war has as an objective malt; on 11 June 35 bombers of the second airline team, escorted by 18 cr42 fighters, hit the valet and hal far airport. the attacks against the island will continue in the following weeks but not to make a decisive attack on the conquest, it will be a decisive mistake.
already the night between 11 and 12 June, twelve “whitleys” left from the land reach Italy and while 2 attack genova, the other ten bomb torino causing in total 14 dead and 39 wounded.
for Italy it is a bad surprise and a sudden return to reality.
for the moment the French front keeps quiet. Despite this, the greatest creator of our accidents both of the First World War and of the Second World War, does not want to attack its French “friends”.
but on the 12th a French department of the val d’isere strikes by surprise an Italian Alpine department at the pass of galisia. the mountaineers manage to repel the attackers who retreat to the priarond refuge under the blows of our 81mm mortars who definitively turn off every French vellity. the night between the 12th and 13th of our planes bomb toulon and other zones of the southern france while the next day the French navy for retaliation, bombs the Ligurian coast between spice and genova hitting the deposits of carburetors of go. our batteries respond to the fire by damaging the destroyer “albatros”.
on June 14, 1940, the Germans entered Paris and on June 22, in the same carriage of 1918 that the French had transformed into a museum, the General von Keitel and the General Huntziger signed the armistice. a document clause stipulates that the entry into force will take six hours after the signing of a pact with Italy. in the three days of war between the two armistices, the Germans continue the advance reaching with the avant-garde poitiers, rochefort, roehelie, saint etienne, aix les bains.
the conditions of the French-German armistice are relatively mild. France is divided into two areas: one under German military occupation (including the entire Atlantic coast and much of the conquered territories) and the other under the control of the pétain government.
the French undertake not to interfere in any way on the German military operations, to demobilize their ground troops and to concentrate in certain areas the colonial quotas. the fleet will retire in some African and toulous ports.

(laughs...) )

 

[Exatem]

(...cont'd)

even if the war before 10 has not yet been declared, the organizational machine has already started in motion for a long time and on the evening of 12 June the "bagnolini" of the French commander tosoni pittoni has sunk the "calypso" and, the "naiade" has centered the oil tanker "orkanger" from 8000 tons in observance of the secret directives contained in the "alpha merchant table".
on 16 June an order is issued for the preparation of an attack on the western front for 18. badoglio answers mussolini that it is impossible to prepare an action in 48 hours but mussolini replica “The decision to attack the franc is a political matter and of which I only have the decision and responsibility.”but the harmony between France and Germany stops the imminent offensive and the 18 mussolini and hitler meet in a monk to establish a common line of conduct towards Paris. the Italian claims (corsic, tunisia, gibuti) to harm the French, are not accepted by hitler who does not wish to infer on the French who instead hopes to turn to the national socialist cause by turning the franc into a satellite country of germany.
so decided to carry out separate negotiations, but mussolini, disappointed by the meeting, believes that the only way to advance territorial demands, is to use force.
after the usual altercations between mussolini and caregiver that obsteggiava in all ways the Italian attack, on 21 June 325.000 Italian soldiers receive the order to attack the remaining French forces beyond the Alps. at 6.30 21 aircraft of the 1st aerial squadron, bomb the fortifications of bourg st. maurice and the fort of the transverses and three hours later begins the fire of the artillery without encountering any French reaction. this generates a certain optimism and at 10 am the frontier is crossed but at 10:45 am the xxiii battalion motorcyclists of the division of Trieste, just crossed the little san bernardo, is invested by an intense fire of cannons and machine guns and is forced to stop. in the evening however the situation is quite disappointing.
two are the main attack directors of Italian troops on the alpine front. the fourth army has bet on briangon and on modane, trying to tighten in a grip the French troops attested in the area of the small s. bernardo. the first army, however, had to operate between the hill of the maddalena and the sea on two objectives: the nizzardo and the provenza. At the end, the advance, despite the roughness of the soil and the French resistance, was quite rapid. in four days of offensive the Italians managed to overwhelm almost on the whole front French defensive arrangements, dismantling some strong ammunited, among which worth noting is that of chaberton.
22 mussolini informs hitler about his intentions “In order to facilitate the acceptance of the armistice by French I did not put between the clauses the territorial occupation of the left of the rodano, of the lane, tunisia and gibuti as we had predicted to monk. I was limited to the minimum, i.e. to ask for an unmilitarized area of depth of 50 km. I think this is a minimum even to avoid accidents. for all the rest I have adopted the clauses of the German armistice.”the 24th france signs the harmony also with Italy. The war against the French ended. Italy obtains the dismilitarization of a band of 50 km along the border and border zones of the colonies in northern and eastern Africa and, the availability of the French strongholds in the Mediterranean.
the collapse of the francs announces the collapse of Europe in the face of the overpower of the wermacht?

Forty-five days of war have cost the French 120,000 deaths, the Belgians 7,000, the Dutch 2890 and the British 3500. by them the forces of the axis suffered 18,384 dispersed, 111.034 wounded in addition to the 631 dead and 2631 wounded Italians on the Alps.
the situation of our armed forces at the entrance to war is as follows.
the Italian marine direction represents, in the Mediterranean, a potentially powerful force: six armoured (of which two from 35,000 tons still in preparation); seven heavy cruisers of which: 4 class “zara”, 2 class “trento”, 1 class “bolzano” plus the “san giorgio” from 9232 tons used in colony as a contraeree cruiser; 12 class “condottieri”,1 class “taranto” and 1 class “bari”; 130 destroyers and destroyers; 137 submerged by average and large cruise and, an imposing number of smaller units. the backbone of our fleet is constituted by the cauliflower, cesare, doria, duilio, littorium and veneto victorious. the caulius and the cesare julius, were completely refurbished between '36 and '40 although probably it was a useless waste of resources. In fact, one of the main mistakes that made Italy was not to equip itself with aircraft carriers. In 1928, in reality, the major state studied the project of a ship of 15,000 tons and 30 knots of speed with a capacity of 30 aircraft. but to the dissertations of the navy, he opposed the air force that considered the carriers very vulnerable ships in a sea too small. in '32 was presented a new project of 15-16,000 tons, with a capacity of 40-50 aircraft and a subsequent improved project was proposed in 1936. Of course, if they were realized, after 4 years they would show all their usefulness.
but mussolini, ill advised, said that "all Italy is a giant unfathomable carrier." even if this had been true (the mobility of such aircraft was still a fundamental component), there were no squadrons of aircraft, bombers, scouts, trained to operate against naval teams. Unfortunately without carrier, we find ourselves without a war machine that will soon prove unparalleled.
the reality is that the country has begun an absolutely unprepared conflict. the conviction that the war would last only a few weeks and that a price of a few lives would be enough to sit at the table of the negotiations as winners, has made it feel that even an unefficient army would be enough for the purpose. for his part the army could count only on 1600 light and antiquated tanks such as fiat 21 and 30, the fast tanks l3/35 and a few m11/39.
l3/35 had two crewmen. reached 42 km/h of speed, with an autonomy of 125 km. Despite the reduced armor (two 8 mm machine guns) and the non-existent protection (a 6 to 13.5 mm armor), they were considered and used as combat tanks. a tragic mistake for the crews if it is considered that, after the discrete results obtained in the sword alongside the nationalist troops and in Ethiopia (against troops who fought scaly or on camels...) will prove deadly traps in Greek, Albanian and Soviet union.
the tank m 11-39 had been conceived on a prototype of 1937 for the infantry. the only contingent of 90 tanks ordered was ready in 1940. the main weapon of the Italian wagon was a small 37 mm cannon housed in the right side of a bolted superstructure. the head of the wagon operated in a small tower on the left and had a light machine. the hull instead housed the pilot and the servant who was forced to load the piece and to perform the operations of pointing and shooting. the engine was a diesel fiat, and together with the transmission system it represented the most novelty.
the carriage reached a maximum speed of 33 km/h with an autonomy of about 200 km. huge problems were represented by suspensions and narrow tracks that made the driving uneasy. built with unbearable parts and with an extremely modest armour, it was a problem more for our crews than for opponents. when he will be busy
Libia will demonstrate all its limitations and shortcomings. faced by British cruiser wagons and heavy tanks matilda and valentine, will succumb.

the aeronautica finally, could count on fighter planes type fiat cr 32 and cr 42, fiat g-50, macchi mc 200 and ro 44. the bombing component used fiat br 20, savoia marchetti sm 79, sm 81, sm 85, cant z 506, z 1007 and 1007 bis, breda ba 88.

back to our “600” which finally returned to the base.

(follows...) )

 

[Exatem]

(...cont'd)

- Finally mooring at the dock. This time our shark brought his men home. I quickly descend the catwalk and start to the command building to report to the commander and request new jobs to the director of the arsenal. I thus learn the latest news from various war fronts. immediately a series of very sad news.

on 17 June the “provana” of the commander botti was about eighty miles off the port of orana when he spotted the French convoy “ir2f” constituted by a transport troops and four merchants. the convoy was escorted by five thin units and was heading to marquetry. at 4.30 p.m. the commander orders the dive and launches two torpedoes that do not hit any ship. but the trail of one of the two weapons has passed less than 200 meters from the stern of the corvetta “the curieuse” that noticed the insidia, begins a thick launch of deep bombs. Unfortunately the position of the boat was revealed by the showy bubble of air resulting from the launch. this has allowed a remarkable precision in the French launch that has caused serious damage to the submarine, forcing it to emerge precisely at the prora of the curieuse that throws itself to full force against the target. the full-centered test breaks into two sinking immediately without leaving any crew member escape.
the 20 was touched to the “diamante” (and to his people), which directed to tobruch, was siluted by the British “partiahn”. more fortunately he had the “scebels” that discovered by the English hunting “dainty”, “ilex” and “defender” he sank giving time to the crew to get safe. the “rubino” had been discovered 20 miles west of alessandria and due to the damage suffered by depth bombs, he was forced to make a route to taranto. but the 29 had been attacked by a plane that struck him with two bombs sinking him with most of the crew. on 27 June the “liuzzi” had been attacked by English hunting. forced to emerge was taken to cannons. the commander bezzi ordered the abandonment ship and then, he sank with it, was seen to greet the flag and then descend into the belly of the submarine. also the “Argonaut” sank with all the crew while heading to tobruch.
How many friends, comrades, sailors had disappeared in those tragedies... in the following days learning more news.

on 13 September 1940, the fifth army of the general gariboldi and the tenth of the general berti, launched the offensive in the north of Africa entering Egypt. the upper command of the forces displaced in libia is entrusted to the marshal of the air italo balbo but on June 28, on the return from a reconnaissance in Egyptian territory, the savoy marchetti sm 79 was mistakenly shot down by our contraerea in tobruk.
The balbo, whose figure "invisible" often obscured the image of the duce, is replaced by Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, chief of state of the army.
the fifth army, consisting of 8 divisions, 500 medium-gauge guns, 90 light tanks l3/35 (the boxes of sardines) and 2,200 trucks is located on the border with Tunisia. the tenth with 5 divisions, 1600 cannons, 184 light tanks and 3,200 trucks, is deployed on the Egyptian border. the attack began with a violent bombing of artillery. Strangely the British retreated to marsa matruh without practically fighting. today our troops entered sidi el barrani at the price of 120 fallen against 50 British.