"His flesh, that stuff full of veins, nerves, tendons, glands, and bones; full of instincts and necessities; the flesh that sweats and stinks; flesh which deforms and sickens, ulcerates and is covered with wrinkles, pimples, warts, and hairs; that bestial stuff, flesh, flourished in him with a species of impudence..."- Gabriele D'Annunzio, 'The Triumph of Death'
"But the daily tasks and prayers of men, the ancient city tired from having lived too long, the ravaged marble and worn out bells, all those things oppressed by the weight of memories, all those perishable things were rendered humble in comparison with the tremendous blazing Alps that tore at the sky with their thousand unyielding spikes, a vast, solitary city that was waiting, perhaps, for a new race of Titans."
- D'Annunzio, from The Flame
"Perhaps the most eloquent tribute that could be paid him was the great respect and fear demonstrated by Mussolini in the years following the Fiume adventure... Everyone from Mussolini to Premier Franceso Saverio Nitti realized that D'Annunzio could have led a successful march on Rome during his reign at Fiume..."
- Michael A. Ledeen, 'The First Duce'
"I drink to the roses which will flower from the blood."
- Gabriele D'Annunzio, at a gathering in Venice in 1895
"We don't know what Nitti's government is thinking. All we can say is that, if necessary, thousands of volunteers - the best of Italy's youth - will be with D'Annunzio."
- Mussolini's "Long Live Fiume!," in Il Popolo d'Italia
"It is a great mistake to underrate D’Annunzio. This mari is a real force, not only by what he has been in the past, but by what he is, and stands for, to-day. No one did more to bring Italy into the war, and some of his speeches then, like his Fiume orations now, will endure as long as the Italian language. He fought on land, at sea, and in the air. He was severely wounded, and even after the loss of his right eye he remained in the fight. He has always dreamed of a greater Italy, supreme in the Adriatic and extending its influence over the Balkans. He is quite sure that Italy has been robbed of the spoils of victory by the “ingratitude and egotism” of the Allies, and he is just as ready to give his life now for what he believes to be his country’s due as he was to die for her in battle."- from "Fiume Under D'Annunzio" in MacLean's Magazine, 1 Dec. 1920
At the most critical moment, the fascist movement gained strength from D'Annunzio’s expedition to Fiume, which endowed it with a certain moral authority. Although D'Annunzio’s movement was distinct from fascism, that event led to the rise of its organisation and armed strength.Later in the article, Bordiga also makes this reference:
Consider for example the D'Annunzio movement, which was linked to fascism, and nonetheless made the attempt to win the support of proletarian organisations on the basis of a programme derived from the Fiume constitution that was supposedly based on proletarian or even socialist principles.The following is Bordiga's footnote to the first reference, in a prior version of the article to which I originally linked (at present [11 July 2026], I cannot find):
Possession of the city of Fiume, on the northern Adriatic, had been disputed at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference by Italy and newly constituted Yugoslavia. While negotiations continued, in September 1919, an Italian nationalist militia detachment led by D'Annunzio seized the city. Fiume retained de facto independence until 1924, when the territory was divided between Italy and Yugoslavia.
"The speech of the crown did not take a clear position against the subversive forces which were menacing nothing less than our whole national unity. It forgot the question of Fiume - a torch which held out a flame for our national spirit."- Mussolini, 'My Autobiography'Image: Mussolini visiting D'Annunzio in 1925
"You must create your life, as you’d create a work of art."
- Gabriele D'Annunzio, in 'Il Piacere'
"He did not aspire except to be, himself, the eternal pleasure of becoming."- Gabriele D'Annunzio, 'The Triumph of Death'
