The Tremors of Fiume and the Shadow of D'Annunzio

"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'

Mention of D'Annunzio in Bordiga's 1922 "Report on Fascism" to the Fourth Congress of the Comintern

The proclamation of the Italian Regency of Carnaro by D'Annunzio at the

Palace of the Regency on 12 September, 1920; coat of arms on display.

In this 1922 "Report on Fascism" to the Communist International, Amadeo Bordiga claims that D'Annunzio's seizure of Fiume was vital to empowering fascism:

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.