The Rule of the First Duce in the Fiume Endeavor

"Am I not the precursor of all that is good about fascism?" 

- The Commandant to the Duce

"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

Mussolini on Democracy and Popular Sovereignty

"Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy." 

  - To Edwin L. Edwins of New York Times

"The dogma of popular sovereignty... in practice is the sovereignty of small minorities composed of intriguing demagogues."

   - In Times article, "Mussolini Rejects Democratic Rule"

It is a Restless Sleep

The sort befalling gods.

Pietro Koch (1918-1945)

It is That Flesh Which Deforms and Sickens

"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'

A Remark from Arnold Meijer on Facing Reality

"Een fascist moet de werkelijkheid aandurven."

["A fascist must dare to face reality."]

Quotes from Mussolini on Time and Blood

"It is blood which moves the wheels of history!"

  - Speech at Parma by Mussolini 

"Struggle is at the bottom of everything, because life is full of contrasts. There is love and hate, black and white, night and day, good and evil..."

  - Benito Mussolini, "The Task of Fascism"

A Remark from Biggini on World War II

"The Anglo-Americans certainly did not wage war out of some desire to help or "liberate" any Western European people, but rather because they saw themselves threatened by the advent of a new era, which was expressed in Italy and in Germany with more strength and awareness than anywhere else."

- Carlo Alberto Biggini, "Truth and Lies About Fascism"

José Antonio Primo de Rivera on Fascism

"Fascism was born to inspire a faith not of the Right (which at bottom aspires to conserve everything, even injustice) or of the Left (which at bottom aspires to destroy everything, even goodness), but a collective, integral, national faith." 

- Primo de Rivera, quoted in Payne's 'A History of Spanish Fascism,' 1961, p. 31

Codreanu on Wearing the Clothes of Democracy

"We wear the clothes and embrace the forms of democracy. Are they worth anything?"

- Corneliu Codreanu, "A Few Remarks on Democracy"

Founder of the Legion of the Archangel Michael;

more commonly referred to as the Iron Guard.

Remark from Joris van Severen of the Verdinaso

"More than ever, the supreme and most urgent necessity is to see and say things as they are... And, more than for others, this is an imperative necessity for those who take it upon themselves to lead their people... More than ever, because, as perhaps never before, the lives of men and the lives of the nations on all sides are dominated by lies and deceit. Such that one hardly hears or reads words anymore that are words of truth: honest and matter-of-fact expression of genuine reality."

- Joris van Severen

Pinochet on the Nature of Chilean Leaves

"Not a leaf moves in this country if I'm not moving it."

- Augusto Pinochet

The usurper who overthrew socialist Allende in a coup d'état; as with

supporting Pol Pot in a coalition, sometimes the CIA gets it right.

The Weight of Memories and a Patient Land

"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

A view of the Dolomites range of the Alps from Mt. Lagazuoi in Italy