What do you think?
Rate this book
The First Duce: D'Annunzio at Fiume
Gabriele D'Annunzio was one of the most flamboyant figures in the political history of modern Europe. A poet in the Byronic style and a popular hero of the First World War, D'Annunzio passionately believed that the sacrifices of war should prelude a new social order. His capture of the city of Fiume in 1919, which had been claimed by Italy as part of the settlement before the Versailles Peace Conference, has been popularized and romanticized ever since. Ledeen uses information gathered from Italian and American archives and from personal interviews to examine the sixteen months of D'Annunzio's personal rule in Fiume, seeing it as a harbinger of successful mass movements of the twentieth century.
The connection between D'Annunzio and Fascism is central to Ledeen's narrative. Virtually the entire ritual of Fascist politics made familiar by Mussolini-the balcony address, the Roman salute, the dramatic dialogues with the crowd, the use of religious symbols in a new secular setting-was influenced by D'Annunzio at Fiume. Both were masters of a political style based on personal charisma. Each spoke for a "new" Italy and, eventually, for a new world. Each attempted to transform his countrymen into more heroic types by an ethic of violence and grandeur. But Ledeen brings sharply into focus profound differences between D'Annunzio's vision of a new world and that offered by Fascism. Significantly, D'Annunzio enlisted support from the most diverse elements of society-politicians and businessmen in addition to representatives of radical trade unions, anarchist groups, and the armed forces.
Often sensationalized as a precursor of a sixties-style "dolce vita," D'Annunzio's Fiume presented many of the phenomena considered novel or unsettling today: sexual promiscuity, widespread experimentation with drugs, clergymen wanting to marry, women demanding equal rights, youth calling for the elimination of the old, soldiers insisting on a democratic army, poets yearning for a beautiful world instead of a purely utilitarian one, minorities clamoring for their fair share of political power. From the dispassionate distance of half a century, Ledeen views Fiume as a microcosm of the larger chaos of our contemporary scene. Although he was removed from Fiume after a pitched battle on land and sea, D'Annunzio remained an influential figure in Italian politics. Ledeen presents him as "one of the great innovators and watersheds of the modern world." This book will be of interest to historians, political scientists, and those interested in Post World War I Italy.
The connection between D'Annunzio and Fascism is central to Ledeen's narrative. Virtually the entire ritual of Fascist politics made familiar by Mussolini-the balcony address, the Roman salute, the dramatic dialogues with the crowd, the use of religious symbols in a new secular setting-was influenced by D'Annunzio at Fiume. Both were masters of a political style based on personal charisma. Each spoke for a "new" Italy and, eventually, for a new world. Each attempted to transform his countrymen into more heroic types by an ethic of violence and grandeur. But Ledeen brings sharply into focus profound differences between D'Annunzio's vision of a new world and that offered by Fascism. Significantly, D'Annunzio enlisted support from the most diverse elements of society-politicians and businessmen in addition to representatives of radical trade unions, anarchist groups, and the armed forces.
Often sensationalized as a precursor of a sixties-style "dolce vita," D'Annunzio's Fiume presented many of the phenomena considered novel or unsettling today: sexual promiscuity, widespread experimentation with drugs, clergymen wanting to marry, women demanding equal rights, youth calling for the elimination of the old, soldiers insisting on a democratic army, poets yearning for a beautiful world instead of a purely utilitarian one, minorities clamoring for their fair share of political power. From the dispassionate distance of half a century, Ledeen views Fiume as a microcosm of the larger chaos of our contemporary scene. Although he was removed from Fiume after a pitched battle on land and sea, D'Annunzio remained an influential figure in Italian politics. Ledeen presents him as "one of the great innovators and watersheds of the modern world." This book will be of interest to historians, political scientists, and those interested in Post World War I Italy.
235 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1977
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 5, 2024
i was a bit sceptical of this to start with because the author became a reagan administration propagandist and world famous neocon shortly after writing this, but mostly it just uses archival sources to document what was happening in fiume under d'annunzio's occupation without too much stupid or right wing interpretation. there is a little bit of silly stuff around d'annunzio's supposed mastery and understanding of mass politics but that doesn't really take up much of the book. the book makes the case that the notion of d'annunzio as the 'john the baptist' of italian fascism is wrong, and it's reasonably convincing at this at least some of the time - d'annunzio seems to have genuinely moved to the left during the fiume occupation and might well have cemented a political alliance with the italian socialists(and perhaps the ussr at the international level) had they been willing to entertain the possibility. the information about the league of fiume, which was supposed to be an anti imperialist answer to the league of nations representing the oppressed peoples and nationalities of the world, is particularly interesting, although it seems pretty clear that d'annunzio never really had the resources to properly back such an enterprise. overall it is a cool little snapshot of a weird moment in history where a bunch of different avantgarde movements and the political right and left were all thrown together in a big utopian blender by an eccentric poet warrior who was singularly unsuited to being a politician.
January 5, 2021
A great comprehensive book on the Fiumian adventure, and it has all the info I want - it is not a Marxist book, and thus its analyses are rather wrong (a lot about how D'Annunzio understood the "nature" of "mass politics" and how it was the "beginning" of "20th century politics" and all that nonsense), it gives you all the data, succinctly and well presented, that you need to make a correct analysis of the Fiumian adventure, its beginning, it's turn to left-wing wing politics, its parties, etc.
Ledeen's analyses are wrong as academic analyses tend to be but these paragraphs are thankfully short and irregular. Really, all I wish more from this book was more in-depth explanation of the political rituals which were so important to the city-state.
Ledeen's analyses are wrong as academic analyses tend to be but these paragraphs are thankfully short and irregular. Really, all I wish more from this book was more in-depth explanation of the political rituals which were so important to the city-state.
April 7, 2021
Read this a long time ago, but think it belongs among the classics. Gabriele D'Annunzio was a much more colorful and romantic personality than Mussolini, and without D'Annunzio, Mussolini might not have had any style at all beyond the bully-like brutishness for which he is primarily known.
Italian Fascism differed from Nazism in key respects, not least of which it tolerated a (weak) monarchy. Hitler would have tolerated no monarchy at all. In style, Italian Fascism resembled Spanish Falangism aesthetically (the floppy hats, etc.), and in fact the symbol of the 'fasces' used by both the Italians and the Spaniards was - while not exactly beautiful - not as 'twisted' looking as the 'crooked cross' (or swastika). (Indeed, Spanish fascism was destined to restore the monarchy, setting it very much apart from its German counterpart.) The flamboyant, romantic qualities of Italian Fascism, in contrast to sexually repressed Nazism, were probably influences of D'Annunzio.
Although D'Annunzio did establish a 'state' in Fiume called the 'Italian Regency of Carnaro' and led it for over a year, he wasn't in the final analysis a 'politician' in the conventional sense. He actually did seem to lead practically by charisma alone. One scholar told me he'd once visited the mansion in which D'Annunzio lived as leader of Fiume, describing it as the home of a Bond movie villain. This seems credible, and the author of this short book does not refute that description.
D'Annunzio's Fiume was intended as somehow 'liberating' of the passions of its inhabitants, and though the 'people's poet' in the form of D'Annunzio was somehow acknowledged as 'in charge,' the community had a 'wild' quality. That would all be put to an end when the drab realities of fascism, with its banning of independent labor organizations and 'slave-driving' of workers to serve the corporate state, finally conquered it. For anyone wanting a romantic side of fascism, this is it.
Italian Fascism differed from Nazism in key respects, not least of which it tolerated a (weak) monarchy. Hitler would have tolerated no monarchy at all. In style, Italian Fascism resembled Spanish Falangism aesthetically (the floppy hats, etc.), and in fact the symbol of the 'fasces' used by both the Italians and the Spaniards was - while not exactly beautiful - not as 'twisted' looking as the 'crooked cross' (or swastika). (Indeed, Spanish fascism was destined to restore the monarchy, setting it very much apart from its German counterpart.) The flamboyant, romantic qualities of Italian Fascism, in contrast to sexually repressed Nazism, were probably influences of D'Annunzio.
Although D'Annunzio did establish a 'state' in Fiume called the 'Italian Regency of Carnaro' and led it for over a year, he wasn't in the final analysis a 'politician' in the conventional sense. He actually did seem to lead practically by charisma alone. One scholar told me he'd once visited the mansion in which D'Annunzio lived as leader of Fiume, describing it as the home of a Bond movie villain. This seems credible, and the author of this short book does not refute that description.
D'Annunzio's Fiume was intended as somehow 'liberating' of the passions of its inhabitants, and though the 'people's poet' in the form of D'Annunzio was somehow acknowledged as 'in charge,' the community had a 'wild' quality. That would all be put to an end when the drab realities of fascism, with its banning of independent labor organizations and 'slave-driving' of workers to serve the corporate state, finally conquered it. For anyone wanting a romantic side of fascism, this is it.
July 17, 2018
Without a doubt the best and most comprehensive book on this strange chapter of history. Truth is truly stranger than fiction.
April 30, 2021
A decent book that goes over Fiume under D'Annunzio's regime. I would recommend it to those who want to learn more D'Annunzio's Fiume or its place in history as a form of Proto-fascism.
September 12, 2024
D'Annunzio for President
Not really factual - very emotional book.
Serves its purpose, gets you in that Fiuman spirit.
There are probably better books about Fiume out there.
Not really factual - very emotional book.
Serves its purpose, gets you in that Fiuman spirit.
There are probably better books about Fiume out there.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews