On the 20th Anniversary of Intervention
By Benito Mussolini
Comrades, war wounded and Blackshirts!
Twenty years ago today Italy made a supreme decision. This occurred after we had dispersed those who wished to blind Italy with an attitude which would have weighed on our soul for centuries.
After twenty years, we feel in the depths of our consciousness that there could not have been a different decision. The people who today are celebrating the 20th anniversary of Italy's intervention in the war are gathered in all the squares of Italy. These people are clad in black shirts. They are people who are brave, proud, and willing to dare—dare to overcome all difficulties.
Let no one here or abroad delude himself. We are very attentive before adopting a decision. But once the decision has been made, we march straight forward. We do not turn back. Because we know that when a decision is being taken, it is necessary to burn our bridges behind us and clasp the wheel of destiny with a steady hand.
An infantryman—one of many who fought, suffered and died in order to give Italy its brilliant victory—wrote on the wall of a shelled house on the Piave: 'It is better to live one day as a lion than one hundred years as a sheep.'
These words are more than a motto. They are our gospel. We shall be faithful to this motto, anywhere and against everyone.
