Declaration of War on Ethiopia (Mobilization Proclamation)
By Benito Mussolini
Blackshirts of the Revolution! Men and women of all Italy! Italians all over the world, beyond the mountains, beyond the seas! Hear me!
A solemn hour is about to sound in the history of the Fatherland. At this moment twenty million men occupy the public squares of all Italy. Never in the history of mankind has there been seen a more gigantic demonstration. Twenty million men, but one heart, one will, one decision.
This manifestation signifies that the tie between Italy and Fascism is perfect, absolute, unalterable. Only brains softened by puerile illusions, by sheer ignorance, can think differently, because they do not know what exactly is this Fascist Italy of 1935.
For many months the wheels of destiny have been moving toward their goal under the impulse of our calm determination. In the latter hours their rhythm has become more swift and by now cannot be stopped.
It is not only an army that strives toward its objectives, but a whole people of forty-four million souls against whom an attempt is being made to consummate the blackest of injustices; that of depriving us of some small place in the sun. When in 1915 Italy exposed itself to the risks of war and joined its destiny with that of the Allies, how much praise there was for our courage and how many promises were made! But after the common victory to which Italy had made the supreme contribution of six hundred thousand dead, four hundred thousand lost, and one million wounded, when peace was being discussed around the hateful table, only the crumbs of a rich colonial booty were left for us to pick up.
For thirteen years we have been patient while the circle tightened around us at the hands of those who wish to suffocate us. With Ethiopia we have been patient for forty years! It is time to say enough!
The League of Nations, instead of recognizing the rights of Italy, dares talk of sanctions, but until there is proof of the contrary, I refuse to believe that the authentic and generous people of France will join in supporting sanctions against Italy. Six hundred thousand dead whose devotion was so heroic that the enemy commander justly admired them—those fallen would now turn in their graves.
And until there is proof to the contrary, I refuse to believe that the authentic people of Britain are willing to spill blood and run the risk of sending Europe into a catastrophe for the sake of defending a barbarian African country universally branded as unworthy of ranking among civilized nations. Nevertheless, we cannot afford to overlook the possible developments of tomorrow.
To economic sanctions, we shall answer with our discipline, our spirit of sacrifice, our obedience. To military sanctions, we shall answer with military measures. To acts of war, we shall answer with acts of war.
Let no one think that he can make us yield without a hard struggle. A people worthy of their past and their name cannot and never will take a different stand. Let me repeat, in the most categorical manner, before all the Italians gathered together today—and at this moment I make before you a sacred pledge—that I shall do everything in my power to prevent a colonial conflict from taking on the aspect and weight of a European war. That type of conflict may be desired by certain minds which hope to avenge their disintegrated temples through this new catastrophe, but not by us.
Never before, as at this historical hour, have the people of Italy revealed the quality of its spirit and such force of character, and it is against this people to which mankind owes its greatest conquests, this people of heroes, of poets, of saints, of navigators, of colonizers, that the world dares threaten sanctions.
Italy! Proletarian and Fascist Italy, Italy of Vittorio Veneto, and the Italy of the Blackshirt Revolution, rise to your feet! Let the cry of your determination rise to the heavens and reach our soldiers in East Africa. Let it be a comfort to those who are about to fight. Let it be an encouragement to our friends and a warning to our enemies. It is the cry of Italy which goes beyond the mountains and the seas out into the great world. It is the cry of justice and of victory!
