Speech in Pavia, November 23, 1918

By Benito Mussolini

No internal or external enemy can diminish Italy's victory, because it is luminous and decisive, because it is already sealed with its own characteristics of world history.

But alow me to praise the Italian people here before you, not because I seek your applause, but because I think it is time to speak harsh truths...

We have reached the height of our history as Italians, as a people. We interventionists of the first hour, we who in May 1915 went down into the streets and took this Italy which seemed hypnotized by the flattery of the Giolittian "parecchio", we took this Italy by the hair and imposed upon it this great duty...

Today the Italian people are greater. If Wilson called us the "great Italian people" it is because we conquered that attribute during 4 years of war. It was said that the Italian people would not last more than 3 months of war; and yet in 4 years it demonstrated admirable tenacity and valor.

Now that our victory is decisive, we hear some people murmuring that it is not due to the sacrifice of our soldiers, but rather due to Austria itself. This is false. On October 24th we had a formidable army ahead of us, and Diaz clearly pointed out the proportion of the forces in his latest war bulletin. Our victory cost us blood and we must not limit it to October 24th only, but to the full 4 years of war. At the right moment, we were able to give the decisive blow: and we will not allow anyone to compromise the Italian victory or defame it.

We are now in a very delicate moment of our national life. Our war had sacred goals. We have reached them: our flags are flying in Trento, Trieste, Fiume, Zara, and they will remain there. There are Italians there who have an agonizing love for us, there are Italians there who have been sent to the gallows for us. Nazario Sauro is Istrian. Where has there been a more solemn consecration of Italic right than in these lands? The Adriatic is necessary for Italy, because today the mission of the Italians lies in the Mediterranean.

Our national objectives therefore have been achieved. But we who wanted the war have other reasons to put forward. Those who have had their flesh torn speak of war with veneration. If we descend into the shrine of our conscience we can say that our sacrifice was not in vain. Empires have collapsed; Austria no longer exists; no longer does anyone know where Charles I is. The Kaiser is in Holland, but the British do not allow him to indulge in pleasure. The neutralists have already done a bad service to us and they would do an even worse one if they kept the Kaiser under their protection. Meanwhile, republics break out too easily in the central empires. We must not delude ourselves too much about the political transformations that take place in Germany. I would not want the Italians to shed tears for the assassins, because they are still the ones responsible for the Lusitania, Belgium, etc., and we can not easily forget what they have done even in the last moments of the war. One fact alone is certain: a republic now reigns in the place where the greatest machine of human militarism once existed.

I believe that this period of transition between war and peace will not be thwarted by unrest. Above all else, it is necessary to be disciplined and to have a sense of responsibility. From the political point of view, our situation is as good as it can be for a great Italy. But the Parliament is open and the Italian people are still disappointed. Every time it opens, a sense of disgust spreads throughout Italy because the deputies are merely concerned about their own constituency.

The working classes have contributed to our victory and are entitled to victory. The huge mass of soldiers is composed of field workers. Those who went to war, who lived through the war, who went on the assault, represent the best citizens—the elect—and they are the ones who have every right to govern Italy. If some coward stayed at home and was enriched, the soldier returning from war must despise and hate him.

The Italian working classes have the merit of victory, and therefore new duties and new rights must be taken into consideration. There is no proletariat. In fact, this word must be replaced by the word "producers". Fighting a party is one thing; the healthy working proletariat is quite another. There are bourgeois and proletarian producers, just as there are collective and individual heroisms.

Whenever the working mass claims its right to life, it is right. Until today labor has been impregnated by these attributes: fatigue and misery. Those who work ten hours a day must necessarily be exhausted. According to some, decreasing the working day means giving workers a means and an opportunity to get drunk. But if you put books in their hands, then we will no longer witness the phenomenon of exhaustion. Everywhere where there are too many hours, the phenomenon of physical and moral exhaustion is outlined.

Everyone is interested in producing. It would be crazy to want to collect a harvest without sowing. The proletariat must not cut off the plant to remove its fruit. The disgraceful stereotype of being lazy no longer exists for us. Our wonderful Italians proved that wrong when they went abroad and did wondrous things. When we have produced it will be possible to tell the bourgeoisie to be part of the proletariat. The working masses must also participate in the peace conference. It is not just a matter of arranging and protecting, above all it is about building an edifice that no longer has to collapse and as I said, the representatives of the labor must not be excluded from the conference. Labor must be represented because those in the trenches were workers. Many things will be discussed there, and why should those who have given the largest contribution of blood be absent?

There are four postulates that the working class must declaim. The country is not a poetic phrase: Italy is a reality, it is something that sings in us. We can not and must not be against patriotism. We must love our country, love it as we love our mother. If you could read the testament of our dead, who died shouting "Long live Italy!", they would teach you this love. Our people do not know this Roman greatness. We must elevate the culture of the working masses.

For Italy it is not a matter of moral greatness. The fundamental problems of our national life are only ten or twelve in number. Above all two enemies must be eliminated: alcohol and tuberculosis. There must also be an internal renewal. The three or four million men returning from the trenches must see Italy with its entire Parliament. We must present them with the new Italy, and everyone who has sabotaged the war must be swept away like a house of cards. We must make sure that this transformation is done in an orderly fashion and that Italy can realize the fruits of its victory.

Your newspaper bears this phrase: "The Fatherland is not denied, but conquered". The Fatherland is in the language, in the customs, and the Fatherland must be conquered with labor and sobriety. Tomorrow's Italy must be great especially in the sphere of labor. Only in this way will it be rich, strong and at peace with the civilized world.