By Anonymous
Much has been said and discussed in recent days about the surprising defection of Marshal Messe to the Anglo-American-Badoglian fold. In regard to this, we have heard the expressions of regret by the many men who esteemed Marshal Messe, as well as the reproaches of those who esteemed him less and who now believe him to be just another opportunist who sold himself for thirty pieces of silver. We have read — and we hope that Marshal Messe himself has also been able to read — the sorrowful letters written by his former soldiers. It therefore seems appropriate to us that we definitively analyze the Messe "Affair", now that the shock and repercussions of the revelation has subsided.
General Messe appeared to all Fascists and all Italians as the typical representative of the Fascist Army. He declared himself such in every time and in every place, and on this ideological basis he set his commanding action for his soldiers, turning every campaign into a crusade, idealizing the anti-Bolshevik conscience in the deeds of the CSIR and the decisive will of the anti-plutocratic revolution of the Italian people in the epic defense of Tunisia, carrying out noteworthy actions, passing — even in misfortune — from satisfaction to satisfaction, earning himself the marshal's baton through a rapid career. All this the Italians know and for this they loved and admired him.
But today Marshal Messe has defected to the enemy, the enemy of his Fatherland, the enemy of his ideas, standing now alongside the men he had always openly despised. He, who knew and could, every day, ascertain the betrayal of the General Staff and denounced it to some men of Fascism with unequivocal words, he, who was the first to give the Italians, with his report on Tunisia, the certainty of this betrayal, he has now joined the traitors themselves, attempting to endorse the betrayal with his name until yesterday immaculate. He who knew and could every day ascertain the betrayal of the General Staff and even denounced it to some of the Fascist authorities with unequivocal words, he who was the first to give the Italians certain evidence of this betrayal with his report on Tunisia, he has now joined the traitors themselves, attempting to give legitimacy to the treason with his name which until yesterday was immaculate.
Now the ex-leader of the Italian Army in Russia is a recruit who fights on the side of Bolshevism. The man who — as head of the infantrymen, of the Blackshirts, of the Young Fascists Division —consecrated on the Mareth and in the last desperate sortie, with the Italianity of Tunisia, the right of our people to Africa and therefore to life, is today a hitman for the Anglo-American plutocrats who seek once and for all to bring us back into slavery. The soldier who in distant years understood — in the very Italian city of Zara — the heart, the faith and the supreme aspiration of Dalmatia, has become an ally and accomplice of the Balkan bandits who slaughter Italians from Fiume to Spizza, whose only crime is being Italian. It is therefore logical that the Italians — and not only Italians, but all men of honor — ask the marshal why he did this. It has been suggested — and this is common rumor — that he was lured by British and American money. We, however, do not want to believe it, both for his sake and for ours; for his sake, because, in spite of everything, we would not want to confuse him for the simoniacs of September 8th; for our sake, because we cannot fathom that such a heroic Italian, even while committing a crime against the Fatherland, would do so for the sake of money. So why did he do it?
In our opinion, to explain this incredible about-face, it is necessary to delve into relatively distant days, during which Colonel Messe was for a long time close to the king, weaving personal relationships with him, and to assume, today, that the memory of that royal intimacy has pushed him to the path of dishonor. Sometimes it happens that the fascination with divine rights makes even worthy men forget the will and rights of peoples. And if a great fighter of Russia like Marshal Ney was, for a moment, dazzled by the cachectic podagra of Louis XVIII, so much so as to forget his past and his glory as a revolutionary soldier, it is possible that the same happened to Giovanni Messe in the face of Vittorio Emanuele's Savoyard rickets. The prince of Moscow, however, knew how to find the path of honor. We do not know if the Tunisian marshal will be able to do the same.
He was a great soldier. Today he is reduced to the role of pawn in a petty and desperate dynastic game. A luminous figure in the immense tragedy of the people, he is now an obscure extra in the small Savoyard farce which forms a part of this tragedy. Alongside the Badoglio, Roatta, Ambrosio — who hate him for the contempt he has always shown them, and who will also want to take their own petty revenge on him — Messe is today only a necessary accomplice, because the co-belligerents do not trust traitors.
But then what does the marshal hope to save? Save the Fatherland? The Fatherland is not saved with the enemy's bayonets and the scourge of civil war. Save the monarchy? But if that is the case, he could simply ask all Italians — Fascists and non-Fascists, on both sides of the Gustav Line — and he would realize the inanity of this attempt. It must therefore be concluded that Messe places the gratitude of an unworthy king before execration by the Fatherland and condemnation by history. But you will be waiting a long time for this sovereign gratitude, dear marshal. The Savoy-Carignano family is famous for this. From Carlo Alberto who betrayed the patriots of 1821, killed Jacopo Ruffini in prison, exiled Mazzini and Garibaldi, to Vittorio Emanuele II who abandoned Cavour, to Umberto I who betrayed Crispi, to the current representative who first betrayed the a man who for twenty years had served him with absolute dedication and then betrayed the whole Italian people, abandoning them to their own fate, without any guidance or directive, leaving them to the mercy of a betrayed ally. Modern history is full of examples of such Savoyard gratitude. Sad fate for a brave soldier. But the only one that his last gesture deserves.
Today he is on the other side of the barricade, to fight against us, we who believe in a republican, revolutionary, proletarian Italy, we who have honor because we are faithful to pacts, to our own words, to our friendships and therefore are are Fascists. But he will also fight against the same soldiers he led in the fight in Russia, he will fight — remember this, marshal — against all the dead who fell in his battles. Why did the soldiers of the CSIR — whom he inflamed with the order to "charge!" — fight and die? Was it so that their commander could cooperate in the triumph of Bolshevism? Why did the young men of Mareth — who consecrated his marshal's staff with their blood — fall in Tacruna? So that their commander could then facilitate the triumph of that enemy who still attacks their cities, machine guns their fathers, starves their wives, wants to take every future life and well-being away from their children and their Fatherland? We do not know if he considered all this, and if he did, what his conscience said to him. But look, dear Marshal Messe, across the oceans: thousands upon thousands of Italians have been confined for years in POW camps.
It is the real Italy, the Italy of labor, the Italy of tomorrow. And it is for this Italy that we work; it is for these ours brothers, who have made of their sufferings a weapon of pride and honor and an expectation of a painful return, that we operate, revolutionizing national life.
Their sacrifices, their sorrows, their painful, unnerving confinement, their hopes and their pride — which the current Marshal's masters, together with the traitors, have tried to undo — cannot be forgotten nor shall they be in vain. We are now working for this painful and distant Italy, with clear conscience and with very concrete faith.
Marshal Giovanni Messe himself was, until recently, one of the many Italian soldiers imprisoned in the harsh but respected POW camps. Today he has abandoned his comrades in order to put himself at the service of his captors. Go your way then, marshal.
The honorable Italy which continues to fight has nothing more to say to him. The Messe "Affair" can now be filed away.
But today Marshal Messe has defected to the enemy, the enemy of his Fatherland, the enemy of his ideas, standing now alongside the men he had always openly despised. He, who knew and could, every day, ascertain the betrayal of the General Staff and denounced it to some men of Fascism with unequivocal words, he, who was the first to give the Italians, with his report on Tunisia, the certainty of this betrayal, he has now joined the traitors themselves, attempting to endorse the betrayal with his name until yesterday immaculate. He who knew and could every day ascertain the betrayal of the General Staff and even denounced it to some of the Fascist authorities with unequivocal words, he who was the first to give the Italians certain evidence of this betrayal with his report on Tunisia, he has now joined the traitors themselves, attempting to give legitimacy to the treason with his name which until yesterday was immaculate.
Now the ex-leader of the Italian Army in Russia is a recruit who fights on the side of Bolshevism. The man who — as head of the infantrymen, of the Blackshirts, of the Young Fascists Division —consecrated on the Mareth and in the last desperate sortie, with the Italianity of Tunisia, the right of our people to Africa and therefore to life, is today a hitman for the Anglo-American plutocrats who seek once and for all to bring us back into slavery. The soldier who in distant years understood — in the very Italian city of Zara — the heart, the faith and the supreme aspiration of Dalmatia, has become an ally and accomplice of the Balkan bandits who slaughter Italians from Fiume to Spizza, whose only crime is being Italian. It is therefore logical that the Italians — and not only Italians, but all men of honor — ask the marshal why he did this. It has been suggested — and this is common rumor — that he was lured by British and American money. We, however, do not want to believe it, both for his sake and for ours; for his sake, because, in spite of everything, we would not want to confuse him for the simoniacs of September 8th; for our sake, because we cannot fathom that such a heroic Italian, even while committing a crime against the Fatherland, would do so for the sake of money. So why did he do it?
In our opinion, to explain this incredible about-face, it is necessary to delve into relatively distant days, during which Colonel Messe was for a long time close to the king, weaving personal relationships with him, and to assume, today, that the memory of that royal intimacy has pushed him to the path of dishonor. Sometimes it happens that the fascination with divine rights makes even worthy men forget the will and rights of peoples. And if a great fighter of Russia like Marshal Ney was, for a moment, dazzled by the cachectic podagra of Louis XVIII, so much so as to forget his past and his glory as a revolutionary soldier, it is possible that the same happened to Giovanni Messe in the face of Vittorio Emanuele's Savoyard rickets. The prince of Moscow, however, knew how to find the path of honor. We do not know if the Tunisian marshal will be able to do the same.
He was a great soldier. Today he is reduced to the role of pawn in a petty and desperate dynastic game. A luminous figure in the immense tragedy of the people, he is now an obscure extra in the small Savoyard farce which forms a part of this tragedy. Alongside the Badoglio, Roatta, Ambrosio — who hate him for the contempt he has always shown them, and who will also want to take their own petty revenge on him — Messe is today only a necessary accomplice, because the co-belligerents do not trust traitors.
But then what does the marshal hope to save? Save the Fatherland? The Fatherland is not saved with the enemy's bayonets and the scourge of civil war. Save the monarchy? But if that is the case, he could simply ask all Italians — Fascists and non-Fascists, on both sides of the Gustav Line — and he would realize the inanity of this attempt. It must therefore be concluded that Messe places the gratitude of an unworthy king before execration by the Fatherland and condemnation by history. But you will be waiting a long time for this sovereign gratitude, dear marshal. The Savoy-Carignano family is famous for this. From Carlo Alberto who betrayed the patriots of 1821, killed Jacopo Ruffini in prison, exiled Mazzini and Garibaldi, to Vittorio Emanuele II who abandoned Cavour, to Umberto I who betrayed Crispi, to the current representative who first betrayed the a man who for twenty years had served him with absolute dedication and then betrayed the whole Italian people, abandoning them to their own fate, without any guidance or directive, leaving them to the mercy of a betrayed ally. Modern history is full of examples of such Savoyard gratitude. Sad fate for a brave soldier. But the only one that his last gesture deserves.
Today he is on the other side of the barricade, to fight against us, we who believe in a republican, revolutionary, proletarian Italy, we who have honor because we are faithful to pacts, to our own words, to our friendships and therefore are are Fascists. But he will also fight against the same soldiers he led in the fight in Russia, he will fight — remember this, marshal — against all the dead who fell in his battles. Why did the soldiers of the CSIR — whom he inflamed with the order to "charge!" — fight and die? Was it so that their commander could cooperate in the triumph of Bolshevism? Why did the young men of Mareth — who consecrated his marshal's staff with their blood — fall in Tacruna? So that their commander could then facilitate the triumph of that enemy who still attacks their cities, machine guns their fathers, starves their wives, wants to take every future life and well-being away from their children and their Fatherland? We do not know if he considered all this, and if he did, what his conscience said to him. But look, dear Marshal Messe, across the oceans: thousands upon thousands of Italians have been confined for years in POW camps.
It is the real Italy, the Italy of labor, the Italy of tomorrow. And it is for this Italy that we work; it is for these ours brothers, who have made of their sufferings a weapon of pride and honor and an expectation of a painful return, that we operate, revolutionizing national life.
Their sacrifices, their sorrows, their painful, unnerving confinement, their hopes and their pride — which the current Marshal's masters, together with the traitors, have tried to undo — cannot be forgotten nor shall they be in vain. We are now working for this painful and distant Italy, with clear conscience and with very concrete faith.
Marshal Giovanni Messe himself was, until recently, one of the many Italian soldiers imprisoned in the harsh but respected POW camps. Today he has abandoned his comrades in order to put himself at the service of his captors. Go your way then, marshal.
The honorable Italy which continues to fight has nothing more to say to him. The Messe "Affair" can now be filed away.
