(Published in Gerarchia, June 6, 1938)
By Joseph Goebbels
The unforgettable impressions of the grandiose popular demonstration last September in the Capital of the Reich are still very much alive in the German people. Thus, today the thoughts and hearts of the entire German people accompany the Führer of the National Socialist Reich as he meets again with the founder of the Fascist Empire, in the country that gave birth to the millennial history of Rome. These wonderful days have much greater value than a mere courtesy visit. This visit represents the enthusiastic testimony of the unshakable friendship between two powerful Nations.
Benito Mussolini once recalled a phrase by Heinrich von Treitschke: "It is men who create history". These words apply in the most obvious way to the Man who—in a triumphant manifestation of will and ideal—broke with the politics of groups and parties, of liberalism, materialism and parliamentarianism, and began the happy attempt to bring men together under the sign of a new form of organization, giving them a new social and national ideal and elevating them to a new political and national level.
The Fascist Revolution is the victory of a youth who—through the trial by fire of the world war—created a new concept of political order, very different from that of the old liberal-democratic world. This new spiritual attitude of Fascist Italy, aroused by a new personality, tempered by a bloody path to power which cost the Fascist movement about 5,000 dead, was the principle base of the new Roman Empire, which would have never been conceived without its great Founder, the Duce of his people.
This young Fascist Italy is rich in creative forces. It goes without saying that the Man who completed this great work must be a man of the highest race and mind. Youth and will are united within him. These traits, which are typical of a true leader, have brought Mussolini closer to the heart of his people. Contrary to the attitude of the liberal spirit, which is now outdated, Mussolini has brought about a rigid, virile and heroic romanticism that now fills our whole century and which represents the very essence of Fascism. Thus Fascism is the typical Italian form of the original attitude of a spiritually elevated people, in the same way that National Socialism represents the typical German form.
The German people, under the guidance of their Führer, have traveled the same path of unprecedented historical development. Therefore, they did not need to strive to understand the new Italy, unlike other peoples today who still think that the leadership of a single ruler means despotism or slavery of the people. Certain particular spiritual tendencies distinguishes National Socialist Germany from Fascist Italy, but the spirit that animates our two peoples is the same: the historical imperative that looms over us is the same, and it is the same uncompromising will in maintaining the strength of our Nations which must be an effective guarantee for peace in Europe.
This is why the German people today, through their Führer, salute the Fascist Empire and its Founder with a feeling of cordial friendship solemnly confirmed by deeds.
