In Mussolini's Wake
GELB, NORMAN
In Mussolini's Wake Italy and the Allies. Revieived by Norman Gelb By Norman Kogan. Auodate Editor, "East Europe" Harvard. 246 pp. $4.25. Norman Kogan partly accepts the premise that Italy's...
...Others fear that the Nenni Socialists have become hopelessly entangled with the Communists and can't shake their influence no matter how much they may want to...
...Open anti-Fascist strength did not materialize until shortly before the Allied landings...
...They underlie Mussolini's pathetic glory in Ethiopia and the persistent belief that Italy was done dirty in both the 1919 and 1947 peace treaties...
...its domestic difficulties undiminished, Italy had to align itself with those powers and that system of values which could meet its pressing needs...
...As Mr...
...It was military defeat that destroyed Mussolini, the failure of his foreign policy, "not the strength of the antiFascist opposition...
...Unlike his predecessors, the Duce was willing to challenge Britain with regard to Italian expansionism and, for a time, got away with it...
...But much of the background is missing, denying these accounts continuity and their full meaning...
...Since 1946, the Christian Democrats have dominated the Italian Government, coming closest to defeat at the hands of both the far Right and the Communist-Nenni alliance in 1953...
...In addition to sharing in the Government, the PCI had the support of the Nenni-led Socialist party, which had not yet split, and, although it wasn't as strongly influenced by the Communists as it was later to become, Nenni had already put into practice his "unity of action" program with Togliatti...
...Kogan's study is his analysis of the fall of Fascism...
...In 1948, Italy joined OEEC...
...It is overpopulated and becoming increasingly so...
...This, combined with the limited Italian contribution to victory, put Italy in a vulnerable position as an Allied beneficiary...
...Some Italian Socialists have expressed hope that the current negotiations between Nenni and Saragat will lead to a reunited Socialist party, a possibility Mr...
...On seizing power, Mussolini inherited a foreign policy of expansionist ambitions in the Balkans and Africa, motivated by a search for security and for a surplus population outlet...
...These are the basics of the Italian problem—the glaring clues to the rise of Fascism and the postwar emergence of the largest Communist party in the free world...
...With the emergence of Christian Democratic supremacy...
...Kogan's study is skillfully executed...
...in 1949, the Council of Europe and NATO...
...The Fascists added their myth of glory...
...Italy lacks raw materials and industrial capacity and, for a country a fourth of whose national income derives from agriculture, has remarkably unfertile land...
...Kogan's narrative weakens...
...Norman Kogan partly accepts the premise that Italy's foreign relations must be considered in the context of its domestic situation...
...Much of Mr...
...That American and British relief was immediately promised and that Marshall Plan aid materialized to replace UNRRA assistance is largely responsible for Italy's adherence to the Western bloc...
...Italy's permanent status within the free-world alliance crystallized...
...It must be remembered that the Communist threat in 1946 was greater than it has been since...
...But unless such a rapprochement takes place, Italy will continue along an uncertain road to revision of oppressive social and economic institutions...
...Kogan makes clear, the driving force of Italian foreign policy after Mussolini's fall was a search for status...
...He vividly describes the diplomatic confusion which accompanied Italy's change of sides during the war, and effectively portrays the aims and activities of the Allies (particularly of the British) in regard to Italy...
...Kogan doesn't consider...
...Kogan describes as a mere "testing of the organization" rather than an indication that the Communists were playing for keeps...
...His defeat, however, ended Italian aspirations beyond her borders...
...At this same time, the Italian Communists, seeking a weak government, were willing to do business with the monarchy while the Socialists and other republicans insisted on abdication...
...It was believed that Saragat's Social Democrats would gain stature and strength on the basis of their program (not incompatible with that of the Christian Democratic left wing and less susceptible to internal party sabotage...
...The crystallization of certain political movements and the failure of others, the tenacity of Italy's social institutions, and its foreign policy must all be considered within this framework...
...But they have been plagued by splintering and indecision...
...When ultimate frustration of Communist hopes appeared imminent in 1948, a wave of violence and unrest erupted, which Mr...
...The party frequently succumbs to pressure from its influential right wing...
...At this point, however, Mr...
...One of the penetrating points in Mr...
...They repeatedly promulgate comprehensive social and economic programs, but are too often slow in putting these into effect...
...It should also be recalled that the Soviet Union was the first of the Allies to offer Italy (while still governed by the King and Marshal Badoglio) full diplomatic recognition, making quite clear Soviet interest in the country...
...in 1951, the Coal and Steel Authority...
...To the extent that he does, his book is a concise study of Italy in transition from a bombastic, futile fascist state to a nation struggling to overcome its poverty and helplessness...
...Unable to satisfy imperial ambitions, neither victor nor vanquished in the war...
...Where his analysis of diplomatic developments continues to be skillful, his attempts to relate them to the Italian domestic scene are spotty...
...To the extent that he doesn't, substance as well as context is missing...
Vol. 40 • March 1957 • No. 10
