Arditi (irregulars)
Arditi (from Italian ardito , dt. "Bold", "courageous") was, among other things, the name of Italian militants who supported the nationalist , war veteran and writer Gabriele D'Annunzio in 1919 and 1920 in the occupation of the city of Fiume. The city is now part of Croatia and is called Rijeka .
Together with many irregulars, D'Annunzio also supported other groups with the name Arditi Benito Mussolini when he came to power. They contributed to the creation of the fascist black shirts .
history
Fiume
After the First World War , Italy was granted considerable territorial gains at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 . Various nationalist circles were not satisfied with these gains. In particular, the new northeast border in Venezia Giulia met with resistance. The additional claims were justified with the history of the Republic of Venice , which had ruled large parts of Dalmatia for centuries. At the beginning and middle of the 20th century there was still a large Italian ethnic group living on the Dalmatian Adriatic coast , which was concentrated in the cities in particular and shaped economic and cultural life. In the rural areas, however, the Croatian population predominated. For this reason, a clear national demarcation between Istria and Dalmatia was not possible.
Although the city of Fiume had only been Venetian for a relatively short time, the majority of Italian-speaking citizens also lived there. Because of this population structure (and also because of the economic importance of the port) Italian irredentism demanded that Fiume join Italy. Gabriele D'Annunzio began a campaign in Rome for the Anschluss of Fiume and met with great approval from many war veterans, especially from the former members of the Arditi , an Italian storm troop formed in 1917 .
In Fiume, demonstrations for Italy soared that troops from Italy, France , the United Kingdom and the United States were forced to take control of the city. Italian grenadiers , who had particularly sympathized with the Italian-speaking population, had to leave the city again on August 25, 1919 on orders from Paris. Seven grenadier officers then asked D'Annunzio to put himself at the head of the Fiume movement. D'Annunzio arrived on September 11, 1919 in Ronchi dei Legionari near Trieste , where there were already numerous volunteers, including grenadiers and other soldiers from the regular army. On the same day, he marched from Ronchi to Fiume with these 2500 irregulars, called Legionnaires and Arditi , which he occupied the next day with the local Legione Fiumana . He "proclaimed" the annexation of the city. Under the impression of the celebrations, the Allied occupation troops withdrew without doing anything.
D'Annunzio's arbitrary action created a difficult international problem that was exacerbated by the proclamation of proto-fascist Italian rule on the Quarnero . The Italian government imposed a blockade on the city and asked the irregulars to give up. D'Annunzio ignored the Rapallo border treaty signed by Italy and Yugoslavia on November 12, 1920 . Thereupon General Enrico Caviglia , who had been charged with solving the Fiume problem, issued an ultimatum , which was also rejected. After the shelling of the city by the Italian warship Andrea Doria and the battles of the "Bloody Christmas" from December 24th to 29th, 1920, the irregulars finally surrendered the city. Fiume became a Free State until 1924 and then came to Italy until 1945.
From September 1919 to December 1920, numerous soldiers of the regular Italian armed forces joined the Freischar D'Annunzios. Their persecution as deserters was opposed to angry public opinion, which put the military leadership and the democratic government in distress. From 1926 these soldiers were allowed to wear their “medals in memory of the March on Fiume” on their uniforms. The award donated by D'Annunzio was thus taken over by Italy. On the Order are a Roman ensigns , the Latin saying hic manebimus optime (dt. "Here it is very good fare") and for the Arditi typical of World War daggers to see. The colors of the ribbon correspond to those of the city of Fiume at the time of Italian rule.
fascism
Under the name Arditi other formed alongside the guerrillas D'Annunzio paramilitary groups, under the umbrella of the Associazione Nazionale Arditi d'Italia to fascism supported at the seizure of power. They adopted the black weapon color and many unemployed war veterans from the stormtroopers of the same name during World War I. They contributed to the formation of the Black Shirts , which, as fascist combat alliances, initially terrorized the population and then from 1923 as a so-called "security militia" were supposed to ensure order. In fact, it was a party army, the establishment of which was followed with great suspicion by the regular army. The only thing the black shirts, which were finally integrated into the armed forces, had in common with the Arditi of World War I was the color of their weapons; the differences in military performance could hardly be greater.
Left-wing war veterans of the Arditi founded the anti-fascist organization Arditi del Popolo in 1921 .
literature
- Ferdinando Cordova: Arditi e legionari dannunziani. Manifestolibri, Rome 2007.
- Giacomo Properzj: Natale di sangue, D'Annunzio a Fiume. Mursia Editore, Milan 2010.
- Indro Montanelli : L'Italia in camicia nera. Rizzoli, Milan 1976.