I enjoyed reading Benito Musoliini's speech "Man of War". Speeches by
any bloodthirsty, maniacal despot worth his boots are almost always
entertaining, and Musollini, master of bombast, was by no means an
exception to this rule. In this speech, given to his loyal blackshirts
on February 23, 1941, he extolls the greatness of Italy; it's military
prowess, it's leisurely vanquishing of it's enemies, it's general
superiority above all other nations, and of course, of it's inevitable
victory over the allies. The type of rhetoric here is loud, bombastic,
and angry. One can only imagine what it must have been like to be
there listening, among the fanatical blackshirts, to this silver
tounged mass murderer. And, if you imagine hard enough, you might even
to able to gain some small sense of understanding as to why so many
were swayed into such terrible action by such a maniac.
A few things I found interesting/amusing about this speech, were, to
start with, the aformentiond fiery rhetoric. You can positively feel
the burning hatred expressed here -- "we will continue the struggle
until the last drop of blood!" Yikes. One gets the impression of
absolute unshakability; of "we will not back down" , and "we will not
retreat." "It's us against the world, and the world is weak. Victory
is absolutely inevitable." This heated rhetoric of unshakability is
expressed through his bombastic language, something else that I found
quite amusing/interesting. Language that speaks of history "taking one
by the throat and forcing a decision". Or of the " the great italian
people", who "fight with the courage of lions." And of course, of all
those Masonic lodges, who "will be crushed how and when we(the regime)
want." Such language is a trademark of crackpot and murderous regimes
everywhere even in this day and age.
It's obvious in what manner this speech was given, and how the
audience must have reacted. We can be darn sure our friend the Deuce
wasn't siting in a folding chair, quietly and calmly reciting his
tirade. You can imagine him up on a wooden platform with all his
blackshirts at his feet, and you can imagine him shrieking and waving
and saluting madly, his voice getting louder and louder. And we can
also be darn sure his audience wasn't the quiet, reserved type,
either. It must have been an undeniably shaking experience, shoulder
to shoulder with your like-minded brothers, at the feet of a man you
consider to be above god. Massed together, cheering and saluting
as a single unit, united in mind and soul. The obnoxiously democratic
freedom of individual thought and choice given up...
I think this speech demonstrates the enormous power of writing and
language, how it can propagate an ideology, however crazy, powerful
enough to sway millions of perfectly reasonable people into drafting
into power a madman, and following him to destruction. It's scary when
you think about it, just how destructive the words and rhetoric cooked
up in Mussolini's craw turned out to be. Regardless of this, I can
still find his rhetoric and language to be fun to read. It's silly,
scary, and fascinating stuff.
