ITALY'S BETRAYER

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 15, 18 January 1941, Page 8

ITALY'S BETRAYER

j When Mr. Churchill, in his Christmas broadcast to the Italian people, laid the blame for Italy's tragic plight on "one man and one man only," he was absolutely right in his reading of the character of Mussolini and the record of his career. Mussolini differs from his partner in crime, Hitler, in that the Duce does not represent, much less incarnate, the spirit of Itafy and the Italians, as the Fuhrer does of Germany and the Germans. British people, even after all that has happened in the last five or six years, prefer to think of Mussolini as a gangster of the Al Capone type who has imposed his will on the Italian people, weary after the last war, by a series of lucky coups which inspired hopes that the real position under the surface never justified. Thus, in his critical analysis of Mussolini's policy, conveyed in a broadcast this week, Mr. Ronald Cross, British Minister of Shipping, emphasised the element of gamble in Italy's entry into the war. "Italy's preparations during non-bel-ligerency," he said, "were not for war, but for a share in the victory to be achieved by Germany. Certain of an effortless victory, Mussolini neglected to equip either the army or air force, trusting to his ability to choose the right moment to jump in." Mussolini's record of betrayal was the subject of comment by "The Times" on November 27 last, before the*, failure of Italy had become the tragic spectacle it is today. This record, said "The Times," of Mussolini's words and deeds would serve as a reminder how long the stab in the back had been the Fascist dictator's favourite and characteristic method of gaining his ends. Mussolini is described as "the born opportunist" who "seeks power for its own sake and has never believed in anything but his own star." He has never even made a cult of the Italian people as Hitler has professed to make of the German people. He has required Italians to be not Italian patriots, but, in the famous phrase of the Emperor Francis Joseph, "patriots for me." What has been the result? Mussolini wantonly broke the ties of friendship and co-operation between Italy and Britain which had lasted over a century and conferred benefits on both countries. Where has the Duce, the Leader, led the Italian people? In the words of "The Times": Italy has little reason to feel gratitude to one who has led her into her present plight, where military defeat is the only alternative to the profounder humiliation and ruin in a Nazi-run and Nazi-ridden Empire. There is a little time left, and the friends of Italy, in Sir Archibald Sinclair's words in a speech at Glasgow, must hope that strong Italian forces will break the grip of the Fascist regime before they are dragged down into German slavery I and ruin.