POLITICS IN NAPLES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 121, 18 November 1943, Page 5

POLITICS IN NAPLES

THE NEW ORGANISATION

LONDON, November 17.

In Naples, the first great European city freed by the Allies, the men who carried on the underground fight against Fascism for 20 years can now speak in the open.

A correspondent with the Fifth Army has described the political situation in Naples, a situation which he suggests might give a preview of events elsewhere in Europe as Hitler's new order breaks up. Naples is very much dominated by the leaders of the National Front of Liberation, who have their headquarters there. This National Front is the orily organised political movement in Italy. It gets spiritual guidance from the great liberal philosopher and historian, Dr. Croce, and practical leadership from the exForeign Minister, Count Sforza, who is at the head of a/strong party of returned exiles. There is a sort of shacrt-w central Cabinet to the National Front, and there are also regional commillees which seem to exist in every province in Italy, whether occupied by the Allies or the Germans. The Naples provincial committee is made up of Liberals, members of the Party of Action, Christian Democrats, Socialists, and Communists. The correspondent describes them as all "antiking" in varying degrees, though not necessarily anti-monarchists. The Allies back the Liberals. In contrast to the organisation of the National Front, the Badoglio Government has no organised support outside the army, but the correspondent says that in the Naples area Italian soldiers still undoubtedly respect their oath of allegiance to the King. When the National Front recently tried to raise a private army the experiment failed.