Description:

Mussolini Benito

Benito Mussolini Letter Signed to Finance Minister Giuseppe Volpi Regarding northwestern Italian Industry

 

1p TLS signed by Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) as "Mussolini" at bottom right.  Written in Rome, Italy on November 29, 1927, Year VI, in Italian on "The Head of Government" letterhead. Bearing miscellaneous clerical notations in pen and blue crayon, and hole punched in the upper left corner. In near fine condition, with expected paper folds. Measures 8.125" x 10.75". A full translation is provided.

 

Mussolini dictated this letter marked "Personal" to his Finance Minister, Giuseppe Volpi (1877-1947).

 

"To His Excellency Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, Minister of Finance

 

Rome

 

An official who works under me and of whom I think highly, Dr. Letta, has visited -- on my orders -- the provinces of Lombardy, Piedmont, and Liguria with the assignment of studying up close the conditions of industry in relation to production and unemployment.

 

The aforesaid official's interesting observations are summarized in a report that I have read with appreciation.

 

I am now sending Your Excellency a copy of the report itself with a request to look over the part that concerns you.

 

Mussolini."

 

Benito Mussolini, a former war veteran and right-wing journalist, had become leader of Italy's National Fascist Party after World War I. He was appointed Prime Minister in 1922, a title that he would hold until his dismissal in 1943, but in reality, he served as a de facto dictator after 1925. Under Mussolini, Italy and its one-party political system devoted itself to recapturing the lost glories of the Roman Empire. Secret police, propaganda, and strict state regulation of all aspects of life ensured almost universal compliance.

 

After World War I, Italy suffered from crushing debts, price inflation, shortages, and unemployment. Mussolini spearheaded an ambitious multi-prong economic program in Fascist Italy. His "Battle for Land" initiative reclaimed lands for agricultural use, while his "Battle for Wheat" initiative promoted agricultural self-sufficiency. Mussolini regulated the currency, reduced waste, cut spending, and eventually controlled national banks, tariffs, and foreign-issued stocks and bonds. The State controlled or funded many private businesses in its quest to stabilize and modernize the Italian economy. This letter shows Mussolini's continued interest in decreasing unemployment in Italy.

 

Piedmont, Lombardy, and Liguria are located in the northwestern corner of Italy adjacent to France and Switzerland. These provinces had been industrial centers in Italy since the nineteenth century, specializing in shipbuilding, manufacturing, refineries, and railroads. As Dylan Riley explains in his monograph The Civic Foundations of Fascism in Italy, Spain, and Romania, 1870-1945 (Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, MD, 2010), these same provinces were also heavily pro-Fascist. More concerned with economic concerns like low tariffs, the preservation of property, and access to markets, these provinces boasted millions of Fascist Party members. In fact, the number of Fascist Party cells in the northwestern provinces was among the highest found in Italy prior to the 1922 coup.

 

Giuseppe Volpi served as Mussolini's Finance Minister between 1925-1928; he was replaced by Antonio Moscini seven months after this letter. While finance minister, Volpi had linked the Italian lira to the gold standard and negotiated Italian debt repayment to its former military allies the United States and Great Britain.

 

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