Italian Studies

ISSN: 0075-1634 (Print) 1748-6181 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/yits20

FUTURISM AND FASCISM

Julie R. Dashwood

To cite this article: Julie R. Dashwood (1972) FUTURISM AND FASCISM, Italian Studies, 27:1,
91-103, DOI: 10.1179/its.1972.27.1.91

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/its.1972.27.1.91

Published online: 18 Jul 2013.

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 FUTURISM AND FAS'CISM

An examination of the links between Futurism and Fascism can be only a

small contribution towards clarifying the confusion of artistic and political
ideas which existed in Italy during the first two decades of this century~
It is not arbitrary to consider a primarily literary and artistic movement
together with one which we know above all in its political context. There
was some direct contact between the two movements, although this was
very short-lived, and lasted only throughout 1919 up to the Spring of 1920.
Furthermore, the Futurists made it clear that they wanted a form of what
they called 'arte-azione' or 'arte-vita'. By this they meant an artistic
movement which brought its concepts to bear on social and political con-
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ditions. Francesco Flora wrote in 1921: 'II Futurismo non e ne un capriccio

ne una formula: e un' atmosfera spirituale.'l To put it the other way round,
it could be said that Fascism, long before it became a political order, had
been a literary mood.2 It seems valuable, then, to give some consideration
to this 'literary mood', as well as to the direct links between Futurism and
Fascism, in the course of this article.
A brief glance at Italy at the time when Futurism was founded will show
that innovations in the arts were frequently accompanied by a desire for
social renewal. Violence, irrationalism and mysticism were the elements
of an intellectual anarchism which was European in scale. Especially in
Italy, intellectual fervour of this kind was brought to bear on social and
political conditions. The avant-garde, composed of men such as Enrico
Corradini, Giovanni Papini and Giuseppe Prezzolini, began to demand the
use of force at home and abroad, and reacted strongly against the passivity
of Italy in North Africa and the Balkans. Other nations, they felt, were
advancing, while Italy stood still. This was the climate in which Marinetti,
in 1909, launched the manifesto with which he founded Futurism.
This foundation manifesto appeared on the front page of 'Le Figaro' on
20 February, 1909. The ideas contained in it are those which Marinetti
considered to be the desires of the contemporary youth. He wrote in 1909:
Nelle colonne del 'Figaro' io riassunsi, con laconiche e violente affermazioni
tutto quello che il Futurismo significa, tutte Ie aspirazioni demolitrici della
parte pili giovane e migliore della nostra generazione, stanca di adorare il
passato, nauseata dal pedantismo accademico, avid a di originalita temeraria
e anelante verso una vita avventurosa, energica e quotidianamente eroica.3
1 F. Flora, Dal Romanticismo al Futurismo, Piacenza, Porta, 1921, p. 54.
2 V. S. Hughes, The Fall and Rise of Modern Italy, London, Macmillan, 1967, p. 160.
3 In G. P. Lucini, Revolverate, con una Prefazione futurista di F. T. Marinetti, Milano,
Edizioni di 'Poesia', 1909, p. 7.
91
 JULIE R. DASHWOOD

The antithesis of Futurismo was Passatismo, defined by Marlnetti as a

'stato d'animo statico, tradizionale, professorale, pessimistico, pacifista,
nostalgico, decorativo ed esteta'. 4 Part of the foundation manifesto is a
diatribe against the past, and especially against museums, libraries and
academies, which are the cemeteries of the art of the past.
The Futurists were initially concerned with literature. The foundation
manifesto was above all a manifesto for poets, and was approved of by a
group of poets in Milan who had already gathered around Marinetti.5 Their
primary aim was to react against the established canons of poetry, and to
demand greater freedom of expression for the poet. It was most probably
written mainly by Marinetti himself. 6 He said that the new literature was
to be aggressive, audacious and rebellious, and was to reject the static,
contemplative qualities which he found in the old. Marinetti declared that
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the new beauty of speed had come into the world, and that this beauty was
only present in change and conflict. The new reality of the artist was to
be found in the ever-changing manifestations of the modern world which
surrounded him. This concept of Dynamism was opposed to one of a reality
which was static and unchanging.
Implicit, also, in the manifesto was the destruction of the society which
had allowed art to stagnate. Two points of the programme referred speci-
fically to the glorification of war, described as the 'sola igiene del mondo'.,
and of 'il militarismo, il patriottismo, il gesto distruttore dei libertan, Ie
belle idee per cui si muore e il disprezzo della donna'.7 One of the reasons.for
publishing the manifesto in Paris was undoubtedly to gain an international
hearing for it. However, it was also aimed at a specifically national, that
i's Italian, audience, since Italy above all was regarded as the province
'di professori, d'archeologhi, di ciceroni e d'antiquarii'.
After the publication of the foundation manifesto, the Futurists turned
their attention to a wide range of concerns, and again made use of manifestos
to express their views. All of these manifestos have in common an insistence
on the ethos of Dynamism, with violence as one of its basic elements.8

4 F. T. Marinetti, Guerra sola igiene del mondo, Milano, Edizioni futuriste di 'Poesia',
1915. Reprinted in F. T. Marinetti, Teoria e invenzione futurista, introduzione, testo
e note a cura di L. de Maria, Milano, Mondadori, 1968, p. 201.
5 V. also P. Bergman, 'M odernolatria' et 'Simultaneita'. Recherches sur deux ten dances
dans l'avant-garde litteraire en Italie et· en Francea la veille de la premiere guerre
mondiale,. Studia Litterarum Upsaliensa, 2, Uppsala, Scandinavian University Books,
1962, p. 50.
G Bergman, cit., p. 50.
7 For the Italian text of the manifesto I have used the critical edition in F. T. Marinetti,
Teoria e invenzione futurista, cit., Fondazione e Manifesto del Futurismo, pp. 7-13.
8 A selection of these manifestos can be found in M. Drudi Gambillo, T. Fiori,
Archivi del Futurismo, Roma, De Luca, 1958-62, vol. I, and in Raccolta di breviari
inteUettuali, Milano, Istituto Editoriale Italiano, 1920.
 FUTURISM AND FASCISM 93

The desire for ceaseless activity, the advocacy of courage and heroism
and the insistence on aggression all have a··direct bearing on the social· and
political concerns of the Futurists as \vell as on their artistic aims. War, for
them, embodied all these driving forces, and· so was glorified both as a
social necessity and as an artistic masterpiece. 'Oggi, pill che mai, non fa
dell'arte se non chi fa della guerra,' wrote Marinetti as early as 1909.9 The
Futurists besides mere theorizing also involved themselves in a great deal of
direct action. This action included their serate, or evening meetings, which
usually consisted of readings from Futurist works of literature, and which
often ended in a brawl. Art exhibitions were held, and there were public
readings of the manifestos. They also made use of everything which could·
be provided by the developing network of communications. These activities
were largely financed by Marinetti himself, who had been left a comparatively
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rich man by his father's death. Letters were written to the eminent, sub-
.scriptions to Futurist literature were encouraged, the manifestos, printed as
broadsheets, were distributed, posters appeared, and every possible means of
publicity was used. Much of the momentum forthis publicity drive emanated
from Marinetti himself. A testimony, typical of many, of his vitality and
energy was given by Giovanni Papini after their first meeting in 1913.
Papini wrote:
I suoi arrivi, nella pacifica Firenze di quel tempo, parevano la caduta
d'un meteorite acceso in un vecchio giardino ducale. Telegrammi, telefonate,
corse in automobile, appuntamenti fissati e rimandati, cene tumtiltuose,
invasioni in banda nei caffeborghesi, serate di tafferugli e di riotte, con uragani
d'improperi e di proiettili d'ogni specie.10

These techniques and this energy were applied to all the spheres of activity
in which the Futurists interested themselves.
In the field of politics, the emphasis on modern life and the Futurist
concept of modern man are necessary preliminaries to statements on political
issues and to the elaboration of political theories: 'Noi affermiamo ... come
principio assoluto del Futurismo il divenire continuo e l'indefinito progredire,
fisiologico ed intellettuale, dell'uomo,' wrote Marinetti.ll This principle
was developed into declarations of patriotism and the necessity of war, and
an anti-parliamentarian and anti-democratic outlook. It is necessary to
examine the development of Futurist political theory in order to gain a
perspective in which to view both Futurism and Fascism.
Almost from the beginning, Marinetti was interested in the political side

9 Prefazione a Revolverate, cit., p. 9.

10 G. Papini, Passato Remota, in Opere, vol. IX, A utoritratti e Ritratti, Milano, Monda-
dori, 1962, pp. 965-66.
11 Guerra sola igiene del mondo, cit., p. 249.
 94 JULIE R. DASHWOOD

of the movement. Trieste was one of the first focal points for this interest.
The attitude of the Futurists to Trieste is typical of their early political
views, and of the methods they employed to propagate them.
In March, 1909, a manifesto appeared in which Trieste was described as
(la nostra bella polveriera' .12 There, in the irredentist movement, Marinetti
saw signs of patriotism and love of war which were opposed to the despised
pacifist and internationalist theories. More than this, the Futurists threw
in their lot with those who opposed the alliance with Austria. Nor did a
manifesto suffice to express these views. Chafing at the slowness of the train,
the Futurists set out for Trieste in January, 1910, when the (Battaglie di
Trieste' took place during and after the serata held at the Politeama Rossetti
of that town.13 In a speech made to the inhabitants of Trieste, Marinetti
specifically declared that the Futurists were opposed to international and
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anti-patriotic socialism, that they were anti-clerical, and that they exalted
patriotism, militarism and war. He also said that they opposed the tyranny
of love, as this dissipated the energies of men of action. According to Marinetti,
the population of Trieste was partly fired with enthusiasm and partly
scandalized by the Futurist declarations.14 The pattern was set for the
serate to come.
Three specifically political manifestos were published before the First
World War, in 1909, 1911 and 1913.15 The second of these was published
on the occasion of the outbreak of war in Libya, and here the Futurists
launched their· famous slogan (la parola ITALIA deve dominare sulla parol a
LIBERTA'. The Nationalists were later to state their own contempt for
liberty, and desire to forgo the Rights of Man in favour of a strengthened
national state. In 1913, a political programme was drawn up for the elections
of that year. All three of these early manifestos were nationalist, bellicose
and anti-clerical in tone. Of them, the programme of 1913 was most specific
in its 'demands. These included the expansion of the Italian armed forces,
patriotic education and economic security for the proletariat, and colonial
expansion, as well as a reaffirmation of the rejection of the domination of
the past. It is interesting to note that Marinetti spoke here in the same
manifesto of educating and protecting the proletariat and of anti-socialism.
He explicitly denied the existence of the class war. (Educazione patriottica'
of the proletariat would lead to the perpetuation of the elite. This elite,
he was later to say, should be made up of the (cittadini eroici', the Futurists

Trieste, la nostra bella polveriera, in Teoria e invenzione juturista, cit., pp. 247-48.
12
Battaglie di Trieste, in Teoria e invenzione juturista, cit., pp. 210-11.
13

14Discorso ai Triestini, in Teoria e invenzione juturista, cit., pp. 211-16.

15 For the manifestos of 19°9, 1911 and 1913, v. Movimento politico juturista in Teoria
e invenzione juturista, cit., pp. 289-93.
 FUTURISM AND FASCISM 95

of the spirit.16 They alone had the right and the duty to lead others. Perhaps
claims that this approach is quasi-mystical are justified when one considers
that Marinetti frequently quoted the definition of the Futurists given by the
Theosophists: 'I futuristi sono i mistici dell' azione.' This theory was crystal-
lized in Al di la del Comunismo, which Marinetti wrote in I920. Here he
says: 'Non si tratta diuna lotta tra borghesia e proletariato, bensidi una
lotta tra coloro che hanno come noi diritto difare la rivoluzione italiana e
coloro che devono subirne la concezione e la realizzazione. '17 Marinetti
wanted, in fact, what he called til proletariato dei geniali' .18 Profoundly
anti-democratic, he wanted an elite which would rule Italy.
The Futurists were the first to organize open demonstrations against
Austria and for intervention on the side of the Triple Entente at the outbreak
of the First World War. In the September of I9I4, while Italy was still
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neutral, they burned eleven19 Austrian flags in public. During a performance

of a Puccini opera at the teatro Dal Verme they began to shout 'Abbasso
l' Austria', and the following evening, after a brawl in the centre of Milan,
Marinetti and ten others, or so he said, were imprisoned in the Milanese
prison of San Vittore. During this imprisonment they prepared the 'Sintesi
futurist a della guerra', which was a manifesto in the form of Paroleinliberta.20
It was almost to be expected that the Futurists would call the war til pili
pel poema futurist a apparso finora'. 21 It seemed to them to realize the
fundamental Futurist theories on both culture and politics.
In I9I5, a futurist declaration was made to Italian students.22 It is
interesting above all because it attempts to' define the anarchical tendencies
of the movement. In providing a remedy for Passatismo, the Futurists
claimed to have filled a spiritual vacuum in Italy, and also claimed that
their remedy was valid for all countries. However, their apparent anarchism,
they said, was not to be confused with that of revolutionary dilettantes,
who might be pessimists, intellectual anarchists or individualists. Futurism
was a movement of innovators-it was not enough to rebel. If they demol-
ished, it was in order to reconstruct, and to create an atmosphere favourable
to innovation and progress. Heroic disinterestedness was needed in order
to give Italy and the world greater strength, courage, light, freedom and
flexibility. Their demand that the glory of Rome should give way to a greater

16 v. Al di la del Comunismo, 1920, in Teoria e invenzione juturista, cit., pp. 411-24.

17 Al di la del Comunismo, cit., p. 417.
18 Democrazia juturista, in Teoria e invenzione juturista, cit., pp. 350-54.
19 Marinetti regarded the number eleven as a lucky number. It recurs so frequently in
his writings that it is not possible to accept it as precise; v. W.Vaccari, Vita e tumulti
di F. T. M arinetti, Milano, Omnia, 1959.
20 V. Teoria e invenzione juturista, cit., pp. 280-81.
21 V.I9I5. In quest'a,nno juturista, in Teoria e invenzione juturista, cit., p. 286.
22 I9I5. In quest'anno juturista, cit., pp. 282-89.
 96 JULIE R. DASHWOOD

Italian glory was later to prove a source of contention between Futurists

and Fascists. Their immediate object was to intervene in the war, which for
the present they considered to be the perfect and culminating symbol of
progress. War alone could kill Passatismo, and arouse courage and a spirit
of nationalism amongst the Italians. (Marciare non marcire' was their
motto, and their demand was for violent and spontaneous action.
After the war, the literary movement lost much of its momentum. How-
ever, the social and political climate of Italy was, in the immediate post-\var
period, favourable to the formulation of Futurist political theory.23 Marinetti
said that political and· artistic Futurism differed because the former was
concerned with immediate problems while the latter, the channel for new
ideas and therefore often misunderstood, was to provide the nucleus of
ideas for the morrow.24 This. did not prevent him from later announcing the
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viability of an artecrazia, that is of a spirit which would maintain inequality,

and therefore originality.25
Immediately after the war, the Futurists organized a specifically political
party. A political pr:ogramme was drawn up, and appeared in L'Italia
Futurista on II February, 1918.26 Renzo De Felice has summed up the main
points of this radical programme as:
il suffragio universale (esteso anche alle donne) e la proporzionale, un
parlamento e un senato tecnici, la socializzazione progressiva della terra
(incremento della cooperazione e assegnazioni ai reduci), l'espropriazione delle
terre incolte e mal coltivate, la nazionalizzazione delle acque e delle miniere,
l'industrializzazione e la modemizzazione urbanistica, un'energica tassazione
progressiva, la progressiva abolizione dell'esercito (sino a ridurlo a un piccolo
esercito di professione), la giustizia gratuita e giudici elettivi, la liberta di
sciopero, di riunione, di organizzazione, di stampa, 10 sviluppo economico,
civile e dell'istruzione, Ie otto ore lavorative, la parificazione dellavoro femmi-
nile a quello maschile, i contratti di lavoro collettivi, l'assistenza, previdenza e
pensioni sociali, il sequestro dei due terzi dei sopraprofitti di guerra, provve-
dimenti per i combattenti, un anticlericalismo "intransigentissimo" e l'intro-
duzione del divorzio.27 •

The political party did not initially attract many supporters.28 Possibly the
early violence and intransigence of the Futurists had to some extent defeated
their own ends, and now prevented the party from' being accepted as a
viable political force. Certainly Marinetti feared this, and was led to distin-

23 For a useful account of the state of post-war Italy, v. C. Seton-Watson, Italy from

Liberalism to Fascism, 1870-1925, ch. 12, The Democratic Failure, 1918-20, pp. 505-60.
24 V. Democrazia futurista, cit., p. 301.
25 v. Futurismo e Fascimo, 1924, in Teoria e invenzione futurista, cit., pp. 478-82.
26 According to L. de Maria, cit., nota ai testi, xcv.
27 R. De Felice, Mussolini il rivoluzionario I883-I920, Torino, Einaudi, 1965, p. 476.
28 V. De Felice, cit., for a detailed account of Futurists, Fascists and Arditi during
the immediate post-war period.
 FUTURISM AND FASCISM 97

guish between the earlier and later phases of the movement. The first
political 'fasci' were formed in December, 1918, and by 1919 we find the
Futurists saying that there were twenty of them in different Italian cities.
Their strongest support came from the Arditi, who were storm-troops during
the war, and whose major contribution to the fighting was made during the
battles of Piave and Vittorio Veneto. Some of them-including Mario
Carli, the leader of the Roman Arditi, and Ferruccio Vecchi, the Milanese
leader-had already been Futurists before the war. Through the influence
of both of them, the Arditi came to support political Futurism. About 10,000
Arditi, we are told, joined a post-war association founded by Carli which
was closely linked to the Futurist party. It is interesting to keep in mind
that Mussolini, on entering Milan in November, 1918, to join a victory parade,
rode on a lorry manned by Arditi.
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At this point, it is necessary to look at the situation in post-war Italy, and

also at the position of Benito lVlussolini. The mood of the country at this
time has been called one of diciannovismo.29 In this state of post-war euphoria
the theorists of every shade of political opinion offered programmes for
what was to be achieved. The so-called Italian 'vittoria mutilata' had to be
compensated for. Lenin, President Wilson and the League of Nations, and
the Third Rome were offered in tum by Socialists, Democrats and Nation-
alists as models for the future shaping of Italy. Each faction spoke of social
reform to follow in the wake of reform of the Constitution. However, neither
the revolutionary Socialists nor the Popular party succeeded in attracting
the greater part of the large body of ex-servicemen, in spite of advancing
programmes of social reform. They failed to appeal to the feeling of patrio-
tism, which was very much alive in this group, and this, as well as the internal
lack of coherency in these parties, helps to explain how nationalism came
to prevail. Many of the ex-servicemen had no love for war, but were resentful
of the idea that they had fought for seemingly little gain. Like most
Italians of the time, they ignored Italy's obvious gain-the fact that the
Austrian threat had been removed from her frontier-and were ready to
follow those who gave expression to their aspirations. The 'men of the
moment' were Gabriele D' Annunzio and Benito Mussolini.
At the end of the war, Mussolini had at one point seemed in danger of
being isolated from popular support. He had already antagonized the
Socialists, in 1914, by his volte-face on the question of intervention in the
war, and later lost the support on the interventionist left by insisting on a
national rather than a revolutionary war after Caporetto in 1917. He
therefore turned to the ex-servicemen as one possible means of support,
and began to demand rights for those who had taken part in the fighting.

29 V. Seton-Watson, cit., p. 511.

 98 JULIE R. DASHWOOD

Also, he certainly knew some of the Futurists before the war. Paolo Buzzi
must have written encouragingly to him when he became the editor of
II Popolo d'Italia, as amongst Buzzi's correspondence there is a letter of
thanks from Mussolini.30 He may also have frequented Marinetti's flat in
Milan at that time. Buzzi certainly says that he did in his autobiography. 31
After the war, Marinetti's flat became the headquarters for the Milanese
Arditi, and Mussolini was able to contact both groups during this
period. Futurists and Arditi became, in fact, the instruments which
Mussolini used to gain support amongst the ex-servicemen. However,
Futurism and Fascism should not be equated completely. The Futurists, in
retrospect, considered themselves the precursors of Fascism. But Giuseppe
Prezzolini, as early as 1923, pointed to some striking differences between
them.32 He said that Fascism was based on ideas of hierarchy, tradition
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and reverence for authority, and indicated the Fascist invocation of Rome
and the classical world as natural Italian precedents for their ideas. He also
remarked that the Fascists were not openly anti-monarchical and anti-
Catholic, and that the Futurists, who were opposed to all this, were able
to impose their anti-monarchical and anti-Catholic views on Mussolini.
Prezzolini pointed also to common tendencies in both, such as the cults of
speed and violence, scorn for the masses and yet a hypnotic influence over
them, and extreme nationalism. However, common tendencies are not
sufficient to establish precise links between the two movements. Many of
these tendencies were not exclusive to Futurists or Fascists. More convincing
evidence can be gained from a study of the brief period after the first World
War during which the two movements worked for what seemed to be common
~~. .

As is well known, Mussolini founded his own national organization, the

Fasci italiani di Combattimento, in a hall in Piazza San Sepolcro, Milan, on
23 March, 1919. The 119 founder-members, who included Marinetti, quickly
became known as jascisi.
It is possible that De Ambris contributed more to the Fascist programme
than Mussolini himself, and also that some of the Milanese Futurists, notably
Marinetti, contributed directly to its elaboration. 33 Certainly the Futurist
programme, amongst others, had raised problems and solutions which the
Fascists could not afford to ignore. The Fascist programme was drawn up
between March and June, 1919, and was published in Mussolini's newspaper
II Popolo d'Italia on 6 June, 1919. Grasping from the Futurists and others
'Prima della guerra' is the only indication of the date. V. P. Buzzi MSS 46/415.
30

P. Buzzi, Pane e Poesia (unpublished autobiography), MSS 20, vol. II, Parte
31
3a, p. 195·
32 G. Prezzolini, Fascismo e Futurismo, in Il Secolo, 3 luglio 1923, quoted in L. de
Maria, Introduzione a Teoria e invenzione juturista, cit., xxxv.
33 V. De Felice, cit., p. 481.
 FUTURISM AND FASCISM 99

what were the major concerns of the day, the programme demands universal
suffrage and proportional representation, a Constituent Assembly, abolition
of the Senate, land for the peasants, and social benefits and a share in factory
management for the workers, confiscation of ecclesiastical property and the
repeal of the Law of Guarantees.34 The programme also glorified war, and
demanded a fair share of war-spoils for Italy. Fascism, as has been noted,
came into being with a left-\ving programme, but with sufficient nationalist
appeal for it to attract the bulk of ex-servicemen. Its impact is rather
lessened when one considers that Mussolini was forming an 'anti-party',
in which nothing was fixed, and in which the programme itself was intended
to be flexible. Eager to attract the syndicalists and the ex-servicemen,
Mussolini adopted slogans and ideas from many sources in order to gain
popularity. Perhaps the desire for action expressed in the programme was
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even more of an attraction than the policies offered.

The Futurists, before the war, had more than anyone else put violence into
practice with their idea of direct action as a counterpart to theory. They
therefore brought their tactics to Fascism. Also, they gave to Fascism
a cultural gloss, an impressio~ of being an outward-looking nationalism,
and moral fervour, all of which were lacking in the later developments of
Fascism.
Marinetti and Mussolini both participated in the demonstration in Milan
at the Scala, on II January, 1919, against Bissolati.35 Bissolati had been in
turn Socialist, Interventionist and minister in the Orlando and Boselli
governments. He ,vanted to renounce Italian claims to Dalmatia, except for
Zara, and to renounce claims to the Brenner frontier and the Dodecanese.
He was, in this, following the Wilsonian principle of nationality, and claimed
Fiume for Italy under the same principle. He hoped that Italy might fulfil
Mazzini's dream of becoming the leader of a democratic Europe. Although
the supporters of Bissolati were in a majority at the Scala, a small group led
by Mussolini and Marinetti was able to disrupt the meeting completely.
l\1arinetti said of this meeting:
Con Settimelli e altri miei amici futuristi fischiai locomotivamente la buffa
apoteosi del rinunciatarismo al Teatro della Scala, e silurai personalmente,
quella sera, il discorso piagnucoloso di Bissolati, con un Aaaamen! ironico,
che tolsela parola all'oratore, rovesciando tutto in un caos di cazzotti italiani.36

By disrupting Bissolati's meeting, the Fascists were able to discredit the

solution offered by the Democrats to the problem of Italy's demands at the

34 The law of 13 May, 1871, which dealt with the status of the Pope and the relations

of the church with the Italian state. V. Seton-Watson, cit., pp. 55-59.
35 For an account of this, v. De Felice, cit., pp. 485-91.

36 FutUtYismo e Fascimo, cit., p. 431.

 IOO JULIE R. DASHWOOD

Paris Peace Conference. Already financially weak, the Democrats could not
survive this blow to their prestige. It has been said: 'It was the tragedy'
of post-war Italy that democracy found itself crushed between revolutionary
socialism on the left and revolutionary nationalism on the right.'37
On IS April, 1919, Futurists and Fascists took part in the so-called 'battle'
of Via Mercanti, during which the Socialists were routed and the offices of
their newspaper A vanti were burned down. Marinetti was present for the
first part of this, but later said that he had in no way contributed to the
burning of the offices.38 The 'battle' was the culmination of a series of
demonstrations, counter-demonstrations, a proposed strike, and promises
made and broken.39 The Prefect of Milan had obtained agreements from
all parties that none of the proposed meetings for IS April should be held.
In fact, not all of these agreements were kept, and at the conclusion of the
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Socialist meeting groups from Right and Left met in Via Mercanti. After
a police official had been killed, a riot broke out lasting half an hour, during
which the offices of A vanti were set on fire. In a manifesto which appeared
on I6 May, Marinetti said that he and Mussolini had promised not to organize
a meeting as 'abbiamo orrore di versare sangue italiano'. He claimed that
'La nostra controdimostrazione si forma spontanea per invincibile volonta
popolare' .40
In October, I9I9, Marinetti made a speech at a conference of the Florentine
Fasci and put forward the theory of eccitatorio, that is, of an elite of young
men which would govern Italy, and crystallized his anti-Vatican position
in his affirmation of svaticanamento.41 In November he was, after Mussolini,
second in the Fascist lists for the general elections. As is well known, the
Fascists did not win any seats at this election, and in fact polled only a
very small percentage of the votes. After a year of radical fervour and strikes,
the electorate had obviously begun to prefer reform to the war ethos. Fascism
began to take account of this change of climate, and to adapt its policies
accordingly.
This is the extent of Marinetti's direct participation in Fascism. He
supported the movement as long as it remained a movement rather than a
political entity. With the clarifying of the Fascist programme during the
second Fascist congress in Milan, held on 24-25 May, 1920, a swing to the
Right became apparent, and in particular overtures were made to the

37 Seton-Watson, cit., p. 516.

38 For Marinetti's account of this, v. La Battaglia di Via Mercanti il IS aprile I9I9
prima vittoria del Fascismo, in Futurismo e Fascismo, cit., pp. 448-52.
39 V. De Felice, cit., pp. 519-24.

40 La Battaglia di Via Mercanti, cit., pp. 450-51.

41 It discorso di Firenze improvvisato. al Congresso jascista di Firenze nei primi di

ottobre I9I9, in Futurismo e Fascimo, cit., pp. 462-71.
 FUTURISM AND FASCISM 101

.Catholics. Marinetti, Carli and other Futurists resigned from the party, and
commenting later on his resignation Marinetti said that he and the others
left Fascism because they were unable to impose on it their anti-monarchical
and anti-clerical tendencies. Fascism had, in fact, become passatista. From
this time onwards, the influence exercised by the Futurists, syndicalists and
ex-Socialists on Fascism declined, and the middle-class element in the
party grew. Mussolini continued to try to maintain that Fascism represented
the nation rather than anyone class, but gradually he began to lend more
and more support to capitalism as opposed to state control. Marinetti made
one last political statement before devoting himself almost exclusively to
artistic considerations. This was Al di la del Comunismo, of 1920, in ,vhich
Marinetti explained his attitude to both Communism and Fascism. Taking
up his earlier ideas, he wrote: tIl patriottismo futurist a e... una passione
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accanita, per il divenire-progresso-rivoluzione della razza. '42 He offered

strength and genius in place of bread. He denied any distinction betvveen
proletariat and bourgeoisie, and insisted on his idea of til proletariato dei
geniali'. If his vie,v of continual dynamism and change rejected \vhat
seemed to him a static, pacifist state in Russia, it also implicitly refused the
formalised Fascist party. Ultimately one realizes that the Futurist concept
of Dynamism could not be contained in any imaginable governmental
system. It was too irrational to allow for the creation of a formal political
apparatus.
However, Marinetti did not remain outside Fascism for long. He had
maintained that Fascism realized the minimum Futurist programme, and in
Futuris11~ and Fascism, of 1924, he stated clearly that Fascism was the
political counterpart to artistic Futurism. He accepted Fascist precepts
which were very different from those of early Fascism, although he was never
again to assume a specifically political role. He accepted membership of
the Accademia d'Italia in 1929, so confirming his approval of the regime.
One concludes also that Mussolini was prepared to give official recognition
to Marinetti and his movement. Marinetti may, however, have had private
doubts about some of the policies of the Fascists. Libero Altomare wrote:
Fu proprio una sera del febbraio 1929 subito dopo la firma dei Patti Late-
ranensi tra il Duce e il Cardinale Gasparri che Marinetti, parlando in sordina
tra un gruppo di amici, estemo in mia presenza il suo sdegno... contro quel
fatto politico che lui guidicava pericoloso per l'avvenire della nostra patria,
ed in contrasto assoluto con tutto il programma dell'ideale futuristico.43
His official attitude, hovvever, remained one of acceptance.

42 Al di la del Comunismo, cit., p. 412.

43 L. Altomare, Incontri con M arinetti e il Futurismo, Roma, Corso, 1954, p. 79.
 102 JULIE R. DASHWOOD

Several reasons for this acceptance have been put forward. It has been
suggested that Marinetti's later adherence to Fascism was a rationalization
of his early position. There is also the possibility that his basically anarchical
approach was tempered by considerations of almost fanatical patriotism.
Certainly he wanted his movement to continue to attract official recognition,
although it lost favour increasingly during the Fascist regime.44 This last
possibility seems illogical in the light of the previous attitude of the Futurists
to all officialdom. The move towards talleanze' was, however, noted by
Settimelli in 1919. Concerning the Fascist congress of October, 1919, he
wrote:
Fino ad oggi, il futurismo aveva avuto grandissime influenze rna era rimasto
isolato. A vevamo delle simpatie non delle alleanze.
Di queste alleanze ci compiacciamo specialmente per ragioni di praticita.45
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Almost as though he no longer had the resources to criticize a regime in

which he had placed great hopes, Marinetti turned again to the arts, and
remained loyal to Mussolini until his death in 1944.
The influence on Fascism of direct contact with a movement which
practised as well as preached violence is obvious. Both Futurists and Fascists
regarded war as a tnatural' phenomenon. However, there was no lasting
political contact between the two movements. The Futurist political
programme was lost, while Mussolini the demagogue made continuous and
lasting use of the methods employed by the Futurists. Rhetorical invective
and the exploitation of means of publicity remained part of Mussolini's
stock-in-trade, and helped his undoubted ability to sway the masses of
the populace. He also developed the ability to use catch-phrases, now devoid
of meaning, in order to give the impression of being a progressive. Marinetti,
obviously taking Mussolini's statements at their face value, gave examples
of the tFuturist' nature of some of Mussolini's remarks. He cited, for instance,
the following speech:
II Govemo ehe ho l'onore di presiedere e Govemo di velocita, nel senso ehe
noi abbreviamo tutto cib ehe signifiea ristagno nella vita nazionale ... Noi
siamo la generazione dei costruttori ehe col lavoro e con la disciplina del
braeeio e intellettuale vogliono raggiungere il punto estremo, la meta agognata
della grandezza della Nazione di domani, la quale sara la Nazione di tutti i
produttori e non dei parassiti.46
Perhaps less happily, Marinetti also quoted the following remarks made

44 V. De Maria, Introduzione, cit., xxxviii, xliii-xliv.

45 E. Settimelli 'Marinetti-Mussolini-D'Annunzio' in I Nemici d'Italia, settimanale
antibolscevico,anno 1., no. 10, 16 Ottobre 1919.
46 I diritti artistici propugnati dai juturisti italiani. Manifesto al governo fascista,
in Futurismo e Fascismo, cit., pp. 490-91.
 FUTURISM AND FASCISM I03

by Mussolinito foreign journalists: 'II nostro passato artistico e ammirevole.

Ma, quanto a me, sara entrato tutt'al pili due volte in un museo.'47
The Futurists are symptomatic of a minority which first of all pressurized
the Italian government into intervention in the war, and which later had
gained sufficient political impetus to provide Mussolini with a clear alter-
native in the political confusion of the post-war years.

Aberystwyth JULIE R. DASHWOOD

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47 Ibid.