In the Straddle

ITALY In the straddle

Last week Benito Mussolini had a long talk with 77-year-old Marshal Enrico Caviglia, one of the few Italian heroes of World War I. Marshal Caviglia had recently inspected the fortifications on the Italo-French frontier and it was presumed that he and Il Duce did not discuss the weather. After this meeting all good Italians still waited anxiously for Mussolini to say something very definite about which way Italy would jump, as they had waited for three weeks since war began.

World War II may make Il Duce's everlasting reputation as a statesman. Few statesmen have ever been caught in such a hole. If he stuck his head out in one direction, it would be chopped off by Britain and France--on paper at least, their Mediterranean fleets could blow his to bits and their armies might overrun northern Italy. If he stuck it out in the other direction, he would have his other transalpine neighbor, Adolf Hitler, to deal with. And so, while the Italian press explained that Italy would remain neutral indefinitely, Mussolini lay low.

Last week it was time for him to come out of his hole. With Poland all but conquered, his Axis partner, Adolf Hitler, was free to help him if he talked tough to the Allies. But Partner Hitler had taken on another partner, Joseph Stalin; with him had carved Poland in two and threatened all the Balkans, where Italy has "vital interests." It was against every historical precedent for Italy to let Germany and Russia get away with the Balkans, but, on the other hand, if Germany knocked out Britain and France, Italy could clean up in the Mediterranean. Foxy Benito Mussolini took counsel with himself and at week's end delivered a speech that was a masterpiece of straddling, far removed from the blood-&-thunderousness of his speeches of the last four years.

Plea for peace, and a slight rap at the Allies, though it was, it did not sound as if Il Duce expected peace. He praised the wisdom of Britain and France in not declaring war on Russia (but wondered, in that case, why they were still fighting Germany). Then he announced Italy's stand: "My policy was fixed in the declaration of September 1, and there is no reason to change it." In other words, Italy would stay neutral unless attacked.

Goings-on in Italy backed up the belief that Il Duce would continue to play ball with both sides. While he was speaking in Bologna, it was announced in Rome that Italian garrisons were being withdrawn from the Dodecanese Islands off Greece, a gesture in the Allies' favor. A few days earlier Italy and Greece had both moved back from the Greco-Albanian frontier. Italy sent an Ambassador, Giuseppe Bastianini, to the Court of St. James's, where she has had none since June. Italy made no protest last week when the British stopped an Italian ship at Gibraltar and confiscated cargoes destined for Germany. Italian trade boomed, with export orders far above normal. A new airline began operating from Naples to The Netherlands Indies and Australia. Passenger steamers were booked to capacity and passengers ruefully reported that prices were up 50%*. It seemed pretty clear that, if Mussolini had his way, Italy would stay out of the war and demand something from the loser--and that in the meantime she would work to grow rich.

*In Manhattan, the Italian liner Rex left 30 German would-be passengers, who might also be confiscated at Gibraltar.

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