Mussolini and Hitler
The Forging of the Fascist Alliance
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11478798 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michael Ebner (0000-0002-0170-7062, Syracuse University), Michael R Ebner (Syracuse University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 259-261 |
| Publication date | 2019-04-22 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | German History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0266-3554 • E-ISSN: 1477-089X |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/gerhis/ghz017 |
| OpenAlex | W2932199275 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
Mussolini arrived in a ‘showy uniform and riding boots’ while Hitler ‘wore a belted beige trench coat, striped trousers, a white shirt and tie’, carrying a ‘rumpled fedora’ and looking like ‘an office worker’ (p. 46). Hitler offered the Nazi salute, but Mussolini withheld the similar Roman salute, instead shaking hands as ‘a distancing act . . . suggesting that the Duce did not consider Hitler a fascist leader on equal footing’ (p. 46). In this first encounter, Mussolini had ‘clearly stolen the show’, and Hitler allegedly ‘had tears in his eyes upon seeing his Italian idol for the first time’ (p. 47). Nine years later, in September 1943, after Mussolini’s regime had collapsed disastrously, German paratroopers rescued him from a mountaintop prison in Italy and flew him to Hitler’s wartime headquarters, the Wolf’s Lair, in East Prussia. Here, the optics of the first Venice meeting were reversed: wearing a civilian suit, the ex-Duce offered the Fascist salute, but Hitler merely shook his hand, highlighting the fact that Mussolini ‘was no longer Hitler’s equal’. Mussolini, Goeschel notes, was now in a foreign land, isolated from political supporters and family, and entirely dependent on ‘Hitler’s goodwill’ (p. 265).
Alliance · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art history · Dictator · German · Nazism · Political science · Politics · White (mutation) · History · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Law
| Citations per year | 1.75 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2024 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |