PREFACE
THOSE who still persist in the belief that faithful
history can and should be an indispensable counsellor
in civic behaviour and state policy, will find the
present work of extraordinary and enduring importance.
Nothing in the literature of Italian Fascism compares with
this as an account of origins, a judgment of significance,
and the highly skilled appreciation of cause and effect. It
stands besides such works in political history and science
as Heiden's History of National Socialism, Rosenberg's History
of the German Republic, and Mr. Chamberlin's works on
Soviet Russia. It corroborates and is corroborated by the
works of Salvemini, Nitti, and Lussu.
£ In fifteen years', declared Mussolini in 1925, £ Europe!
will be fascist or fascistizcd !' The grim results of dynamic <
fascism, with its goal so confidently predicted, are to-day
evident to all—even to some of those deceived by the.
cleverly incessant propaganda that the Comintern will get
you if you don't look out! But its import and present
works—threat or joy according to one's outlook—were
discernible in its origins and early years. Plutarch attributes
to Cicero the opinion that the character of Caesar was
sufficiently established in his youth for a valid prediction of
the harm he would do to the Republic : he should have
been dealt with appropriately before and not after he
wrought untold mischief. The things which Signer Rossi
tells should have been known to our rulers, for our safety ;
and it is interesting to speculate on the causes of their
deficiencies of knowledge, or understanding, or resolution.
Signor Rossi (a pseudonym) is an example of the highest
type of Italian ; a subtle, searching, analytical mind,
combined with warmth of feeling and expression, and a
noble, humane sympathy for mankind. Few have so good a
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