Seventy three years ago today Benito Mussolini declared war on England and on France. He threw in his lot with the forces of Nazi Germany and believed he was betting on the swiftest "horse" in a terrific gamble with the fortunes of the Italian people. His short and trenchant speech announcing this "hour of irrevocable decisions" as he called it, was made on the previous day and when the news was transmitted in person to British and French diplomats, the former asked if this was an advanced notice or whether hostilities were imminent. When told it was the latter, the Englishman simply arose and left the room without another word. The French official could not resist a parting and pithy comment. "The Germans are hard masters. You will learn this lesson yourselves, shortly."
Most fortunately for the Allied cause, Il Duce was primarily a man of the nineteenth century who neither understood adequately the technology and ramifications of industrial might nor the resolve of the "plutocratic and reactionary democracies" as he termed the non-totalitarian West. The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1940 was Galeazzo Ciano, son-in-law of Mussolini. He was aware, even if only instinctively, of the hellish predicament that this call to arms might very well spark. Ciano's entry in his diary on that historic day closed with the following: "I am sad, very sad. The adventure begins. May God help Italy."
Many miles and an ocean away, a seemingly more mundane event occurred in New York on this day. The elevated subway system known as the Ninth avenue "el" ended its service forever, after more than seventy years. When the first primitive cars were hauled forward with the aid of huge straps….To Be Continued
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