The Pittsburgh Press (July 28, 1943)
DISORDERS SPREAD THROUGH ITALY
Peace talks begun, some reports say
Fascists trapped on top of Milan building; party is dissolved
By William B. Dickinson, United Press staff writer
Bulletins
London, England –
Radio Rome said tonight that the new Italian government has only one goal – peace.Madrid, Spain –
Travelers from Italy said today that the Germans had established a headquarters at Bolzano, near the Brenner Pass, for the defense of northern Italy.
London, England –
Reports that Italian Premier Marshal Pietro Badoglio had initiated a peace move through American and British representatives at Vatican City came from several sources today as violent anti-Fascist clashes increased in northern Italy and spread southward to the Naples area, and the new regime dissolved the Fascist Party.
There was still no official confirmation that negotiations had been started.
Dispatches from Madrid said church circles understood that on the suggestion of Marshal Badoglio, American and British representatives at Vatican City had asked their governments for instructions as to attitude regarding any peace move by Italy.
Talks reported begun
The Algiers newspaper Dernières Nouvelles reported in a dispatch from Berne that Badoglio had begun discussions regarding an armistice through the American and British envoys at the Vatican.
Fascists, defying the new regime that deposed Benito Mussolini, were reported in Swiss dispatches to have taken refuge on the top floor of the newspaper Popolo d’Italia at Milan, from where they threw bombs and fired on soldiers and a crowd of anti-Fascist demonstrators, causing many casualties.
The dispatches said that the soldiers, under Marshal Badoglio’s orders, brought armored cars and small tanks to the scene, but hesitated to train their cannon on the building because the Fascists were holding many hostages, including women and children.
One report said that the Fascists barricaded on the top floor attempted to placate the crowd by throwing from the roof a prominent Fascist named Oreste Bonomi, formerly a member of Mussolini’s Cabinet. The report said Bonomi was mauled to death by the crowd.
Strikes in war centers
Two soldiers were killed during last night’s disorders when they attempted to turn searchlights on the newspaper building. The Fascists, reportedly shielding themselves behind their hostages, opened fire with machine guns.
The newspaper Popolo d’Italia was formerly owned by Mussolini.
Strikes were reported spreading in Milan and other war industry centers, where some reports said the demonstrators waved red flags and shouted communist slogans.
Radio Rome, recorded by CBS, said Italy had no choice “under the circumstances” but to fight on against the Allies.
Suppresses court
The Cabinet, with Badoglio presiding, ordered the dissolution of the Fascist Party, which had ruled Italy for 20 years, and also suppressed the Fascist Special Tribunal for the Defense of the State, the Italian Stefani News Agency said.
The case previously tried by the special court will henceforth be tried before military courts, the agency said.
Reliable diplomatic sources in London said a tense behind-the-scenes struggle was believed in progress between the German government and Badoglio, with the question of Italy’s continuance in the war at stake.
Plan line along Po
It was reported Badoglio was seeking to induce the Germans to evacuate all Italian territory, including northern Italy, in order to save Italy from becoming a battlefield, following its capitulation to the Allies.
The Germans, through diplomatic channels, were said to be applying the utmost pressure to keep Italy in the war, at least for the time being. This was believed to be part of a plan to establish a strong German line on the Po River in northern Italy and evacuate German troops in southern Italy to that line.
Dispatches from all neutral listening posts adjacent to Nazi-controlled Europe reported many peace feelers, but for the time being, the Badoglio government’s stability was being tested by the grave problem of maintaining order in the country.
Hungary mentioned
German reaction was reported extremely nervous regarding Italy, but Hitler’s worries were also increased by indirect reports that Hungary was extending tentative peace feelers toward the Allies and by reports of precautions by the Spanish government against possible opposition to Gen. Francisco Franco’s regime.
Developments included:
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The Nazi-controlled Scandinavian Telegraph Bureau reported that the Germans had rejected Italian requests to withdraw Nazi troops from Italy. Other Swedish rumors said Italian troops were marching to northern Italy, presumably to maintain order.
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Usually-reliable sources in London reported that Hungary was putting out peace feelers through Turkey and that Romania and Bulgaria might follow suit. Yugoslav sources reported that Italian occupation troops had started moving out of the Balkans and that German replacements were moving in.
Controversy reported
Bulgaria appeared about to pull out from under the Axis, the Swedish newspaper Allehanda said, after a controversy between King Boris and his Premier, Bogdan Filov. The King was reported to have accused his Prime Minister of allowing his country to drift toward revolution.
- Archbishop Francis J. Spellman of New York, who has sometimes been mentioned as a possible peace negotiator, cancelled engagements in South Africa and left by plane for the north. Madrid dispatches again reported that peace negotiations had been started through Vatican City, but in London, it was stated that no move has been made by Italy.
The New York churchman left the United States last winter after conferring with President Roosevelt, then saw Prime Minister Churchill in London and continued on to Vatican City by way of Spain.
He had several long conferences with Pope Pius XII at the Vatican and at the time, it was speculated that he may have discussed means by which the Allies would permit Italy to withdraw from the war, although this naturally was never confirmed.
Sees Turkish minister
The Turkish Anadolu News Agency said that Raffaele Guariglia, named Foreign Minister in Marshal Pietro Badoglio’s new Italian government, was still in Ankara yesterday despite a premature report of his departure and:
If he delays his departure after tonight, important events must be impending.
Guariglia, as Italian Ambassador to Turkey, has had an opportunity to contact British and American diplomats, but there was no indication that he has done so. He conferred yesterday with Turkish Foreign Minister Nuğman Menemencioğlu and it was considered noteworthy that President Gen. İsmet İnönü was due to return to Ankara last night.
A dispatch from Ankara said that Guariglia in recent months has openly asserted that Italy would do well to quit the war as best she can.
Fate of Duce unknown
Despite the flood of rumors pouring out of European capitals, however, there was still no authoritative word of what was actually occurring inside Italy, or of what has happened to the deposed Premier, Benito Mussolini.
London sources were inclined to believe that Badoglio has placed his predecessor in protective custody, probably to use him as a pawn in talking peace terms with the Allies, who want to try Mussolini as a “war criminal.”
Every report reaching London indicated that the Italians were striving to wipe out the last vestiges of the Fascism that had enslaved them for more than 20 years, but it was recognized that the Italian propaganda machine might be spreading these stories in an attempt to make a favorable impression on the Allies in advance of any peace negotiations.
Barricade selves
The newspaper Corriere della Sera of Milan said Fascists barricaded themselves in their homes and in office buildings and fired on soldiers and crowds outside. Most of the Fascists were dislodged and arrested.
Riots have also broken out in Milan prison, according to a Corriere della Sera dispatch broadcast by the Swiss radio. At least one prisoner was killed and several injured.
A Moscow broadcast said that a huge crowd surrounded the German Embassy in Rome without being opposed by troops, but that the German representatives had fled. The London radio said that the Milan demonstrators carried red flags and that disorders extended through Rome, Bologna, Florence, Turin and other big cities, with some Fascist groups still resisting the regular army forces.
The Italian underground radio station Italia Avanti (Italy Forward) charged that the Germans have occupied the Albanian ports of Durazzo and Valona, after violent clashes with Italian troops, in a move to forestall Italian evacuation of the Balkans.
Kidnap Italians
It asserted that German Marshal Albert Kesselring, German commander in Italy, had ordered the destruction of war stores and installations in localities likely to be abandoned in Italy as well as the kidnapping of Italian officers known to be anti-German.
Neutral sources in Madrid said that Pope Pius XII was straining to arrange peace between Italy and the Allies with Harold Tittmann, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires at the Vatican, taking an active part in negotiations.
The main obstacle to a quick agreement, Madrid said, was Badoglio’s hesitation to make peace until he is sure that Germany will be too weak to turn her army and air force against her ally.
The Daily Mail said Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied Supreme Commander in the Mediterranean, has been given full powers to deal with the new Italian government or any replacing it.