324
324
June 9, 1948
Rome, Italy
"The fascist gang that is destroying the country, get out of there right now!"
"We want freedom!"
"Overthrow the dictatorship! Long live freedom!"
As many as 600,000 demonstrators gathered in Rome to protest.
Considering that Rome's population is about 1.8 million, one-third of the entire city's population gathered.
The protesters had one demand: the resignation of the National Fascist Party.
It meant freedom, it meant change for Italy.
People who once wholeheartedly followed Mussolini and the fascist party turned their backs after seeing the ugly face of the forces they supported.
Since he came to power with the support of the people, it would be his right to step down according to the will of the people.
"Get back! "I told you to back off!"
The police, carabinieri, and black shirts deployed to stop the protesters issued strong threats to the protesters, but it had no effect.
Once public discontent broke out, it poured like a torrent of water, and there was no way to stop it.
"You guys step back! "You dirty fascist dogs!"
"We are the people! "We are the masters of Italy!"
"Fascists who act like Germany's loyal dogs, go away!"
"We want freedom! "Give us freedom!"
"Bread to the people! "Freedom for the people!"
The people who had been oppressed and suffocated by the dictatorship of the fascist party realized that there was no chance to change this country except now.
That's why the people were desperate. As desperate as they were, they were courageous.
"everyone! Today is the day! "Today will be the only day we can reform this country!"
"We must not back down. If we leave here, we will live as slaves of fascists forever!"
"Let us fight for freedom! Long live the great Italian people!"
"Wow!!!"
Those who played the role of wind catchers took the lead and led the Roman citizens, and the people cheered enthusiastically and held high their pickets and banners. And they shouted one common slogan.
Overthrow dictatorship.
Long live freedom.
The protests that started in Rome were immediately reported around the world.
Soon, protests were held in Naples, Venice, Florence, Bologna, and Genoa.
An emergency has been declared throughout Italy.
***
June 12, 1948
Chigi Palace, Rome, Italy
It's the third day since the first protests took place in Rome.
The National Fascist Party was on high alert every day.
There had been several protests before, but they were easily suppressed because they were only about 'small demands' such as wage increases or price controls, and the scale was not as large as it is now.
However, this time the scale was different. In addition, protests occurred all over the country.
The protesters' demands were not complex: the dissolution of the National Fascist Party. That was their demand, and if the demand was accepted, the protesters would disperse.
But the National Fascist Party could not accept the demands of the demonstrations.
If the National Fascist Party was disbanded and a multi-party system was implemented, the Republicans and Communists, who had been oppressed by the Fascist Party, would undoubtedly come to power, and there was no way they would leave the Fascist Party, which had been oppressing them, alone since they were in power.
Accepting the citizens' demands meant throwing away their own lives.
Where can you find a fool who hits his own neck with his own hand?
However, the atmosphere was not unusual enough to consistently ignore citizens' demands.
"… … "What did your Majesty say?"
When Dino Grandi, who became prime minister after Badoglio retired due to old age, stuttered and asked, Ciano sighed.
"You said why not accept some of the people's demands."
"Huh… … ."
The king, surprised by the large-scale protests, ordered immediate countermeasures and announced that he would take hard-line responses, but he became passive when he learned that the king's own resignation was not among the protesters' demands.
What Vittorio Emanuele III was most interested in was his own position, not the safety of the National Fascist Party.
Therefore, he has suggested that it would be a good idea to accept some of the citizens' demands. Grandi was filled with anger. Are you saying that if he just keeps his position, that's the end?
They were equally anxious to protect their positions, but Grandi was enraged at the sight of a so-called king easily throwing away even the subjects who had devoted allegiance to him.
"Maybe this would be good?"
"… … ."
The fascist party executives only looked at each other and failed to express their opinions.
After silence, one person raised his hand. It was Carlo Scorza, secretary of the National Fascist Party.
"Please speak."
"First of all, how about giving bait to the protesters to calm them down? If we don't give any response, the protesters will never disperse."
"What do you mean by bait?"
"We are legalizing each political party, including the Communist Party, which has been illegal so far."
The dissolution of the National Fascist Party could not be accepted by the Fascist Party. Therefore, Skorza's guess was that the people would also be satisfied if the National Fascist Party was allowed to continue while other political parties were allowed to operate.
"Although the momentum of the Fascist Party is not as strong as it used to be, there are still quite a few loyal citizens who support the Fascist Party. If we use their support to prevent the party from disbanding and negotiate with them, there will be room for compromise. "
"It's not a bad plan."
Ciano also voted in favor of Scorza's plan.
"Will the protesters be satisfied with that? … ."
"Isn't there another way? Are you going to disband the party and entrust your life to the communists?"
As Grandi hesitated, Emilio de Bono, a senior member of the National Fascist Party, rebuked him.
As Skorza said, a significant number of people still support the fascist party.
If they first calm the anger of the protesters by allowing a multi-party system, then induce division behind the scenes, and then put the supporters of the fascist party at the forefront, it would not be impossible to take power as it is now.
however,
It seemed like the sky had no intention of granting their wishes.
***
"Overthrow the dictatorship!"
"German henchmen, go away!!"
"Long live freedom! Long live Italy!"
Fiora Kirsiena was an ordinary schoolgirl who had just passed her 16th birthday.
She was no different from other students. She was an ordinary girl who preferred playing to studying, hated tests, and was interested in entertainment. Like her other friends.
"Fiora! Where are you going?"
"I decided to play with Angela!"
"Come in before dinner. By the way, don't go somewhere strange."
"I'm not going, I'm not going."
Fiora's mother added just in case.
"Daughter, aren't you going to watch the protest?"
"No way. "Angela heard that her younger relatives are coming over, so she's going to hang out with them."
"Okay. But be careful just in case."
Fiora felt a little guilty, but the guilt of lying was washed away in the excitement of going to the protest.
Unlike other parents who were so worried about their daughter that they meddled in various things, Fiora's parents had a surprising degree of tolerance, but for one thing, they had no interest in politics at all.
Beyond being indifferent to politics, they hated politics.
Even if you are interested in politics, your life will not improve and it will only lead to difficulties. This was what Fiora's father said at dinner.
Even when people were enthusiastic about Mussolini's fascist party, Fiora's parents remained indifferent.
On the contrary, even when Mussolini was overthrown and people criticized him, Fiora's parents remained silent as if they had promised.
To that extent, Fiora's family had no interest in politics at all.
But Fiora was different.
Unlike her parents, who were indifferent to politics, she was very interested in politics. Her parents said that being interested in politics would not change anything in life, but they were wrong.
If you don't care about what's going on in the world, your life won't change. That's what Fiora thought.
Because they were indifferent to politics, Mussolini and the fascists came to power, and because of that, war broke out and Italy ended up like this.
Fiora vividly remembered the experience of holding her parents' hands and running to the shelter as a child when German Air Force bombers were bombing Rome, even now that the war was over.
The first bombing in Rome's history shocked Italians. Only then did people realize that supporting Mussolini had not been a very good decision.
Mussolini was thus driven from power and Italy strengthened with Germany, but all those responsible for the war retained their positions except Mussolini.
The people who ruined the country are still in power and controlling the fate of Italy! Is this how the country can run properly?
Fiora, who could not control her boiling blood, decided to participate in the protest along with her friends. The more dizzy and chaotic the country becomes, the more each and every citizen must come forward and raise their voice so that the country can go in the right direction. law.
"Angela!"
"Fiora! "I was waiting for you to come."
Fiora held up a picket with 'We want freedom' written by Angela and shouted the prepared slogan.
"We want freedom!"
"Get the fascist pigs out of Italy!"
"Long live freedom! Democracy in Italy too!"
Looking around, I saw many boys and girls around Fiora's age.
Although there were many older adults, Fiora was encouraged to see students her own age also proudly participating in the protest and raising their voices.
"Get out of the way with Mussolini!"
"German dogs are not needed in Italy!!!"
"All power to the people!"
Communist symbols, which were taboo under the fascist party, also appeared in the protests.
From the red flag symbolizing communism to the quite elaborately drawn Lenin and Marx flags. Flags and phrases symbolizing anarchism were also seen.
When the protests were in full swing, people started singing the International Song.
Fiora, who watched the people singing at first, soon followed them and sang the Internationale. Although she had never sung the song herself, she knew the lyrics.
"Let us fight, the earth will become equal property for all.
No one in the field will work for lazy others.
And the machines will unite
For the workers, not the enemies,
Therefore, a new life begins
It will bring peace and armor to humanity!"
When the 3rd verse of International Street ended and the 4th verse was about to begin, a commotion broke out in the front row of the protesters.
There was a fight with the Black Shirts who were blocking the protesters right in front of them.
The singing continued, but the commotion also grew. Crude and vulgar swear words reached people's ears as the Internationale rhombus rang out in Piazza del Campidoglio.
"You disgusting pigs!"
"die! "You bastards!"
"They say those fascist bastards will come to their senses only if they are beaten!"
Fiora couldn't know the details, but from what people around her were saying, she could tell that several black shirts were beating up in the front row of protesters.
They look good. Bad guys. Pio had no good feelings toward the Black Shirts, who were Mussolini's hounds.
Who cares if a few black-shirt gangsters get beaten like dogs?
Rather, I wanted to use this opportunity to scare them so that they would never raise their heads again.
Until gunshots rang out.
-Ta-ta-ta-ta-tang!!
"Aaaah!"
Gunshots rang out, and women screamed.
The International Street was cut off and chaos spread.
"Those guys are crazy! "They're shooting!"
"Run! hurry!!"
The Black Shirts fired at the protesters.
As the gunfire continued, the people who had been waving flags and singing the International Song with vigor just before began to run away. Screams erupted from everywhere.
"Fiora, let's run away!"
Angela grabbed Fiora's hand and ran. Fiora was confused by all of this.
The Black Shirts opened fire on the unarmed protesters, and the people fled. It's a simple fact, but it was too sudden for Fiora, who was at the scene of the protest.
Because there were many people gathered in the square, there was no speed to escape. The Black Shirts continued firing and the people's screams grew louder.
The exhilaration that I had felt a moment ago due to people's screams and shouts suddenly disappeared and I became scared. At the thought that she might get shot, Fiora walked faster.
"Ahh!"
Fiora, who was running frantically in a hurry, lost her balance and fell. Angela, unaware that she had fallen, was running after the adults who were running away.
Fiora tried to get up and run, but the shoe stamped her hand and pushed it down. Fiora screamed at the pain of her finger bones being crushed.
The identity of the person who crushed her hand was not a member of the Black Shirts. It was a college student who participated in the protest like her.
He was startled by the gunshot and ran away, but instead of finding Fiora who had fallen to the ground, he unknowingly stepped on her hand.
"Wait! "I'm going to wake up now-"
Fiora's words did not reach people's ears. Like a drop of dew in the mud, her cries were drowned out by gunshots and screams.
Before Fiora could get up, dozens of feet trampled over her body.
"for a moment! wait for a sec!!!"
Fiora shouted to people to stop in order to get up, but the people, who had lost their senses in fear, paid no heed to her screams and ran recklessly, trampling on her body.
Although it had only been 30 seconds since she fell, it felt like more than 100 people had already stepped on her body. Fiora felt as if a huge rock was pressing down on her entire body.
Because I was trampled and crushed by people's shoes, there was no part of my body that was not in pain. The bones in my hands were all broken into pieces, and I had no feeling from the waist down.
"please please… … ."
Fiora burst into tears. It was so painful that she thought she was going to die if this continued. She wanted to tell people to please wait until she woke up.
But every time she tried to get up, people's feet stepped on her back, waist, or hands.
The undigested black bread and tomatoes she had eaten for breakfast came out of Fiora's mouth. The vomit was followed by blood. In her fading consciousness, Fiora heard what her parents had told her. Reminded me of.
I was listening to what my mom and dad said.