Ch1 : The Wounded Wolf
In 1936, Italy is only a ghost of its former self. The Kingdom suffered terribly from the war, sacrificing in the Weltkrieg it’s land, it’s men, it’s empire but above all, it’s dreams. The very idea of unity was fading, the heirs of Metternich trying to cut up the country and still occupying much of the North. Worst of all, Italian brothers in the Kingdom and in the traitorous SRI were divided, the prospect of another civil looming at all times.
With such a delicate, fragile situation, the whole country had to change. A military government soon stripped civilians of much of their powers, with implicit consent by the monarch, king Victor Emmanuel III. Furthermore, to appease autonomists movements, who constantly threatened to secede from the Kingdom, a wide range of economic and social autonomy was given to regional councils, turning de facto the Sabaudian state in a federalist monarchy similar to the old United Kingdom. This measure helped to stop “brigantaggio”, a banditry phenomenon that had devastated the countryside during the war, but also contributed to reinforce the regionalists and parochialists sentiments, particularly in Sicily, where independence thoughts were never fully tamed.
Despite the tumultuous beginnings, the military regime led by general Emilio de Bono held firm against the Syndicalist and Teutonic threats for nearly 12 years, slowly stabilising the fragile and agrarian southern economy and reinforcing the Regio Esercito, traumatised by the war, who managed to skilfully reconquer the Holy City and anchoring the country’s border on Anzio.
Ch2 : Guardiano della Patria
“Il Guardiano Della Patria”, the Guardian of the Fatherland, the name given to De Bono by propaganda. The least someone could say is that he earned this title and the old general is generally seen as a stabilising force within the government, implicitly opposed to his political allies in the ANI, the Italian Nationalist Association. He led the reconstruction and industrialisation of the agrarian south, regulated the huge influx of immigrants coming from Austrian and Syndicalist occupied territories and for the first time in years, brought political stability to the scarred nation.
But these successes came at an expensive price : to achieve a majority in parliament and preserve the essential appearance of “democracy”, De Bono had to ally with a newly formed radical organisation : the ANI.
This
... keep reading on reddit ➡Nato da una nobile famiglia piemontese e capuana di origine sabauda, era figlio di Alfredo, colonnello dei Reali Carabinieri (RR.CC.), e di Franca Gandolfo. Nipote del generale e senatore Amedeo Guillet. Era imparentato con la nobile famiglia Fanzago[2]. Frequentò l'Accademia militare di Modena, da cui uscì con il grado di sottotenente di Cavalleria del Regio Esercito Italiano nel 1931.
Fu tra i primi Ufficiali della cavalleria italiana ad applicare rigorosamente il metodo di equitazione naturale del capitano Federico Caprilli e per le sue innate capacità equestri fu incluso tra i quattro cavalieri che avrebbero costituito la squadra italiana di equitazione per le Olimpiadi di Berlino del 1936 alle quali non arrivò mai.
L'inizio della campagna d'Abissinia impedì al tenente Guillet di giungere a Berlino per i Giochi della XI Olimpiade, per via del trasferimento in Libia presso un reparto di Spahis e da lì il reparto fu trasferito in Eritrea, dove nell'ottobre del 1935 partecipò, come comandante di plotone, alle prime azioni della guerra di Etiopia. Il 24 dicembre dello stesso anno venne ferito gravemente alla mano sinistra durante la battaglia di Selaclaclà.
Poco prima dell'ingresso dell'Italia nella Seconda guerra mondiale, Guillet venne inviato in Eritrea e nominato Comandante del Gruppo Bande Amhara, primo esempio di unità militare multinazionale, forte di 1700 uomini di origine etiope, eritrea e yemenita inquadrati da ufficiali italiani.
Nel 1939, durante un combattimento contro la guerriglia nella regione di Dougur Dubà, il tenente Guillet costrinse il nemico ad uno scontro in campo aperto. Durante una delle cariche, il suo cavallo venne colpito ed ucciso. Immediatamente, Guillet ordinò al suo attendente di dargliene un altro. Quando anche il secondo quadrupede fu colpito, trovandosi appiedato, si mise ai comandi di una mitragliatrice e sparò agli ultimi nemici rimasti sul campo di battaglia.
Per questa azione, "alto esempio di eroismo e sprezzo del pericolo", gli venne conferita la Medaglia d'argento al Valor Militare dalle autorità italiane. I suoi soldati indigeni, invece, lo soprannominarono Commundàr es Sciaitan (Comandante Diavolo) convinti che godesse di una sorta di immortalità.
Ben presto le gesta belliche di Guillet divennero oggetto di discussione negli esclusivi circoli di occidentali di Asmara e Adua, mentre la fama del Comandante Diavolo si diffondeva rapidamente in tutta l'Africa Orientale. In particolare, si fantasticava sullo st
... keep reading on reddit ➡“The Long Night Falls: History of the Fascist Bloc. Volume I: Birth and Expansion, 1922-1950”, Random House, New York, 2018.
It seems to be the emerging consensus among historians that the most important reasons for the victory of the Axis powers in WWII included their innovative military tactics, good strategic cooperation, a favorable fuel situation thanks to the discovery of the Matzen, Libyan, and Manchurian oilfields in the 1920s, and US neutrality. Those oilfields allowed Germany and Italy to enjoy an abundant fuel supply before and during the war and made it possible for Japan to defy Western oil embargo when it invaded China and later the Soviet Union.
Austria and later Germany after the Anschluss, Italy, and Japan developed the Matzen, Libyan, and Manchurian oilfields with the cooperation of American oil companies - an act deeply regretted in hindsight by the Western world. The abundant oil supply and revenues made possible a large degree of industrial development in Italy, infrastructure creation in southern Italy and Libya, as well as expansion of the Italian military. This stoked up the expansionist ambitions of the Fascist dictator, leading to the Italian invasion and conquest of Ethiopia in 1932-33. The negative reaction of the Western powers, although ineffectual to stop Italian aggression, made Mussolini turn antagonistic to the Entente and sent him in search of a powerful ally that supported his imperialistic ambitions in the Mediterranean. The regime change in Germany, with the takeover by the Nazi party, provided him with an excellent opportunity. The growing economic and military power of Italy, and more so its abundant oil supply, made the German elites greatly interested in an alliance with their southern neighbor even before the Nazi takeover. The ideological affinity between the Nazi and Fascist regimes considerably eased and reinforced the deal.
The economic and military value of the Matzen oilfield further stoked the already vast appetite of the German people for union with Austria. The collapse of the Habsburg Empire, cultural and historical bonds, and postwar instability made the vast majority of Austrians sympathetic to union as well since the aftermath of WWI, when the newborn Austrian state had petitioned for it. The opposition of the Entente victors had then frustrated the project. By the early 1930s, however, the changing stance of Italy, the sliding of Britain and France into appeasement passivity, and the isolationist
... keep reading on reddit ➡Do your worst!
For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.
I said "hey look, an escaPEA"
No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!
Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂
It really does, I swear!
I'm surprised it hasn't decade.
They’re on standbi
Buenosdillas
Pilot on me!!
Dad jokes are supposed to be jokes you can tell a kid and they will understand it and find it funny.
This sub is mostly just NSFW puns now.
If it needs a NSFW tag it's not a dad joke. There should just be a NSFW puns subreddit for that.
Edit* I'm not replying any longer and turning off notifications but to all those that say "no one cares", there sure are a lot of you arguing about it. Maybe I'm wrong but you people don't need to be rude about it. If you really don't care, don't comment.
When I got home, they were still there.
What did 0 say to 8 ?
" Nice Belt "
So What did 3 say to 8 ?
" Hey, you two stop making out "
I won't be doing that today!
You take away their little brooms
This morning, my 4 year old daughter.
Daughter: I'm hungry
Me: nerves building, smile widening
Me: Hi hungry, I'm dad.
She had no idea what was going on but I finally did it.
Thank you all for listening.
There hasn't been a post all year!
[Removed]
It’s pronounced “Noel.”
After all his first name is No-vac
“The Long Night Falls: History of the Fascist Bloc. Volume I: Birth and Expansion, 1922-1950”, Random House, New York, 2018.
It seems to be the emerging consensus among historians that the most important reasons for the victory of the Axis powers in WWII included their innovative military tactics, good strategic cooperation, a favorable fuel situation thanks to the discovery of the Matzen, Libyan, and Manchurian oilfields in the 1920s, and US neutrality. Those oilfields allowed Germany and Italy to enjoy an abundant fuel supply before and during the war and made it possible for Japan to defy Western oil embargo when it invaded China and later the Soviet Union.
Austria and later Germany after the Anschluss, Italy, and Japan developed the Matzen, Libyan, and Manchurian oilfields with the cooperation of American oil companies - an act deeply regretted in hindsight by the Western world. The abundant oil supply and revenues made possible a large degree of industrial development in Italy, infrastructure creation in southern Italy and Libya, as well as expansion of the Italian military. This stoked up the expansionist ambitions of the Fascist dictator, leading to the Italian invasion and conquest of Ethiopia in 1932-33. The negative reaction of the Western powers, although ineffectual to stop Italian aggression, made Mussolini turn antagonistic to the Entente and sent him in search of a powerful ally that supported his imperialistic ambitions in the Mediterranean. The regime change in Germany, with the takeover by the Nazi party, provided him with an excellent opportunity. The growing economic and military power of Italy, and more so its abundant oil supply, made the German elites greatly interested in an alliance with their southern neighbor even before the Nazi takeover. The ideological affinity between the Nazi and Fascist regimes considerably eased and reinforced the deal.
The economic and military value of the Matzen oilfield further stoked the already vast appetite of the German people for union with Austria. The collapse of the Habsburg Empire, cultural and historical bonds, and postwar instability made the vast majority of Austrians sympathetic to union as well since the aftermath of WWI, when the newborn Austrian state had petitioned for it. The opposition of the Entente victors had then frustrated the project. By the early 1930s, however, the changing stance of Italy, the sliding of Britain and France into appeasement passivity, and the isolationist
... keep reading on reddit ➡