Mussolini’s War Upon East Africa – Marcus Graham (1935)

From ‘Man!: A Journal of the Anarchist Ideal and Movement’, July-August 1935, San Francisco

The blunt frankness with which Mussolini is marching on with his war preparations upon Ethiopia is no less amazing than his readiness to admit that his motives are none too holy. “Expansion”, unto or rather annexation, of the greater part of East Africa for the purpose of exploiting the vast riches of that part of the globe is the frank admission of Mussolini. The protests of Great Britain and French “statesmen” have only brought the retort — that they too are out for the same things, if they could only get them. America’s “statesmen”, although reluctant at first, finally joined in with the protests of their allied brethren.

Not one single government in the world has had the decency or honesty to rise in a frank defence of his most shameless attempt to rob a people of whatever riches they might possess. Even the ultra “r-r-r-evolutionary” Bolshevik government of Russia has maintained the policy of being deaf and dumb to what is being perpetrated. One supposes — all for the sake of “safeguarding the proletarian fatherland” … Nay?

It is no exaggeration to assert that never in our modern history has such perfidy and sheer brutal audacity been displayed by the various government officials of the world as in this Ethiopia-Italy conflict. To a certain degree all other powers, excepting that of Italy, would not like to begin a world slaughter just now. The economic stabilization of each country is far from being safe. Wars are known to end often in revolutions, even in social revolutionary upheavals. And none of the world’s statesmen want that which would bring about their own end.

Why then is Italy the sole exception? Every well informed journalist who has been in Italy or Europe contends that there was nothing else left for Mussolini to do except to embroil that unfortunate country in a war. His power is fast waning. The iron-clad shirt in which he has cast the people of Italy is slowly falling apart. The prisons and islands are filled with dissenting men and women of all walks of life. Mutinies of soldiers is becoming the order of the day. (See elsewhere in this issue Italy — Under Iron Heels of Government.) Foreign journalists who dare to send out the truth as to the economic break down now going on there are forthwith ordered out of the country. The conservative N.Y. Times is forbidden entry — because it has dared to hint at the fast toppling throne of Benito Mussolini.

This picture explains then everything. His war upon East Africa is but an attempt to save his own neck by the hope of bringing on a reign of frenzied nationalism and chauvinism. The first to suffer the most will of course be all those elements who have shown any dissenting attitude to the reign of Mussolini. But unless — all lessons of the past world’s history are false — this last stand of Mussolini — will bring about his own end as certain as the light of day follows the darkness of the night.

And there is not a soul throughout the world which beats for freedom that does not await with suspense to greet and rejoice over the foredoomed end of the monster Benito Mussolini, and of every other similar tyrant in the world as well.