@Milities: Considering his animosity towards them though, old habits die hard. Hopefully his personal feelings won't matter much to the rest of the Anarchists in France though.
@Soulstrider: Thanks
@Davis: Yes, and a fearsome beast it is.
Victories and Losses
James Connolly said:
Our demands are most moderate – We only want the earth!
The aftermath of the Congress left in its wake a visible division between the BGT Chairman Makhno and his Italian counterparts. Over the next few days the newspapers of both nations blamed the other for being divisive, and naturally conflicts over Anarchism and Marxism arose again due to Makhno’s polemics against Bordiga.
To most observers, the most apparent change that took place was the lack of military cooperation between the two nations. Italy was solely focused on its border with Austria while France was wrapping up its operations in Spain and fortifying its eastern borders. Despite the plans of an integrated command of Syndicalist forces, there was little development in this direction despite it being discussed with much detail among the military leaders of the two nations.
It was more or less a strained period between Italy and France. France now had to deal with an Italy that was a much more stronger and powerful nation, not one that was wholly reliant on France for its needs.
Another embarrassment for Italy came when France declared that its country was clean of any possible moles or infiltrators, and pointed to Italy as the “probable” source of the mole. The newspapers of course took the opportunity to use it to launch criticisms of the internal structure of the Italian government.
Grieco in his capacity as Director for the SDDR, was already looking high and low for potential “traitors” who were operating within the government. This occupied much of that agency’s attention, and coordination was done with the intelligence office in an attempt to make its work easier.
During these months the men and women of the SDDR became a common sight in Italy as they scoured the cities and countryside for potential suspects. There was a lot of finger pointing over which department was suspect, and there were often opportunistic accusations thrown towards potential rivals.
The case had been under investigation since Gallo’s report to the intelligence office. Even before then there were suspicions that people who were involved in the so-called “Exodus” and escaped from the wrath of the Republican Guard had found their way back into certain positions to cause damage again. There were also considerations taken that this was more than likely a joint effort with the mafia during the sabotages of the war with the Federation.
Could they have anything to do with sabotage in the American Civil War? There could have very well been an intersection of their interests in Italy and the United States.
Security swept across the military and political institutions as they attempted to find out if any one had been abusing their position. A line of questioning began with Italo Balbo, the commander of the assault on Rome, over accusations of irregular conduct during the operation. Balbo refused any insinuation that he was intentionally stalling attacks, but claimed that there were supply problems which he assumed to be related to the economy straining under war time footing. Balbo claimed that there should be plenty of evidence within the departments to support his story.
This claim was investigated and proved, though opened up a whole other batch of questions. Inquiries revealed that supplies that were sent to the front lines were redirected or suspicious cases of mismanagement by various departments, and it was at those that agents of the SDDR investigated.
It was discovered that within the port cities were supplies were sent for the Combined Syndicates, there were a number of odd “accidents” where supplies were lost or destroyed. Within intelligence and police departments, information regarding operatives who requested information relating to the American Civil War and Red Army supplies were requested by the SDDR.
International media spoke of the “terror” that was sweeping across Italy, most of which in turn cited the “émigrés” living in Austria spinning fantastic tales for the citizens of the world to eat. There may have been some truth to this- the populace was intimidated by the security sweeps but rumors of deaths and disappearances were complete fabrications from the Committee to Free Italy in Venice.
In mid-June, a number of arrests were made, particular out of the Palermo branch for the Sicilian Republic. The men were accused of, among other things, treason and sabotage. The trial opened up against nearly 167 individuals, though the supposed “ringleaders” were the following: Roberto Farinacci, Giuseppe Bottai, Emilio de Bono, Luigi Federzoni, Giuseppe Alessi, and Achille Starace. All, with the exception of Emilio de Bono, were relatively unknown figures working within the departments or syndicates, but together were suspected of being able to sabotage the flow of supplies within the nation during the Anzio Crisis and the unification war with the Federation, and presumably were able to discover the location of Combined Syndicates cells by their members who were in the intelligence directory.
The elderly People's Army officer, Emilio De Bono, dressed in garb for the "Society for Democratic Rebirth"
De Bono was the biggest surprise however, being a respectable officer within the Red Army, only served to further proclamations that people like De Bono who represented the “old” Italy were suspect in their loyalty. The court trial produced evidenced seized from residences that indicated their role in the so-called “Plan for Democratic Rebirth”, a document referring to a means to overthrow the republic and merge it with the Federation. These were to take steps such as exploiting on food shortages to cause an uprising on the government, assassinations of officials carried out by the mafia (which included the attempt on Mussolini’s life during the events of the Fourth Congress of the Greater Syndicalist Union), and interfere with the operations of the International Brigade in the United States. This was all done with the end goal of eventual unification with the Federation and a restoration of the Italian monarchy.
The news was quite sensational among the public, though their interest in the case was interrupted with a spree of mafia retaliation attacks on SDDR offices and Republican Guard as the trial moved closer to verdict. This was mostly an act of being backed in to a corner on the part of the mob, and only provoked the Republican Guard to react with a fierce response.
Shoot outs between the police and mob became daily occurrences. Syndicates had to arm themselves to fend off raids by the mob for supplies and forcible recruitment. It was a serious period of disorder as people took cover from running street battles and bombings as the mafia made its last stand against the Republic [1].
It was in this atmosphere that Director Grieco departed for the office in Naples where the trials were taking places as well as to have a better idea of the violence gripping the south.
As the passenger train carrying Grieco and much of his staff passed Gaeta, an explosion knocked the train off the rails and assaulted by masked gunmen. Security on the train, led by the National-Syndicalist affiliated Cesare Maria De Vecchi, attempted to hold off the relentless assault on the train until reinforcements from the Republican Guard could aid them. In the process de Vecchi and 10 others were killed, and Grieco suffered significant injuries. The explosion and ensuing crash was estimated to have killed about 35 other passengers.
The wreckage of the train outside Gaeta
By the time the Republican Guard arrived and the last of the mafia disappeared, residents of nearby settlements were already there attempting to free people from the smoldering train wreck.
The previous anti-mafia plans had taken their tolls on the mob. But what had really wrecked them were the end of their markets in the United States and the growing stability of the Republic. The final act of Unification and the collapsing American Union State sealed their fate. As the trial of the Society for Democratic Rebirth was taking place, the mafia was crushed and beaten into oblivion. For the most part though, the ensuing encounters with the Republican Guard continued to push the mafia into hiding.
It happened very quickly. What had been a problem since the beginning of the Republic had in the past eight years slowly been fought against, and with the successes of syndicalist forces in the United States, the revenue sources of the mafia was squeezed dry. In a way, the civil war in the United States was as much a liberating experience for Rome as it was for Chicago.
Grieco was taken to a hospital and made his way to Naples where he entered into the prosecution of the Society for Democratic Rebirth. The trial would go on for a month after that, with guilty charges handed to the accused and with it varying degrees of imprisonment ranging from three years to twenty. The mafia attacks began to scale down and much of their operations were being shut down and the black market beginning to be closed.
For all intents and purposes, the mafia had played its last game. Major leaders like Vito Cascioferro remained at large though now fled into hiding. They would no longer present the same threat to the Republic they had in years past.
As Italy was fighting its internal problems brought about by unification, another group of people rose up against oppression of their own. The revolutionaries in India had mentioned previously their contacts within Indochina and their attempts to aid resistance movements in the German colony of Vietnam. While this failed to materialize any revolts in the nation of Myanmar as the Bharitya Commune had hoped, but it made a successful smuggling route to Vietnamese liberation movements. On July 15th, the Germans found themselves with a full-scale uprising in its colony.
Already occupied with a tense war against Japan, the Germans opted to send a small group of elite marines to bolster that of the already existing colonial garrison. What they lacked in numbers they made up for in weapons at the very least, and with the training of the marines to back them up, the colonial garrison could destroy the rebels.
The nations of the Syndintern joined the movement formed by the Bharitya Commune to support the young Vietnamese state and declare its intentions for Germany to recognize the right of self-determination to the natives.
Whether the Vietnamese could win was a different matter. Some felt that they would be able to do so with their nationalistic sentiment behind them, while others questioned if it was possible for the syndicalist factions within the independence movement to assert itself over the others resisting German colonialism. That would remain to be seen.
Meanwhile, Beria and his Transcaucasian Socialist Republic ran into its inevitable conflict with the Russian Empire. Entering into August the TSR’s repression of the monarchist movement in its borders prompted Russia to issue a warning against the fledging nation. When the monarchists were still harassed, Russia used it as a pretext to open war against the small nation on August 2nd.
The nations of the Syndintern issued condemnations against the act of aggression- though they were alone in the world for it. For their part every nation ceased trade with the Russian Empire, but it really affected the Russian Empire little due to its other trading partners. The Commune of France was not in the position to aid the Mensheviks militarily- more so out of a pragmatic recognition that a war with Russia would be destructive for the Syndintern at this point.
Italy could do little but stand by and watch. For the Anarcho-Syndicalists in particular, it represented a passing of the last fragment of the Russian Revolution. While they were by and large pro-Bolshevik, the Mensheviks were still a close ally to the Syndintern.
The conquest did not take too long. Within three days Tibilisi was captured and only a handful of the leadership narrowly escaped the blockade in the Black Sea. Beria was not among them, and he disappeared after that.
And with that, the Russian Empire annexed Georgia and repressed the monarchists there demanding an independent Kingdom of Georgia. For Italian papers, it was merely a confirmation of what they had said before- no honor among thieves [2].
It appeared though the jubilation of Russia’s extension to its former Caucasus territories was a bit too much for some. Tsar Kyril Romanov died on September 18th in his palace at Petrograd, and was succeeded by his son, Vladimir.
The succession met little to the Syndintern- no real change would take place in the aggressive way the nation was acting. If anything, Marshal Denikin’s sway over the new Tsar might be even greater than he had over the former. It goes without saying that the fact he had technically “ruled” Russia longer than his father did made an impression on the new Tsar, and moved Denikin to a real power behind the throne.
The Union of Britain, until that point largely quiet beyond its participation in the Phalanstere International, was moved to action by events in the island of Iceland.
The Kingdom of Denmark, still suffering from economic woes even after slashing its spending, hesitantly decided to grant independence to Iceland and withdraw its operations from the island. While Iceland had already developed an economy and governance of its own thanks to home rule, it was still going to have to deal with the loss of an important source of revenue. Put into a deadly and uncertain world, the new nation of Iceland was approached by the Canadians for a lucrative deal for oil.
The agreement offered to Iceland a reliable supply of oil in exchange for recognition of Canadian rights in the market- essentially a preferred status. The government, looking for ways to preserve itself, agreed with out issue on October 11th .
The deal was not popular with the working class of Iceland, in particular those who worked in the fishing industries, as the fuel agreement gave Canada exclusive rights to its fishing waters off the coast of Greenland which many of the fishermen in Iceland used.
In the coming month the fisherman took strike action across the island, freezing much of the commerce and sabotaging oil shipments where they could. Talks were made of a larger demonstration in the capital of Reykjavik in the following month to force the government to renegotiate or cancel the agreement all together.
On November 24th, the fishermen of Iceland converged on Reykjavik and marched to the seat of government, where they were met by police and elements of the military. After claiming the fishermen had endangered the lives of the police, shots were fired and the demonstration turned into a riot that engulfed the island for the next few days.
On November 28th, acting on a request of help from the government which allowed Canada military access to Iceland in the future, the forces of Canada made plans to deploy troops to help put down the demonstrations in the city. The Union of Britain, having already inserted spies to ensure Iceland’s neutrality, reported back to their superiors that the first signs of Canadian dominance over Iceland were making itself clear.
In London, the CTU entered into an extraordinary session over a possible move by the monarchists in Canada potentially making their first step at “liberating” the home isle. The decision was made to move elements of the Republican Navy to blockade Iceland to prevent any further “interference” in Iceland’s affairs. By December 3rd, the blockade was in effect.
This raised the tension significantly between the two enemies as control over the North Atlantic became a key strategic issue to the two. Fuel and supplies were prevented from entering the island nation which raised the stakes. On December 20th, as unrest gripped the island, the government chose to cancel its first elections until the protests dissipated.
This was not received well by the opposition, who stormed out in protest and joined the ranks of the demonstrators. Members of the Popular Unity Party and the Nationalist Party agitated the demonstrators into a fury, and on December 23rd the demonstrators stormed the main building of the government. On December 24th, Canadian troops responded and attempted to take back the city, but were met by Union of Britain marines. This was the first major conflict between the Republican and Monarchist forces since the days of the revolution.
The Union of Britain found itself to have grossly under estimated the amount of soldiers the Canadians would send to aid the troubled government. Despite the welcome from the demonstrators, the Union of Britain found itself defeated by the Canadians and evacuated the island. Within a few hours, the blockade around the island was lifted and Canada swept up the demonstrators on the island and asserted itself in the North Atlantic.
The Canadian press termed it the “Miracle of Christmas”, referring to how the conflict had taken place across December 25th, and lauded its victory over the “godless dictators” in the Union of Britain. Certainly, an act of divine intervention much of the papers stated, claiming the Canadian forces were outnumbered by “hordes of traitors”.
It was a propaganda victory for Canada and a black eye for the Union of Britain. The monarchists now controlled a vital route and military rights in Iceland to potentially launch attacks on Britain itself. The CTU entered into deliberations over the defense of the home isles and training the populace to fend off its assaults. Delegations were sent to Chicago hoping the Combined Syndicates would agree to help the Union of Britain in an event of a war with Canada.
The Entente’s victory in Iceland was however decreased a bit by developments in a former partner, South Africa. After a victory by the National Party at the polls earlier that year, the new government set about in elevating in the European-descended citizens to privileged positions at the expense of the African and Asian citizens. The most controversial of these laws involved restrictions on marriage, separating ‘coloured’ persons to a different representative body, and finally the Pass Laws Act segregating society based on race.
These laws, particular the Pass Laws Act that was voted in that October, provoked protests by the population and created a crisis for the young government. Attempts at putting the demonstrations down ended in failure as protests continued unabated. Unwilling to go back on the new laws, the government responded with force.
Arrests were made against the Labor Party, in particular members who advocated “radical” social ideas. Demonstrators died by the thousands, but on December 26th, when the Entente was fresh off its victory over the Union of Britain, the government of South Africa fell to demonstrators and was replaced by a “National Unity” government, attempting to incorporate all aspects of the populace- African, Asian, Indian, and European. Two major figures of the Labor Party, Yusuf Dadoo and William H. Andrews, took top positions in the new government.
They Syndintern welcomed the news. It would be even better if the government would radicalize itself and aligned towards them- but of course it had to deal with its own significant internal issues. At any rate, it was good news none the less.
As the year closed and Italy looked to the next year, a curious event took place on its border with Switzerland. There had been rumors, sent by its spies operating in Switzerland, that two German citizens had escaped across the border to Switzerland, which refused to turn him into the authorities of the Empire, some days before. These two figures had now appeared on the Italian end of the border on a late night on December 28th, and after a talk with border guards there, were whisked way into a local office of the Foreign Affairs ministry. From there the two Germans put on a train to Rome, and few citizens of the town of Como noticed the strange affair.
One citizen who happened to be awake at the time, working as a street cleaner, said that the two were a couple, though the male had a distinctive look. As he recounted to a the Milan branch of La Repubblica, “The guy seemed to be a middle-aged fellow, maybe in his 50s. Had a mustache and the weirdest hair I’d ever seen. I think he even stuck his tongue out at me! That’s a fellow I’d recognize again if I ever saw him”.
______________________________________________________
[1] In the decades after, the mafia became a popular subject of movies in Italy. They were at times even romanticized, particularly in the period that they were in the decline and “fighting back” against the progress of modernity. Such movies were often blasted by the government and a few were even out straight banned for “offending” the victims of mafia attacks, though it did not deter the popularity of the genre.
[2] Recalling the Russian Empire’s war with the Don Cossack Union and its subsequent execution of Petr Krasnov and suppression of the Cossacks loyal to him.