Il Piccolo
- French NCO stabbed at Neustadt
- The work of Hon. Barduzzi in Trieste
- Friendship between Italy and France
Il Piccolo's page of 5 October 1926 carried a Paris dispatch, drawn from the Petit Parisien, describing how a German civilian in a crowded Neustadt restaurant pressed a drink on Sergeant Audigou of the French 12th Artillery, talked of killing his own wife, and then, without any quarrel, stabbed the sergeant near the heart. A Brescia communiqué from the Fascist party press office reported that party secretary Turati had approved the work of Barduzzi, extraordinary commissioner of the Trieste Fascio, and the guidelines of the Verona federation, followed by the opening of a note that parliament might reopen in November. A London dispatch relayed a Morning Post editorial insisting that Chamberlain's meeting with Mussolini at Livorno was not aimed at France and that Italo-French friendship served British interests. The reading covers three partial excerpts, two of which break off mid-sentence.
This edition translates three excerpts from a partly legible page. A library label and a stamp cover parts of the masthead and the top-right header, cropped column edges lose words at line ends, and the Neustadt and Barduzzi articles break off mid-sentence. The line 'Rivelazioni sull'attività di Guglielmo' appears merged into the Neustadt text from a neighbouring item. The commentary leaves out the Germersheim background to the Neustadt case and the reasons for Barduzzi's appointment, because no verified source for them was obtained.
Translation
French NCO stabbed at Neustadt
French NCO stabbed at Neustadt. Revelations about the activity of Wilhelm. PARIS, 4 — The Petit Parisien reports from Neustadt that a French non-commissioned officer has been the victim of an attack. Yesterday at about 4 o'clock, Sergeant Audigou, of the 12th Artillery, was having a drink in a restaurant on the Friedrichstrasse. The room was crowded with customers, all of them German. Suddenly one of them, dressed in civilian clothes, got up, went over to the French sergeant and invited him to drink from his glass. The French NCO refused at first, but seeing that he would not manage to free himself from the German's insistence, he ended up accepting. The German, however, did not leave him in peace; on the contrary, he drew him into a long conversation, in the course of which he took a dagger out of his pocket, intended, as he said, to kill his wife, who lived in Lonbrecht, a small place near Neustadt. Suddenly, without any explanation, without the slightest quarrel having arisen between them, the German seized the French NCO's head, pulled it back and drove the dagger into the region of his heart. Having struck the bl—
The work of Hon. Barduzzi in Trieste
The work of Hon. Barduzzi in Trieste approved by Hon. Turati. BRESCIA, 4 — The Press Office of the P.N.F. announces: «The general secretary of the P.N.F. received Hon. Barduzzi, extraordinary commissioner of the Fascio of Trieste, from whom he received a report on the action he has carried out in that province and on the present condition of Triestine Fascism. Hon. Turati, having examined the situation, approved the work of the extraordinary commissioner. Hon. Turati then received the secretary of the provincial Fascist federation of Verona, Mr. Mutto, who reported to him on the situation of the Party in the province. Hon. Turati expressed his satisfaction with the action carried out, approving its guidelines. The Chamber and the Senate would reopen in November. ROME, 4 — The Head of Government received at Palaz—
Friendship between Italy and France
…does not conflict with British interests. LONDON, 4 — Today the Morning Post devotes an editorial to the Chamberlain–Mussolini and Chamberlain–Briand meetings. The paper takes up the theme it itself favours and has discussed many times in its columns: Italo-French friendship. The union of the two Latin nations appears in the paper's eyes as one of the most salient results of the war. Italy and France fought together, saving Europe and civilization by their valour. The Morning Post continues: We heard with the greatest regret that the Thoiry meeting had brought some coolness into relations between Italy and France. This slanderous rumour has been denied, and so too has the insinuation of those who believed they could see in the Mussolini–Chamberlain talk a political act directed against France. No, Chamberlain did not go to Livorno to hatch plots against the French nation. He is aware that the safety and peace of Europe depend on the friendship of Italy and France. England, keeping this reality in mind, does not forget that her own interest lies in a continuation of friendly Italo-French relations. Chamberlain and Mussolini are not hatching intrigues against peace.
Context
Augusto Turati and the Brescia dateline
The Barduzzi item is a communiqué from the press office of the National Fascist Party, datelined Brescia, presenting the party's general secretary, "on. Turati", as the man who reviewed and approved the work of the extraordinary commissioner in Trieste. Augusto Turati held the post of PNF secretary from 1926 to 1930, a period in which he helped consolidate Mussolini's rule. He also sat in the Chamber of Deputies from 1924 to 1934, which is why the paper gives him the title onorevole. Turati's own political base was Brescia, where he had been secretary of the local Fascio; that background fits the Brescia dateline of a statement about Trieste and Verona, though the page does not say why it was issued there rather than in Rome. The communiqué shows the working relationship the party wanted to display: provincial leaders, an extraordinary commissioner in Trieste and a federation secretary in Verona, travelled to report to the national secretary, who then endorsed their action and their directives. The page itself does not say why Barduzzi had been made commissioner or which local dispute his work was meant to resolve.
How the Chamberlain–Mussolini meetings were held
The Morning Post editorial relayed from London concerns Austen Chamberlain's meeting with Mussolini at Livorno, one of a series of private encounters between the two men. Chamberlain was British Foreign Secretary from November 1924 to June 1929, and in that period, as the historian Peter Edwards established from the Chamberlain Papers and British and Italian diplomatic records, he and Mussolini met five times in complete privacy, without aides or even interpreters, since both spoke fluent French. The communiqués issued afterwards stressed personal friendship and political harmony but made no specific reference to what had been discussed. That format shapes how the London dispatch should be read: because the substance of the Livorno talk was not published, the editorial's assurances about Chamberlain's purpose are the interpretation of a sympathetic British newspaper, which this page relayed, rather than a report of what the two men said.
Why the editorial denied plots against France
The editorial's insistence that Chamberlain "did not go to Livorno to hatch plots against the French nation" answers suspicions that these meetings regularly provoked. Edwards writes that, given the vague communiqués, rumours of secret agreements and cynical deals abounded. Mussolini was compelled to deny publicly the widespread assumption that he sought Chamberlain's approval for Italian foreign policy, and Chamberlain was obliged to spend his 1927 holidays in Spain to avoid the political speculation that another visit to Italy would have caused. Working from the archives, Edwards concludes that much of this speculation was very wide of the mark. The paper's dispatch adds a specific layer: the Morning Post tied Livorno to the Thoiry meeting, reported regret at rumours that Thoiry had cooled Italo-French relations, and declared those rumours slanderous and already denied. The claim that continued Italo-French friendship was Britain's own interest is the Morning Post's editorial position as reported here.
Original
Sottufficiale francese pugnalato a Neustadt
Sottufficiale francese pugnalato a Neustadt Rivelazioni sull'attività di Guglielmo PARIGI, 4 Il Petit Parisien ha da Neustadt che un sottufficiale francese è stato vittima di un attentato. Ieri verso le 4, il sergente Audigou, appartenente al 12. o artiglieria stava bevendo una bibita in un ristorante della Friedrichstrasse. La sala era affollata di clienti tutti tedeschi. Improvvisamente uno di essi vestito in borghese si alzò e avvicinatosi al sergente francese lo invitò a bere nel suo bicchiere. Il sottufficiale francese rifiutò dapprima, ma vedendo che non sarebbe riuscito a liberarsi dalle insistenze del tedesco finì per accettare. Il tedesco però non lo lasciò in pace, anzi impegnò con lui una lunga conversazione nel corso della quale trasse di tasca un pugnale, destinato, a quanto disse ad uccidere la moglie, abitante a Lonbrecht, piccola località nei dintorni di Neustadt. D'improvviso, senza alcuna spiegazione, senza che il minimo diverbio fosse sorto fra di essi, il tedesco afferrò il capo del sottufficiale francese, lo trasse indietro e gli conficcò il pugnale nella regione del cuore. Fatto il col -
L'opera dell'on. Barduzzi a Trieste
L'opera dell'on. Barduzzi a Trieste approvata dall ' on. Turati BRESCIA, 4 L'Ufficio stampa del P. N. F. comunica: «Il segretario generale del P. N. F. ha ricevuto l'on. Barduzzi, Commissario straordinario del Fascio di Trieste, dal quale ha avuto relazione sulla azione da lui svolta in quella provincia e sull'attuale condizione del Fascismo triestino. L'on. Turati, esaminata la situazione, ha approvato l'opera del Commissario straordinario. L'on. Turati ha ricevuto poi il segretario della Federazione provinciale fascista di Verona, sig. Mutto, che gli ha riferito sopra la situazione del Partito nella provincia. L'on. Turati si è compiaciuto della azione svolta approvandone le direttive. La Camera e il Senato si riaprirebbero in novembre ROMA, 4 Il Capo del Governo ha ricevuto a Palaz -
L'amicizia fra Italia e Francia
non contrasta con gli interessi britannici LONDRA, 4 Oggi la Morning Post dedica un articolo editoriale ai convegni Chamberlain-Mussolini e Chamberlain-Briand. Il giornale riprende il tema da lui stesso preferito e più volte discusso nelle sue colonne: l'amicizia italo-francese. L'unione delle due nazioni latine appare agli occhi del giornale uno dei più salienti risultati della guerra. L'Italia e la Francia hanno combattuto insieme salvando col loro valore l'Europa e la civiltà. La Morning Post continua: Abbiamo udito col più grande rammarico come il convegno di Thoiry avesse portato qualche freddezza nei rapporti fra l'Italia e la Francia. Tale voce calunniosa è stata smentita e così pure è stata smentita l'insinuazione di coloro che nel colloquio Mussolini Chamberlain credettero di poter vedere un atto politico rivolto contro la Francia. No, Chamberlain non si è recato a Livorno per ordire trame contro la nazione francese. Egli è conscio che la salvezza e la pace d'Europa dipendono dall'amicizia dell'Italia e della Francia. L ' Inghilterra tenendo presente questa realtà non dimentica che il proprio interesse risiede in una continuazione degli amichevoli rapporti italo-francesi. Chamberlain e Mussolini non ordiscono intrighi contro la pace.
Source: Source: Internet Archive