Mambo Italiano! The Godfather of Italian AARs

[Calbeck]

Norm/Norm/Basic/CORE 0.91/FoW​

MAMBO ITALIANO!​

Siracusa, 17 June 1935
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, as his mother had named him, sat comfortably in his favorite overstuffed Victorian, a gift of decades past from the English Queen who gave it her name to his own country's Emmanuelle II.

It had the slightly musty scent of the very old, and he took care not to spill his vino on the armrest as he set the glass down. One must always have respect for the very old, Benito knew, for old things and old ways could teach much to the present.

Which, he knew, was the purpose of his guest's visit. He nodded politely for the other, standing before him, flanked by his courtesy bodyguards, to speak.

A low baritone issued from the old man. His stance was stooped, palsied hands resting upon a cane of gold-capped ivory, but nonetheless the words carried the tinges of power and prestige upon the Sicilian breeze.

"My good Benito. How healthy and well you look today...it pleases these aging bones to see what use you have put your youth to. As well as the use of my family's assets."

Mussolini simply nodded, watching as the old man shifted his grip on his cane to a more comfortable position.

"Many loans, many promises, Benito. You have united Italy, given her back her pride, given her people hope...but ah, hope fills the stomach not so well as good credit with one's neighbors, eh?"

Again il Duce nodded. His mother had been a schoolteacher, his father a blacksmith with strong socialist beliefs, and he had followed in his ideological footsteps to move from humble roots to the height of power in his home country, largely on the basis of his personal charisma and the promises he made to the Italian people of the better life he would lead them to. Many, many promises...but even the most charismatic needed backers, and his father's friends had known people who knew people...

The old man sat down now, in an identical chair opposite Mussolini. Without a word, one of his bodyguards poured him a glass from il Duce's bottle, and he took his time savoring the scent and clarity before taking a tiny sip and, finally, allowing the glass to be taken away. He folded his hands in his lap.

"You, Benito, you are now the premier power in all Italy --- even the King looks to you for leadership. You return us to our days of Roman Empire --- yet even Caesar required his loyalists, eh? His guard, his watchers, his...advisors. Not so?"

The dictator steepled his hands and reflected on the road that had brought him here...the Road to Rome. The March. Anarchy threatening to disintegrate the nation, ineffectually resisted by three consecutive governments unwilling to take the necessary steps. Mussolini had seen it. So had his backers, who had fueled and assisted his rise within the still-young Fascia movement until he was a respected Parliamentarian as well as the publisher of his own paper, the Il Popolo d'Italia.

And so he had taken command of the "blackshirts", where none other seemed able or willing to do so, and simply commanded --- and it was made so. The Fascists proved their capabilities by seizing and implementing control wherever they moved, bringing at least some form of order to stem the tides of chaos. King Emmanuelle could have called down the army on their heads, but on arrival in Rome Mussolini was instead offered the chance to mount a government of his own, becoming the youngest Italian Premier in history. Not even the rise of Caesar Augustus had been as meteoric.

That had been fourteen years ago, and his backers had remained with him the entire way, smoothing the transition to absolute power. First they had extorted and blackmailed support from the Liberal Parliament to ensure the security of his dictatorship as all other parties became outlawed one by one. Control over the press, and cooperation from major corporations, fell into line as kneecaps were smashed and bodies were plunged into night-clad rivers.

Mussolini's personal skill at propaganda diluted the power and authority of his opposition still further. Press, radio, education, films — all were carefully supervised to manufacture the illusion that fascism was the doctrine of the 20th century, replacing liberalism and democracy. By 1929, even the Vatican had recognized the legitimacy of the Italian Fascist State.

And in recent years, he had been ramping up public expectation towards the aim of reaffirming and expanding Italy's faltering colonial holdings. First had been the consolidation of Libya, then the buildup towards seizing Abyssinia from the existing small colonies of Italian Somaliland on the east and Eritrea in the north. So far, everything seemed to be progressing in order, and it would likely be early October when the first waves were to launch. If all went well, the three regions could be consolidated in the name of Emperor Emanuelle III as Ethiopia --- or better yet, "Italian East Africa" --- sometime early next year.

There was Albania to consider, which had become ever more reliant on Italian economic support ever since the nation was founded in 1924. It was possible that the tiny but resource-laden nation could be made a protectorate within the next few years, depending on the reaction from its eccentric leader King Zog.

But all this, and more which was to come, would never have come about were it not for the whip-snappers and financial support made available to him right here in Sicily. Whips and support that could just as easily be turned against him, were he to be churlish in his gratitude or repayments.

He slid forward from his chair into a kneeling position and kissed the ring automatically proffered by his guest.

"Don Ferro. What you ask of me, be it in my power, I give you freely."

The old man smiled.

 

[Mettermrck]

Ah, great concept. I understand. You found paradise in Italy, had a good trade, made a good living. The police protected you; and there were courts of law. And you didn't need a friend like me. But now you come to me and you say, "Don Ferro, give me justice." But you don't ask with respect. You don't offer friendship. You don't even think to call me Godfather. Instead, you come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married, and you ask me to do murder, for money. Nice start, Calbeck! Look forward to more.

 

[Calbeck]

There is not much that can be reliably said about the role of the Mafia in Italy during the Second World War. It is true that the introduction of organized Fascism resulted in many capos acting as de facto town mayors being thrown out of office, and it is also true that at least some Mafia leaders were imprisoned by Mussolini's "Iron Prefect", Cesare Mori.

However, sources differ on whether this actually meant a bad relationship between the Mafia and Mussolini's government. There was no one universal "Mafia", after all --- it is, and was, a collection of groups, clans and extended families each of which sought their own betterment even at the expense of others. Any actual alliance between mafioso and the Fascists would have virtually required picking one family (or confederation of families) to side with and persecuting the rest.

It is also known that while during the '30s there were distinct blood-kin relationships between Italian and American mafias, these often parted ways when business complications or other factors arose. Of all the ties that bind in the Mafia, blood relations are actually one of the weakest. Don Vito Cascia Ferro is an historical figure, who starting in 1928 tried to seize control of the American Mafia by sending his own hand-picked men abroad to infiltrate and subjugate. The attempt failed when factional fighting broke out in the early '30s, and historically Ferro was arrested by Mussolini in '29 at any rate.

But Ferro's men survived, and made enough of an impact that the American Mafia was reorganized under five "Families" (blood relations not being important at this point). "Lucky" Luciano, who headed one of these Families, would later assist the US in its invasion of Sicily by enlisting operatives within the local mafias.

This AAR postulates that Mussolini was introduced to Mafia support early in his political career which provided him with the material and logistical support necessary to pull off the March on Rome in 1922 as well as smoothing his way to consolidation of power. Rather than turn on his benefactors, Mussolini enlists their aid both as underground enforcers of his regime as well as counting the Dons --- Ferro in particular --- as close personal advisors.

The Dons, for their part, want to see an ever-more-prosperous Italy, to include imperial expansion, since the better the economy does, the better they do. What they do NOT want is for Italy to become overshadowed by Germany or embroiled in an unwinnable war. Under their advisement, Italy walks a tightrope between expansion and neutrality, supporting the Danube Pact to contain Germany while also rebuffing Hitler's overtures of friendship.

And so the scene is set, Italy charts its own course...will Mussolini realize his dream of the Med as "Mare Nostrum", or will it all end with knives in the dark?

 

[Mettermrck]

Well, I like the idea already. I know the mafia was used in U.S. ports to provide security for shipping? I wonder how the elements in America will work now that the mafia is tending towards Mussolini.

 

[Calbeck]

One of the first things the Dons advised, on examining Italy's position at the end of 1935, was that il Duce reduce his world vision from Romantic to Reasonable. Italian forces were poorly distributed in piecemeal packets that, should actual shooting break out, would do no one any good. The tiny land, air, and naval forces in Libya, Cagliari and Rhodos were recalled home, as were the ships based in Mogadishu and Asmara.

Some ships, like the Spica destroyer class, had such short range as to cripple the speed of any task force they might be assigned to. These, as well as a squadron of outdated coastal torpedo boats sitting in Tripoli harbor, were assigned to secondary services such as coastal patrol and convoy protection. One Spica still under construction was summarily scrapped.

And militias as frontline troops? Pfaugh! All they did, for practical purposes, was occupy space and eat rations better expended on real troop formations. The Libyan and Ethiopian militia divisions were disbanded.

At the same time, the Transport Fleet under Admiral Ciano moved Lt. General Messe's Corpo d'Armata Celere --- the nation's only cavalry corps --- down to Asmara, even as Field Marshal Graziani's twelve divisions began their inexorable march towards the capital. This would block any move by Ethiopian forces to take Asmara and cut supply, as well as allow for a speedy reaction force should things go sour. To the south, Balbo took command of Fronte Sud and began moving up to Harar.

Elsewhere, it became rapidly evident that Italy was simply shorthanded and technologically outmoded. With eighteen divisions detached overseas, there were barely adequate troops to defend the shores and borders of the homeland from potential invasion. Massive fortifications could make up for some of the shortfall, but only if industrial expansion in nearly half the home provinces were sacrificed for years to come.

At the same time, if Italy were going to expand, it was going to do it at the expense of its lesser-industrialized neighbors, and that meant Italy would be taking in more in raw resources than captured factories. To provide the engine needed for such an endeavor, all-out industrial expansion was an absolute priority. Too much was on the to-do list, and too few factories existed to get the job done. By January, every single province under Italian control capable of the job was erecting new production sites.

This in turn reduced the amount of production left available for military and research functions, leaving an entire fleet's worth of shipping high and dry on the building slips in various stages of incompletion. But the ships could wait. The expansions could not.

One thing the military consolidation did was allow the massive stockpiles of oil and supplies to be returned to Rome from Libya and a half-dozen tiny outposts. As well, Italian buy options were taken off the world market for the duration of the war with Ethiopia --- they wouldn't net much in any event, and Italy was producing surpluses in every area but rubber, which stockpile was nowhere near critical.

Finally, research goals had to be reexamined in light of tight resources. Industrial improvements were an absolute necessity, as well as the pursuit of electronics. Mussolini himself dreamed of a radio set with sufficient range that he might one day personally command troops in Africa from the comfort of his villa in Rome! Besides, radar looked like a promising concept, especially if it allowed the Italian fleets to spot British or French shipping more easily.

Some misfit general had already started to put in place shortened training regimens for pilots, but the simple fact was production limits would likely keep the Italian Air Force small. Better to stick with quality rather than try for quantity...and besides, it did nothing to double the number of aircraft on the wing if the people in the cockpits were too green. They'd simply be shot down that much more easily, and aircraft were going to be too valuable for such wastage.

Likewise, it was decided to eschew Armor research. Italy had no more than a handful of tankettes, and it would take years to develop a truly worthwhile battle vehicle for mass production. Meantime, other needed areas, such as infantry weapons and special gear for commando troops, would go lacking. Better to have a high-quality infantry than a low-grade armor corps!

And to top things off, the office of Minister of Intelligence was shifted to Enzo Galbiati, a young man late of the diplomatic corps whose capacity for weighing the moods of nations and their leaders was considered substantially superior to his predecessor's fixation with shipping.

The last meetings having settled affairs, il Duce took to his favorite study and settled in with cigar, brandy, and the radio whilst awaiting word from the front.

 

[Calbeck]

Well, I like the idea already. I know the mafia was used in U.S. ports to provide security for shipping? I wonder how the elements in America will work now that the mafia is tending towards Mussolini.

Thanks Mett! I'm actually surprised no one tried something like this earlier. Note, I'm going for a more historical feel, a real sort of "what-if" rather than for comedy or stereotypes. The Italian Mafia is substantially different from the American version, and neither version came close to being monolithic. So expect quite a bit of factionalization..."the Dons" really only represent a double handful of Italian "families", so it's not like Mussolini just inherited a Fifth Column in the US.

Then again, depending on how things go, that might be just what he gets...whether he wants it or not! -

 

[elbasto]

The lack of true leadership it's what proved fatal to Italy in ww2, as someone pointed out in this forums, their IC should be much higher it is just that Paradox reduced it in recent patches in order to reflect this.