Gabriele d'Annunzio 's march from Ronchi to Fiume on September 12, 1919, was intended to resolve with a bold coup the impasse regarding the definition of the border between Italy and the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The annexation of the port of Carnaro to Italy was not contemplated by the London Pact , but was proclaimed by the Fiume National Council on October 30, 1918, invoking the principle of self-determination of peoples, which was part of the 14-point program intended to guarantee world peace and on the basis of which President Woodrow Wilson had dragged the United States into World War I. The redefinition of the border in Dalmatia compared to what had been promised in the British capital on 26 April 1915 and the obstacles placed by the other victorious powers regarding the annexation of Fiume (without dwelling on the failure to participate in the partition of the Ottoman Empire and the German colonies) fueled the rhetoric of the “mutilated victory”, which shook Gabriele d'Annunzio from the torpor of his golden Venetian retreat.

Born in a military and nationalist context, the Fiume expedition would later transform Fiume into a "city of life", the setting for a "fifth season" that was meant to realize the palingenetic ideals that the war had inspired and the peace conference had largely frustrated, with particular reference to the new European border arrangements and the autonomy promised to the colonies when France and England had to swell the ranks of their own bloodless armies with robust injections of colonial units. The League of Oppressed Peoples and the Carta del Carnaro were the projects that best embodied the libertarian and revolutionary spirit that some of the Poet's collaborators (Alceste De Ambris, Leon Kochnitzky, Eugenio Coselschi, Ludovico Toeplitz, Giovanni Bonmartini and Henry Furst) tried to instill in an expedition that continually risked being reduced to a lever with which the Kingdom of Italy sought to destabilize the neighboring Yugoslav state by establishing contacts with Croatian, Slovenian, Montenegrin and Kosovar separatists, starting from agents present in Fiume (Giovanni Giuriati, Corrado Zoli and Giovanni Host Venturi). Relations with Irish, Indian, and Egyptian representatives came to nothing due to the lack of adequate funding to fuel revolutionary ferment, while the work on the fragile foundations of the Karađeorđević kingdom began to become threatening. Thus, on November 12, 1920, Rome and Belgrade defined their border in Rapallo. Rijeka would become a free state (as had happened with Danzig and Memel); of Dalmatia, only Zadar, along with a few islands, would become part of the Kingdom of Italy; the land border was set along the Julian Alps, thus meeting the demands of the Royal Army and disappointing the expectations of the Italian Navy, which wanted the whole of Dalmatia to ensure full control of the Adriatic. Disappointed by this arrangement, d'Annunzio found himself isolated in protest, since Admiral Millo, the military governor of Dalmatia who in the previous months had shown him friendship and made it appear that he was equally ready for military insubordination if all of Dalmatia was not annexed, fell back into line and withdrew his troops from the territories that had come under Yugoslav sovereignty.

To prevent foreign interference, Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti pledged to put an end to the D'Annunzio rebellion, which in the meantime, to demonstrate its vigour, had occupied the islands of Arbe and Veglia. Some soldiers still deserted to reach Fiume and lend support to the Commander, who could count on approximately 2.500 legionaries, but the troops under the command of General Enrico Caviglia were now besieging the capital of Kvarner from land and sea. Benito Mussolini urged the Julian squadristi not to intervene, as he understood that the Fiume cause was doomed to fail; however, the government feared repercussions on internal public order if it were necessary to resort to force, so it took advantage of the Christmas holidays in newspaper publications to proceed with the attack on the defensive positions set up by D'Annunzio deserters and Fiume volunteers.

From December 24th to 29th, what the Abruzzese poet himself called the "Bloody Christmas" took place , resulting in 25 deaths and 139 injuries among the regular troops and 31 deaths and 61 injuries among the insurgents, including many civilians. Dejected by this episode of civil war between Italians, d'Annunzio decided to surrender, to avoid further loss of life and damage to the city, which was subjected to shelling. The Commander would give his last public speech in Fiume, a stirring funeral oration at the Cosala cemetery , where the fallen of those days were buried.

Lorenzo Salimbeni 

Source: Il Giornale d'Italia

Gabriele d'Annunzio 's march from Ronchi to Fiume on September 12, 1919, was intended to resolve with a bold coup the impasse regarding the definition of the border between Italy and the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The annexation of the port of Carnaro to Italy was not contemplated by the London Pact, but was proclaimed by the Fiume National Council on October 30, 1918, invoking the principle of self-determination of peoples, which was part of the 14-point program intended to guarantee world peace and on the basis of which President Woodrow Wilson had dragged the United States into World War I. The redefinition of the border in Dalmatia compared to what had been promised in the British capital on 26 April 1915 and the obstacles placed by the other victorious powers regarding the annexation of Fiume (without dwelling on the failure to participate in the partition of the Ottoman Empire and the German colonies) fueled the rhetoric of the “ mutilated victory ”, which shook Gabriele d'Annunzio from the torpor of his golden Venetian retreat.

Born in a military and nationalist context, the Fiume expedition would later transform Fiume into a “ city of life ”, the setting for a “fifth season” that was meant to realise the palingenetic ideals that the war had aroused and the peace conference had largely frustrated, with particular reference to the new European border arrangements and the autonomy promised to the colonies when France and England had to swell the ranks of their own bloodless armies with robust injections of colonial units. The League of Oppressed Peoples and the Carta del Carnaro were the projects that best embodied the libertarian and revolutionary spirit that some of the Poet's collaborators (Alceste De Ambris, Leon Kochnitzky, Eugenio Coselschi, Ludovico Toeplitz, Giovanni Bonmartini and Henry Furst) tried to instill in an expedition that continually risked being reduced to a lever with which the Kingdom of Italy sought to destabilize the neighboring Yugoslav state by establishing contacts with Croatian, Slovenian, Montenegrin and Kosovar separatists, starting from agents present in Fiume (Giovanni Giuriati, Corrado Zoli and Giovanni Host Venturi). Relations with Irish, Indian, and Egyptian representatives came to nothing due to the lack of adequate funding to fuel revolutionary ferment, while the work on the fragile foundations of the Karađeorđević kingdom began to become threatening. Thus, on November 12, 1920, Rome and Belgrade defined their border in Rapallo. Rijeka would become a free state (as had happened with Danzig and Memel); of Dalmatia, only Zadar, along with a few islands, would become part of the Kingdom of Italy; the land border was set along the Julian Alps, thus meeting the demands of the Royal Army and disappointing the expectations of the Italian Navy, which wanted the whole of Dalmatia to ensure full control of the Adriatic. Disappointed by this arrangement, d'Annunzio found himself isolated in protest, since Admiral Millo , the military governor of Dalmatia who in the previous months had shown him friendship and led him to believe that he was equally ready for military insubordination if all of Dalmatia was not annexed, fell back into line and withdrew his troops from the territories that had passed under Yugoslav sovereignty.

To prevent foreign interference, Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti pledged to put an end to the D'Annunzio rebellion, which in the meantime, to demonstrate its vigour, had occupied the islands of Arbe and Veglia. Some soldiers still deserted to reach Fiume and lend support to the Commander, who could count on approximately 2.500 legionaries, but the troops under General Caviglia were now besieging the Kvarner capital from land and sea. Benito Mussolini urged the Julian squadristi not to intervene, as he understood that the Fiume cause was doomed to fail; however, the government feared repercussions on internal public order if it were necessary to resort to force, so it took advantage of the Christmas break in newspaper publications to proceed with the attack on the defensive positions set up by D'Annunzio deserters and Fiume volunteers.

From December 24th to 29th, what the Abruzzese poet himself called the "Bloody Christmas" took place , resulting in 25 deaths and 139 injuries among the regular troops and 31 deaths and 61 injuries among the insurgents, including many civilians. Dejected by this episode of civil war between Italians, d'Annunzio decided to surrender, to avoid further loss of life and damage to the city, which was subjected to shelling. The Commander would give his last public speech in Fiume, a stirring funeral oration at the Cosala cemetery , where the fallen of those days were buried.

Lorenzo Salimbeni