Italian War Slogans

Discussions on all aspects of Italy under Fascism from the March on Rome to the end of the war.
carolwmahs
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Italian War Slogans

#1

Post by carolwmahs » 09 Feb 2006, 02:50

The Italian language is beautiful, and in the '30s it was used to craft some remarkably effective propaganda slogans. Can anyone add to the ones below?

"Sempre Avanti Italia!" Always Forward Italy!

"Credere! Obbedire! Combattere!" Believe! Obey! Fight!

He Who Hesitates is Lost! (don't know the Italian translation)

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#2

Post by zaptiè » 09 Feb 2006, 10:30

the transalation is : CHI SI FERMA è PERDUTO
I added MOLTI NEMICI MOLTO ONORE ( MANY ENEMIES MUCH MORE HONOR)
and , in latin USQUE AD FINEM (UNTIL TO THE END)


carolwmahs
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Mussolini Quotes

#3

Post by carolwmahs » 09 Feb 2006, 18:44

Thanks! Here are some of Mussolini's quotes, courtesy of:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/autho ... olini.html

All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.
Benito Mussolini

Fascism is a religion. The twentieth century will be known in history as the century of Fascism.
Benito Mussolini

Fascism, the more it considers and observes the future and the development of humanity, quite apart from political considerations of the moment, believes neither in the possibility nor the utility of perpetual peace.
Benito Mussolini

It is humiliating to remain with our hands folded while others write history. It matters little who wins. To make a people great it is necessary to send them to battle even if you have to kick them in the pants. That is what I shall do.
Benito Mussolini

Socialism is a fraud, a comedy, a phantom, a blackmail.
Benito Mussolini

The best blood will at some time get into a fool or a mosquito.
Benito Mussolini

The function of a citizen and a soldier are inseparable.
Benito Mussolini

The Liberal State is a mask behind which there is no face; it is a scaffolding behind which there is no building.
Benito Mussolini

The truth is that men are tired of liberty.
Benito Mussolini

This is the epitaph I want on my tomb: "Here lies one of the most intelligent animals who ever appeared on the face of the earth."
Benito Mussolini

War alone brings up to their highest tension all human energies and imposes the stamp of nobility upon the peoples who have the courage to make it.
Benito Mussolini

War is to man what maternity is to a woman. From a philosophical and doctrinal viewpoint, I do not believe in perpetual peace.
Benito Mussolini

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FRANCY RITTER
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#4

Post by FRANCY RITTER » 09 Feb 2006, 19:02

HI!! :)

Another frase is.. IL DUCE HA SEMPRE RAGIONE =THE DUCE HAS ALWAYS REASON.


[edited by moderator]

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Lupo Solitario
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#5

Post by Lupo Solitario » 09 Feb 2006, 20:25

a debate on this stuff had been some time ago on Comando Supremo:

http://www.comandosupremo.com/forum/vie ... php?t=2461

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Davide Pastore
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#6

Post by Davide Pastore » 09 Feb 2006, 21:08

If slogans could win a war by themselves, Italy will be a world superpower.

Davide

carolwmahs
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thanks

#7

Post by carolwmahs » 10 Feb 2006, 17:58

Lupo Solitario wrote:a debate on this stuff had been some time ago on Comando Supremo:

http://www.comandosupremo.com/forum/vie ... php?t=2461
thanks, that's an excellent resource. what a list! don't think any other wwii combatant had something like that...

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Italian war slogans

#8

Post by lappino » 13 Feb 2006, 14:43

Hi everybody,
being a "concrete and steel" explorer, especially the one of "Vallo Alpino" (italian pre-WW2 fortifications), I have seen many fascist slogans still very much "alive and well" on the walls of bunkers or underground casernes.
Having checked the sites mentioned on this thread, I think that there are still some more slogans that I could add, even supply pictures of (if there's any interest):
- Di qui non si passa! (Italian "Border Guards" (Guardia alla Frontiera - GaF) motto) - One shall not pass here!
- Sempre avanti ad ogni costo! - Ever forward no mather the price...sometimes with the addition of "per la grandezza della patria" - for the greatness of the fatherland
- Coraggio e sangue freddo! - Courage and cold blood!
- Ogni colpo abbatte un nemico! - Every shot kills an enemy!
- Solo con la disciplina si arriva alla potenza, solo con il sacrificio si tocca la gloria! - Only with discipline one gets the power, only with sacrifice one can touch the glory!
- La GaF si ricorda di essere la sentinella avanzata della patria! - The "GaF" remembers its role as the forward sentinel of the fatherland!
- Quando alla patria si e' dato tutto, non si e' ancora dato abbastanza! - When everything is given to the fatherland, it is still not enough!
- Sempre vigili e pronti alla lotta! - Always alert and ready for the fight!
- Le mitragliatrici non bastano se non c'e' il cuore che le faccia cantare! - Machine guns are not enough if there's no heart to make them sing!
Maybe there are already known, and my translations sometimes use certain amount of "poetic licence", but I hope that I had been of some use.
Vladimir

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Davide Pastore
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#9

Post by Davide Pastore » 13 Feb 2006, 18:17

Fascist Italy had a penchant for painting slogans on nearly any usable surface. According to a common story here, one of the favourite Mussolini's motto, "Noi Tireremo Diritto!" (We will keep a straight course) sometimes appeared on walls near some turn of the road, forcing car drivers to choose between disobedience (plus safety) and deference (plus a car accident) :lol:

Another one, particularly successfull (and nearly musical in its cadence): "E' l'aratro che traccia il solco, ma è la spada che lo difende" (It is the ploughshare which traces the line, but it is the sword which defend it).

Davide

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Re: Italian war slogans

#10

Post by carolwmahs » 14 Feb 2006, 00:45

lappino wrote:Hi everybody,
being a "concrete and steel" explorer, especially the one of "Vallo Alpino" (italian pre-WW2 fortifications), I have seen many fascist slogans still very much "alive and well" on the walls of bunkers or underground casernes.
Having checked the sites mentioned on this thread, I think that there are still some more slogans that I could add, even supply pictures of (if there's any interest):
- Di qui non si passa! (Italian "Border Guards" (Guardia alla Frontiera - GaF) motto) - One shall not pass here!
- Sempre avanti ad ogni costo! - Ever forward no mather the price...sometimes with the addition of "per la grandezza della patria" - for the greatness of the fatherland
- Coraggio e sangue freddo! - Courage and cold blood!
- Ogni colpo abbatte un nemico! - Every shot kills an enemy!
- Solo con la disciplina si arriva alla potenza, solo con il sacrificio si tocca la gloria! - Only with discipline one gets the power, only with sacrifice one can touch the glory!
- La GaF si ricorda di essere la sentinella avanzata della patria! - The "GaF" remembers its role as the forward sentinel of the fatherland!
- Quando alla patria si e' dato tutto, non si e' ancora dato abbastanza! - When everything is given to the fatherland, it is still not enough!
- Sempre vigili e pronti alla lotta! - Always alert and ready for the fight!
- Le mitragliatrici non bastano se non c'e' il cuore che le faccia cantare! - Machine guns are not enough if there's no heart to make them sing!
Maybe there are already known, and my translations sometimes use certain amount of "poetic licence", but I hope that I had been of some use.
Vladimir
Thanks, those were great. Photos would be neat, but aren't necessary. Would hate to put you in any danger taking those. Decaying fortifications can be very dangerous. These slogans seem sad and almost comical now, but I wonder how many young men were fooled into believing them and said them with conviction like a religious chant. Empty phrases made up by a bunch of marketing guys sitting in a room somewhere.

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#11

Post by lappino » 14 Feb 2006, 14:20

Hello everybody,
here are some more italian war slogans:
- Diffidate di tutti, occhi e orecchi indiscreti sono dovunque! (Never trust anybody, prying eyes and ears are everywhere!)
- L'uomo coraggioso vince sempre! (Brave man always wins!)
- Vivere pericolosamente (Live dangerously - whatever that means...)
- La vita dei rischi continui lega le anime (The life of permanent risk ties the souls together)
- Coraggio e fede, cuore che non vacilla, mira che non falla (Courage and faith, heart that never wavers, aim that never fails)
- Se hai un conto da fare col nemico, fai fuoco! (If you want to even the score with the enemy, open fire!)
My italian is a bit rusty, I hope I got it right, more or less...
The most common is usually "Resistere ad ogni costo!" (Resist no matter what it takes/no matter the price!).
Everything was taken from the walls of bunkers and their underground shelters. It is interesting how majority of them can be found in present Croatian or Slovenian territory, inside the abandoned bunkers, where nobody bothered to obliterate them. In Italy, however, since great deal of old Mussolini time bunkers were re-used after WW2, all fascist slogans were erased...
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One of the slogans
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FRANCY RITTER
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#12

Post by FRANCY RITTER » 14 Feb 2006, 15:28

Bravo Lappino ..nice work!! :D

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Davide Pastore
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#13

Post by Davide Pastore » 14 Feb 2006, 20:45

lappino wrote:- Vivere pericolosamente (Live dangerously - whatever that means...)
"Pure" Fascists had a morbid fascination with violent life and violent death. For example, I recall having read somewhere that the regime trumpeted aloud the fact that sometimes Mussolini loved to drive his car at reckless speed along dangerous roads, as a sign of courage (and/or folly). It was thought that love of risk was a positive quality in itself. Hence the saying "Meglio un giorno da leone che cent'anni da pecora" [Better one day as a lion, than a hundred years as a sheep]. This has something to do with Fascism having its root amongst WW1 Arditi (trench shock troops, with not unduly long life expettance).
lappino wrote:In Italy, however, since great deal of old Mussolini time bunkers were re-used after WW2, all fascist slogans were erased...
As of today they are sometimes de-erased (scraping the white paint over them, although they are not "restaured"). They are historical relics anyway.

Davide

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#14

Post by lappino » 15 Feb 2006, 12:28

Hi everybody,
Here is another visual example...
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PICT0124_cr_filtered.jpg
Resist no matter the price!
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carolwmahs
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slogan template

#15

Post by carolwmahs » 15 Feb 2006, 19:07

lappino wrote:Hi everybody,
Here is another visual example...
Thanks. It looks like there was pre-made curved template that was used to apply this slogan! I wonder if this was a "standard" slogan applied for this particular class of fortification. Can you provide more details on the type of bunker this was found in?

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