ABSTRACT
Gabriele D'Annunzio's seizure of Fiume was a spectacular event, in keeping with the personality of the poet-warrior. He evidently intended his gesture as a tactical stroke to force the diplomats at Paris to recognize the Italian claim to Fiume and Dalmatia. The veterans played a very important part in the Fiume enterprise. Even before D'Annunzio's march on Fiume, some among the Arditi had attempted to bring down the government in Rome. Italian politics are very much like a staged performance: the producers and directors are hidden from public view, while the actors play on the desires and fantasies of the audience. In the period following the Great War, much energy was directed toward the overthrow of the government and the installation of a new political regime. Italian political leaders, regardless of their position along the political spectrum, believed that the Arditi would play a major role in Italy's future.
