ABSTRACT
In 1943, Il Duce was in Sette Vene, twenty-five miles from Rome. Surrounded by a much decorated staff, in which German uniforms were plentiful, he took the salute of the "M Division," an elite formation made up of Fascist Militiamen of the first water. The sovereign was indeed the archetypical representative of the Italian military class with its strong conservative psychology that had led it to foster and accept Fascism, its honors and its wars. On July 16 some fifteen hierarchs waited on Benito Mussolini in Palazzo Venezia late in the afternoon to ask him to summon the Grand Council. Full of suspicions, Il Duce stared in a long silence at the Fascist leaders, then shrugged. Mussolini made a gesture of weariness and then he told Scorza to put the resolutions to the vote. There was absolute silence as Scorza counted: "On the Grandi resolution: nineteen votes in favor, seven against, one abstention."
