Focus: Presentation of the Book "La Carta del Carnaro" (The Charter of Carnaro)

Last night, at the historic Caffè San Marco in Trieste, the book La Carta del Carnaro (The Charter of Carnaro), edited by Maurizio Bardi and curated by Francesco Micheli, was presented. Joining the speakers' panel, alongside the two aforementioned, were Luca G. Manenti, scientific director of the Manlio Cecovini Study Society, and the Mayor of Aulla, Roberto Valettini. The presentation offered an opportunity to uncover lesser-known aspects of the foundational document of the Regency of Carnaro, drafted in 1920 by revolutionary syndicalist Alceste De Ambris and later refined by Gabriele D’Annunzio to suit his distinct style.

Valettini opened the discussion by analysing the democratic and socialist inspirations of the Charter, which, with remarkable modernity, established gender equality and the social role of property. He compared De Ambris’s work, an anticipation of regulations adopted decades later, to the Italian Constitution. The text was revolutionary in its approach to secularism and social justice.

Manenti argued that today’s publication of this volume, some years removed from the centenary commemorations, allows a more balanced view of the controversial historical and political episode of Fiume. Manenti underscored the importance of De Ambris's biography for fully understanding the Charter, which represents the mature fruit of his ideological journey.

De Ambris transitioned from socialism to revolutionary syndicalism, maintaining anti-monarchist, anti-clerical, and anti-militarist orientations, and sought to combine the ideas of Sorel, Marx, and Mazzini.

Two significant moments marked his political and intellectual arc: 1911 and 1914. He opposed the Italo-Turkish War in Libya, viewing it as an imperialist venture, yet became an interventionist at the outbreak of World War I, seeing it as an opportunity to dismantle the bourgeois system and create a regenerated society.

This approach bore similarities to Mussolini's, who moved from pacifism to interventionism, although their life paths ultimately diverged sharply. The ideological blend of D’Annunzio’s Fiume included both nationalists and republicans, marking a shift from monarchical conservatism to a left-leaning, anarchist-tinged movement. The concept of "patria" (homeland) was central, regarded by De Ambris as a positive value that the proletariat should reclaim.

At the close of the Great War, D’Annunzio embodied the symbol of Italian patriotism, while Mussolini, though politically adept, remained in the poet-soldier’s shadow.

Micheli described De Ambris as a figure only seemingly contradictory, emphasising that his political life was a continuous evolution rather than a series of inconsistencies. De Ambris saw union practice as a means to realise socialist ideals, lived out daily in small gestures and direct action. His interventionism aimed to prepare the proletariat for revolution, and his frustration over the failed general strike of 1914 contributed to his stance. In Fiume, he sought to ignite a revolutionary movement, culminating in the drafting of the La Carta del Carnaro (The Charter of Carnaro), which was then embellished by D’Annunzio’s grandiloquent language. After the enterprise’s collapse and the "Christmas of Blood" episode, De Ambris aimed to turn Fiume into a national symbol against fascism, founding the Fiume-based Dannunzian Fascis.

Although close to corporatism, De Ambris was staunchly opposed to fascism, viewing it as an oppressive force that stifled freedom of expression.

Bardi defined the Charter as the manifestation of a “neverland,” an utopia pursued with passion despite its destined failure. The Fiume constitution was an act of poetry, an idea that, transcending its time and political reality, sought to inspire profound change. Thus, De Ambris and D’Annunzio become figures from which to reconsider the key concepts of contemporary times.

Valettini and Manenti then explored, respectively, the spiritual content of the Charter and the historical significance of the Regency. Behind the Fiume adventure, Valettini stated, lay an intense idealism, expressed in the principles of equality, freedom, and rights for the underprivileged. Not an ideology, but a battle of ideals that ultimately succumbed to Italian artillery.

Finally, Manenti drew a parallel between La Carta del Carnaro (The Charter of Carnaro) and the Constitution of the Roman Republic of 1849, both advanced expressions of political principles conceived as their respective eras neared an end. The name “Regency of Fiume” was a poetic creation of D’Annunzio, a term that allowed both monarchists and republicans to identify with it, thus forming a shared political identity. This “poetic veneer,” as Manenti termed it, carried political weight, uniting diverse ideals in the name of a common aspiration.

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