A POET IN POWER

Events that shaped the countries of the Mediterranean

An episode from the series ECHOES OF HISTORY

Synopsis

In 1919, the poet and activist Gabriele D'Annunzio turned the national frustrations of post-war Italy into political reality with the Fiume adventure.

On 12 September 1919, when American President Wilson refused to cede the town in Croatia to Italy, D'Annunzio and his cronies seized it and created an independent microstate.

This experiment will last 15 months until D'Annunzio declares war on Italy. In December 1920, after a symbolic resistance, D'Annunzio and his men were forced to surrender when the navy bombed the town. It is the end of an unprecedented political experiment that contributed to the poet's myth.