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GLOBAL CULTURE AND SPORT SERIES
Series Editors
Stephen Wagg
Carnegie School Of Sport
Leeds Beckett University
Leeds, UK
David Andrews
Kinesiology
University of Maryland
Baltimore, MD, USA
Series Editors: Stephen Wagg, Leeds Beckett University, UK, and David
Andrews, University of Maryland, USA. The Global Culture and Sport
series aims to contribute to and advance the debate about sport and glo-
balization by engaging with various aspects of sport culture as a vehicle
for critically excavating the tensions between the global and the local,
transformation and tradition and sameness and difference. With studies
ranging from snowboarding bodies, the globalization of rugby and the
Olympics, to sport and migration, issues of racism and gender, and sport
in the Arab world, this series showcases the range of exciting, pioneering
research being developed in the field of sport sociology.
Motorsport and
Fascism
Living Dangerously
Paul Baxa
Ave Maria University
Ave Maria, FL, USA
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2022
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and trans-
mission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or
dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
To the memory of my father, Tino Baxa (1929–2019)
Preface and Acknowledgments
The year 2022 marks the centenary of two events that are central to this
book: the inauguration of the Monza Autodrome near Milan and the
coming to power of Fascism. Although they were two separate events,
one sporting while the other political, both the autodrome and the Fascist
regime found important points of convergence. Motorsport, above all
other sports, came to express in the most comprehensive way the values
and ideology of Mussolini’s regime. While Fascism’s predilection for
motorsport has been recognized in general histories of sport under the
regime, no English-language monograph on the subject exists. Most
studies of sport under Fascism emphasize how the regime used sport for
propaganda purposes. This is true of motorsport, but the relationship
between Fascist ideology and racing goes much deeper. Events like the
Mille Miglia were genuine Fascist artifacts, designed to communicate the
Fascist Revolution via technology, speed, and Fascist heroism and martyr-
dom, in ways that could not be expressed by other sports.
This book is not a comprehensive overview of motorsport under
Fascism; rather, it is a cultural study of how motorsport became a vehicle
for Fascism’s project of anthropological revolution. Through motorsport,
the main strands of Fascist discourse came together to form a powerful
nexus between politics and sport. In the exploits of men such as Tazio
Nuvolari and Achille Varzi could be seen the inspiration of the decadent,
nationalist poet Gabriele D’Annunzio, the “First Duce,” and the
vii
viii Preface and Acknowledgments
1 Introduction 1
Summer of 1924: Triumph in Lyon, Tragedy in Rome 1
Fascism, Sport, and Motorsport 6
Why Motorsport? 11
The Fascist Sport par Excellence: Chapter Summaries 18
Living Dangerously 24
3 Autodromes 85
The New Autodrome 85
The Iron City 88
Machines in the Garden 90
xi
xii Contents
7 Conclusion275
The “New” Mille Miglia 275
Grand Prix Racing and Authoritarianism: A Not So Secret
History 278
Return to Rome 285
Bibliography293
Index307
About the Author
Paul Baxa is the author of Roads and Ruins: The Symbolic Landscape of
Fascist Rome. He is Associate Professor of History at Ave Maria University
in Florida. His research interests include Italian Fascism, motorsport his-
tory, and Italian-Canadian history.
xv
List of Figures
xvii
xviii List of Figures
Fig. 2.7 Tazio Nuvolari wearing the turtle pin given to him by
Gabriele d’Annunzio. (Wikimedia Commons: https://upload.
wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/TazioNuvolari.jpg)76
Fig. 3.1 Mussolini arrives at the Monza Autodrome, 1923. (9/9/23,
Monza, Grand Prix d’Europe [course automobile], arrivée de
Mussolini: [photographie de presse]/[Agence Rol] by Agence
Rol. Agence photographique—1923—National Library of
France, France—No Copyright—Other Known Legal
Restrictions. https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/9200518/
ark__12148_btv1b531184684)93
Fig. 3.2 Racing cars on display at Monza’s City Hall, 1922. ([10-9-22,
Grand Prix d’Italie] les voiturettes gagnantes exposées à Milan
[piazza del Mercanti]: [photographie de presse]/[Agence Rol]
by Agence Rol. Agence photographique—1922—National
Library of France, France—No Copyright—Other Known
Legal Restrictions. https://www.europeana.eu/en/
item/9200518/ark__12148_btv1b53094267r)97
Fig. 4.1 Start of the 1926 Reale Premio di Roma in front of the Galleria
Nazionale. Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.
wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1926-03-28_GP_Roma_start_
Galleria_Nazionale.jpg139
Fig. 5.1 Clemente Biondetti’s thinly disguised Grand Prix Alfa Romeo
P3. Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/
wiki/File:1936-04-05_Mille_Miglia_Alfa_P3_Biondetti_
Cerase.jpg219
Fig. 6.1 The classic “figure eight” layout of the Mille Miglia.
Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:1936-04-05_Mille_Miglia_percorso.jpg 240
Fig. 6.2 Piero Taruffi’s Maserati at Piazzale di Ponte Milvio checkpoint
in Rome, 1934 Mille Miglia. In the background is the Church
of the Great Mother of God, built in the 1930s. Wikimedia
Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:1934-04-08_Mille_Miglia_Maserati_4CS_
Taruffi%2BBertocchi.jpg260
1
Introduction
1
Automobile Club de France. The race was more commonly known as the French Grand Prix.
2
In 1919, 24 sports magazines and newspapers circulated in Italy, up from only 10 in 1914. See
Paolo Facchinetti, La Stampa Sportiva in Italia (Bologna: Edizioni Alfa, 1966), 54.
1 Introduction 3
of the World War I era, and with the close connections between automo-
tive progress and war technology, the race took on an even greater signifi-
cance.3 The 1924 race was particularly important in this context, as it was
run on the Lyon–Givors circuit as a tribute to the great race of 1914
when, just days before the outbreak of World War I, French and German
teams engaged in an epic struggle that foreshadowed the events that soon
engulfed Europe. The race was given added luster with the title of Grand
Prix of Europe.
The importance of the Italian victory at Lyon was not lost on the
Italian press. In describing the triumphant moment when Campari’s Alfa
Romeo crossed the finish line, the reporter for the Corriere della Sera
could hardly contain his emotions:
It is Campari! Evviva! Evviva! The emotions pent up during this last lap
overflows in shouts and applause. The Italians are moved and even the
disappointed Frenchmen join them in celebration. Campari and his
mechanic are embraced and kissed. The band plays the Marcia Reale (the
anthem of the Savoyard dynasty), the crowd listens with hats removed […]
there is general enthusiasm. The Italian winner greets the second-place
Frenchman and they embrace while the crowd continues to applaud.4
The Fascist Party’s newspaper, Il Popolo d’Italia, which did not report
on sporting events except for motor racing, ran an ad from the Pirelli tire
company that took up half a page.5 The ad claimed that the Grand Prix
was the “Olympics of Racing,” and that the triumphant Italian duo of
Alfa Romeo and Pirelli won against “formidable international” opposi-
tion.6 Meanwhile, the country’s most popular illustrated magazine,
L’Illustrazione Italiano, devoted its cover page to the victory. The issue’s
introductory article by Tartaglia recounted how the son of his building’s
3
The link between automobility and the role it played in preparing Europeans for war in 1914 has
been noted. See Kurt Möser, “The Dark Side of ‘Automobilism’, 1900-30: Violence, war and the
motor car,” The Journal of Transport History, vol. 24, no. 2 (2003): 238–258.
4
Arnaldo Fraccaroli, “Vetture e piloti italiani vittoriosi nel secondo Gran Premio d’Europa,”
Corriere della Sera, 4 agosto 1924, 1–2.
5
Felice Fabrizio, Sport e Fascismo. La politica sportive del regime (Firenze: Guaraldi Editore,
1976), 160.
6
Pirelli ad. Il Popolo d’Italia, 5 agosto 1924, 2.
4 P. Baxa
door attendant greeted him that Monday morning with the exciting news
of the Alfa Romeo victory in France, and that this had given him great
pleasure. Why should this young man going about his daily chores be so
happy about that news? For Tartaglia this was a defining moment:
It is not that the doorkeeper’s son knows Campari personally, nor that he
has any business connections with Nicola Romeo (the company’s President).
He is satisfied because Italy had won with an Italian driver in an Italian car.
The son of my doorkeeper is no different from the sons of other doorkeep-
ers, or merchants, or mechanics everywhere. He is a young man who only
reads the sports pages, his main passion is sport, with a preference for
motorsport. He is not as enthusiastic about cycling, even though one day
he may be able to afford a bicycle. An automobile, however, remains
beyond his wildest dreams but this is why he is more attracted to cars—his
eyes light up when he sees a new one!7
From the reaction of his doorkeeper’s son, Tartaglia came to realize the
emotional impact of international sporting events. The boy, like all
Italians, according to Tartaglia, was moved by a love of country that was
inflamed during events like these: “[The masses] want to participate in
the event or at the very least receive bulletins. They are not satisfied with
reading the summaries the next day in the newspaper. They want to know
the results immediately and await the telegrams that are posted on town
bulletin boards throughout the country.”8 Sporting heroes were now
more famous than government ministers, except for Mussolini himself,
and even movie stars, concluded Tartaglia. It seems that the Italians had
become the Ancient Greeks in their passion for sport. In a nod to the
Matteotti Crisis, Tartaglia noted that the public cares only for two things:
great sporting events and great crimes. Once the news of the race in Lyon
had been digested, the readers would return to the missing Matteotti and
to the rumors, conspiracies, and false leads that had proliferated in the
newspapers. Tartaglia finds relief from the tension caused by the Matteotti
disappearance in the sports pages, and especially in the news of the Italian
7
Tartaglia, “Il figlio del mio portiere,” L’Illustrazione Italiana, anno LI, n. 32 (10 agosto 1924): 154.
8
Tartaglia, 154.
1 Introduction 5
9
Tartaglia, 154.
10
Daphné Bolz, “Sport and Fascism,” in Alan Bairner, John Kelly, and Jung Woo Lee, eds. Routledge
Handbook of Sport and Politics (London: Routledge, 2020), 55.
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time in the imagos of Pteronarcys (see p. 401). Although these
fossils are of such enormous antiquity, the tracheae can, M.
Brongniart says, be still perceived in these processes.
They are very depressed, that is, flat, Insects, with a large head,
which exhibits a great variety of shape; frequently it is provided in
front of the antennae with some peculiar tubercles called trabeculae,
which in some cases are mobile. The antennae are never large,
frequently very small; they consist of from three to five joints, and are
sometimes concealed in a cavity on the under side of the head.
Fig. 215.—Under-surface of head of Lipeurus heterographus. (After
Grosse.) ol, Labium; md, mandible; mx, maxilla; ul, labium.
The eyes are very rudimentary, and consist of only a small number
of isolated facets placed behind the antennae; sometimes they are
completely absent. The mouth parts are situated entirely on the
under-surface of the head and in a cavity. The upper lip is frequently
of remarkable form, as if it were a scraping instrument (ol, Fig. 215).
The mandibles are sharply toothed and apparently act as cutting
instruments. The maxillae have been described in the principal work
on the family[270] as possessing in some cases well-developed palpi.
According to Grosse[271] this is erroneous; the maxillae, he says, are
always destitute of palpi, and are of peculiar form, being each merely
a lobe of somewhat conical shape, furnished on one aspect with
hooks or setae. The under lip is peculiar, and apparently of very
different form in the two chief groups of Mallophaga. The large
mentum bears, in Liotheides (Fig. 216, B), on each side a four-
jointed palpus, the pair of palps being very widely separated; the
ligula is broad and undivided; on each side there is a paraglossa
bearing an oval process, and above this is a projection of the
hypopharynx. In Philopterides (Fig. 216, A) the palpi are absent, and
the parts of the lower lip are—with the exception of the paraglossae
—but little differentiated. The lingua (hypo-pharynx) in Mallophaga is
largely developed, and bears near the front a chitinous sclerite
corresponding with another placed in the epipharynx.
The testes and ovaries are of a simple nature. The former consist of
two or three capsules, each having a terminal thread; the vasa
deferentia are tortuous and of variable length; they lead into the
anterior part of the ejaculatory duct, where also opens the elongate
duct proceeding from the bicapsular vesicula seminalis; these
structures have been figured by Grosse[272] as well as by Giebel.
The ovaries consist of three to five short egg-tubes on each side; the
two oviducts combine to form a short common duct with which there
is connected a receptaculum seminis.
It has been stated by some writers that the mouth is truly of the
sucking kind, and that the Mallophaga feed on the blood of their
hosts. This is, however, erroneous; they eat the delicate portions of
the feathers of birds, and of mammals perhaps the young hair. Their
fertility is but small, and it is believed that in a state of nature they
are very rarely an annoyance to their hosts. The majority of the
known species live on birds; the forms that frequent mammals are
less varied and have been less studied; most of them have only one
claw to the feet (Fig. 220), while the greater portion of the avicolous
species have two claws.
The Liotheides are more active Insects, and leave their host after its
death to seek another. But the Philopterides do not do so, and die in
about three days after the death of their host. Possibly Mallophaga
may be transferred from one bird to another by means of the
parasitic two-winged flies that infest birds. The writer has
recorded[276] a case in which a specimen of one of these bird-flies
captured on the wing was found to have some Mallophaga attached
to it.
The Embiidae are one of the smallest families of Insects; not more
than twenty species are known from all parts of the world, and it is
probable that only a few hundred actually exist. They are small and
feeble Insects of unattractive appearance, and shrivel so much after
death as to render it difficult to ascertain their characters. They
require a warm climate. Hence it is not a matter for surprise that little
should be known about them.
Fig. 223.—Under-surface of Embia sp. Andalusia.
The wings in Embiidae are very peculiar; they are extremely flimsy,
and the nervures are ill-developed; stripes of a darker brownish
colour alternate with pallid spaces. We figure the anterior wing of
Oligotoma saundersii, after Wood-Mason; but should remark that the
neuration is really less definite than is shown in these figures; the
lower one represents Wood-Mason's interpretation of the nervures.
He considers[278] that the brown bands "mark the original courses of
veins which have long since disappeared." A similar view is taken by
Redtenbacher,[279] but at present it rests on no positive evidence.
CHAPTER XVI
The term White Ants has been so long in use for the Termitidae that
it appears almost hopeless to replace it in popular use by another
word. It has, however, always given rise to a great deal of confusion
by leading people to suppose that white ants differ chiefly from
ordinary ants by their colour. This is a most erroneous idea. There
are scarcely any two divisions of Insects more different than the
white ants and the ordinary ants. The two groups have little in
common except that both have a social life, and that a very
interesting analogy exists between the forms of the workers and
soldiers of these two dissimilar Orders of Insects, giving rise to
numerous analogies of habits. The word Termites—pronounced as
two syllables—is a less objectionable name for these Insects than
white ants.
The wings of Termitidae are not like those of any other Insects; their
neuration is very simple, but nevertheless the wings of the different
forms exhibit great differences in the extent to which they are made
up of the various fields. This is shown in Fig. 228, where the
homologous nervures are numbered according to the systems of
both Hagen and Redtenbacher. The area, VII, that forms the larger
part of the wing in C, corresponds to the small portion at the base of
the wing in B. The most remarkable feature of the wing is, however,
its division into two parts by a suture or line of weakness near the
base, as shown in Fig. 225. The wings are used only for a single
flight, and are then shed by detachment at this suture; the small
basal portion of each of the four wings is horny and remains
attached to the Insect, serving as a protection to the dorsal surface
of the thorax.
The nature of the suture that enables the Termites to cast their wings
with such ease after swarming is not yet understood. There are no
true transverse veinlets or nervules in Termites. Redtenbacher
suggests[284] that the transverse division of the wing at its base, as
shown in Fig. 225, along which the separation of the wing occurs at
its falling off, may have arisen from a coalescence of the subcostal
vein with the eighth concave vein of such a wing as that of Blattidae.
The same authority also informs us that the only point of
resemblance between the wings of Termitidae and those of Psocidae
is that both have an unusually small number of concave veins.
The information that exists as to the internal anatomy of Termites is
imperfect, and refers, moreover, to different species; it would appear
that considerable diversity exists in many respects, but on this point
it would be premature to generalise. What we know as to the
respiratory system is chiefly due to F. Müller.[285] The number of
spiracles is ten; Hagen says three thoracic and seven abdominal,
Müller two thoracic and eight abdominal. In fertile queens there
usually exist only six abdominal stigmata. There is good reason for
supposing that the respiratory system undergoes much change
correlative with the development of the individual; it has been
suggested that the supply of tracheae to the sexual organs is
deficient where there is arrest of development of the latter.