Editing Gabriele D'Annunzio (section)

=== Rivalry with Benito Mussolini ===
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In his essay "Mussolini and The Cult of the Leader", John Whittam wrote:<ref>
{{cite journal|last=Whittam|first=John|date=March 1998|url=http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~semp/mussolini2.htm|title=Mussolini and the Cult of the Leader|journal=New Perspective|volume=3|issue=3|pages=12–16|access-date=11 July 2023}}</ref>

<blockquote>This famous poet, novelist and war hero was a self-proclaimed Superman. He was the outstanding interventionist in May 1915 and his dramatic exploits during the war won him national and international acclaim. In September 1919 he gathered together his 'legions' and captured the disputed seaport of Fiume. He held it for over a year and it was he who popularised the black shirts, the balcony speeches, the promulgation of ambitious charters and the entire choreography of street parades and ceremonies. He even planned a march on Rome. One historian had rightly described him as the 'First Duce' and Mussolini must have heaved a sigh of relief when he was driven from Fiume in December 1920 and his followers were dispersed. But he remained a threat to Mussolini and in 1921 Fascists like Balbo seriously considered turning to him for leadership.</blockquote>

In contrast, Mussolini vacillated from left to right at this time. Although Mussolini's fascism was heavily influenced by the Charter of Carnaro, the constitution for Fiume written by [[Alceste De Ambris]] and D'Annunzio, neither wanted to play an active part in the new movement, both refusing when asked by Fascist supporters to run in the elections of 15 May 1921. Before the [[March on Rome]], De Ambris even went so far as to depict the Italian fascist movement as "a filthy pawn in [[Giovanni Giolitti|Mister Giolitti's]] game of chess, and made out of the least dignified section of the [[bourgeoisie]]".{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

D'Annunzio was seriously injured when he fell out of a window on 13 August 1922; subsequently the planned "meeting for national pacification" with [[Francesco Saverio Nitti]] and Mussolini was cancelled. The incident was never explained and is considered by some historians an attempt to murder him, motivated by his popularity. Despite D'Annunzio's retreat from active public life after this event, Mussolini still found it necessary to regularly dole out funds to D'Annunzio as a bribe for not re-entering the political arena. When asked about this by a close friend, Mussolini purportedly stated: "When you have a rotten tooth you have two possibilities open to you: either you pull the tooth or you fill it with gold. With D'Annunzio I have chosen for the latter treatment."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Licht|first=Fred|date=December 1982|title=The Vittoriale degli Italiani|journal=The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians|publisher=University of California Press|volume=41|issue=4|pages=318–324|doi=10.2307/989802 |jstor=989802}}</ref>

D'Annunzio kept attempting to intervene in politics almost until his death in 1938. He wrote to Mussolini in 1933 to try to convince him not to ally with [[Adolf Hitler]]. In 1934, he tried to disrupt the relationship between Hitler and Mussolini after their first meeting, even writing a satirical pamphlet about Hitler. In September 1937, D'Annunzio met with Mussolini at the [[Verona]] train station to try to convince him to leave the [[Axis powers]].{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}