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Material: bronze
Dimensions: mm 26
Mark: Z (Royal Mint = \"Regia Zecca\")
Condition: good but with oxidations
Note:fascist medal of \"Achille Starace\".
SHIPPING:Italy: 6,50€
Europe, USA, Canada, Worldwide: 13,50$
Achille Starace
Achille Starace(Italian pronunciation:[aˈkille staˈratʃe]; August 18, 1889 — April 29, 1945) was a prominent leader ofFascist Italybefore and duringWorld War II.
Early life and career
Starace was born inGallipoliin southernItalynearLecce. He was son of a wine and oil merchant.
Achille Starace attended the Lecce Technical Institute as a young man and earned a degree in accounting. In 1909, he joined theItalian Royal Army(Regio Esercito) and by 1912 had become aSecond Lieutenant(Sottotenente) of the élite sharpshooters (Bersaglieri).
Seeing action duringWorld War I, Starace was highly decorated for his service, winning aSilver Medal of Military Valor. After the war, he left the army and moved toTrento, where he first came into contact with the growingFascistmovement.
An ardentnationalist, Starace joined the Fascist movement in Trento in 1920 and quickly became its political secretary. In 1921, his efforts caught the attention ofBenito Mussolini, who put Starace in charge of the Fascist organization inVenezia Tridentina. In October 1921, Starace became Vice-Secretary of theNational Fascist Party(Partito Nazionale Fascista, or PNF). In 1922, Starace participated in theMarch on Rome(Marcia su Roma), leading a squadron (squadristi) ofBlackshirts(Camicie Nere, or CCNN, orSquadristi) in support of Mussolini.
ProminenceStarace (center) andItalo Balbo(first from right) at theAlfa Romeofactory.
Later in 1922, Starace was appointed Party Inspector ofSicilyand made a member of the Executive Committee of the PNF. In 1923, after resigning as Vice-Secretary of the party, he was made commander of theNational Security Volunteer Militia(Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionaleor MVSN) inTrieste. The MVSN was an all-volunteer militia created to organize formerBlackshirts.
In 1924, Starace was elected to theItalian Chamber of Deputiesand made National Party Inspector. In 1926, Achille Starace once again became Vice-Secretary of the PNF, and, in 1928, he was appointed Secretary of the Milan branch of the party.
Party secretary
In 1931, his career reached its peak when he was madeParty Secretaryof the PNF. He was appointed to the position primarily for his unquestioning, fanatical loyalty to Mussolini. As secretary, Starace staged huge parades and marches, proposedAnti-Semiticracial segregationmeasures, and greatly expanded Mussolini\'scult of personality.
Although Starace was successful in increasing party membership, he failed in the later years of his tenure as Secretary to reorganize the Italian Fascist Youth Organization (Opera Nazionale Balilla) along the lines of theHitler Youth(Hitler-Jugend). He also failed to inspire a nationwide enthusiasm for Fascism on par with the popularity that theNazi Partyenjoyed inGermany. Starace served as secretary for a total of eight years. This was longer than any other Secretary had served. But, by the mid-1930s, he had gained numerous enemies in the party hierarchy.
Role in the Invasion of Ethiopia
In 1935, Starace, aColonel, took aleave of absenceas PNF Party Secretary to participate in theItalian invasion of Ethiopiaand fought on the northern front. In March 1936, after theBattle of Shire, he was given command of a mixed group of Blackshirts andBersaglieribeing assembled inAsmara,Eritrea. Later that month, Starace and his truck-transportable \"mechanized column\" prepared to advance over rough tracks to seizeGondar, the capital ofBegemder Province. Before setting out, \"the Panther Man\" (L\'uomo pantera) gave the following speech to his men:
Soldiers, this is the most risky, most difficult and most important venture of the campaign. Don\'t waste a shot. We are carrying all the ammunition we are going to have on this trip. This column must be like an electric live wire. Death to the touch! Truck drivers must learn to keep to the right of the road under pain of severe penalties…
Britain is a rich country, Italy is a poor country, but the people of poor countries have hard muscles. The only way to explain the action of the English is that they thought they had only to mass a war fleet in the Mediterranean and Premier Mussolini would take off his hat and bow in submission.
Instead he reared up like a thoroughbred horse and sent his soldiers into Africa.Viva Il Duce![1]
The roadbuilding skills of Starace\'s men played an equally important role to their combat prowess. The following morning, April 1, Starace and the column entered Gondar in triumph and two days later reachedLake Tana, securing the border region withBritish Sudan. The East African Fast Column (Colonna Celere dell\'Africa Orientale) had covered approximately 120km in three days.
Return to party secretary
AfterEthiopia, Starace resumed his duties as Party Secretary. He continued to be controversial. For example, he decreed that all party flags must be made from an Italian-created textile fabric called \"Lanital.\" Based oncasein, Lanital was invented in 1935 and, according to Starace, it was a \"product of Italian ingenuity.\" In 1936,Dino Grandi, the Italian Ambassador toGreat Britain, appeared inLondonwearing a suit said to have been made from forty-eight pints of skimmed milk.[2]
During theMunich Crisisin 1938, Starace was a vocal proponent that theFrenchshould agree to cedeTunisiato Italy.
Dismissal[edit]
In October 1939, Starace was finally dismissed as Party Secretary in favor of the popularEttore Muti. He was madeChief of Staffof the MVSN and he held this position until being dismissed for incompetence in May 1941. He was succeeded byEnzo Galbiati.
Imprisonment and deathFrom left to right, the dead bodies Starace inPiazzale Loreto, 29 April 1945.
In 1943, following the demise of Mussolini\'s regime, Starace was arrested byPietro Badoglio\'s Royalist government. He was arrested even though his real power under Mussolini had ended two years earlier.
After unsuccessfully attempting to regain Mussolini\'s favor in the German-backedItalian Social RepublicofSalò, Starace was again arrested. This time he was imprisoned in aconcentration campinVeronaand was arrested by his former colleagues on charges that he had weakened the party during his tenure as Party Secretary.
Starace was eventually released and moved toMilan. On 29 April 1945, during his morning jog, he was recognized and captured by anti-FascistItalian partisans. After a summary trial, he was sentenced to death.
Starace was taken to thePiazzale Loretoand shown the body of Mussolini, which he saluted just before he was shot. His body was subsequently strung up next to Mussolini\'s.
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