History
D'Annunzio Twisted Sermon on the Mount Into Warmongering Speech Before Italy Entered War
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672. The First World War: Italy’s Doomed Campaign (Part 2)
"Blessed are the 20-year-olds, pure of mind, well-tempered in body, with courageous mothers. Blessed are the young who hunger and thirst for glory, for they should be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall wipe away a splendid flow of blood and bind up their shining wounds."
Poet Gabriele D'Annunzio delivered a speech in May 1915 that parodied the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount to promote war and bloodshed. This shocking perversion of Christian scripture was part of his campaign to whip up nationalist fervor and push Italy into World War I. The speech exemplified the extreme rhetoric used to manipulate public opinion despite widespread opposition to the war among ordinary Italians.
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