Balbo the Aviator was Admired in America

The Marshall of Italian Fascism who Captivated Chicago and Roosevelt

Jul 11, 2009

President Eisenhower considered Italo Balbo more an American hero than an Italian for his passion for doing things on a grand scale.

Tourists walking in Chicago through Burnham Park, just east of Soldier Field, will find “Balbo Column”, the oldest among more than one hundred statues in Chicago Parks.

The two thousand year-old Corinthian column is a gift from Italy and used to stand in Ostia, the ancient port serving Imperial Rome, to safeguard the fortunes and victories of Roman Triremes as displayed in the inscription on the Travertine marble basement. The Balbo Column is not the only honor that the city of Chicago dedicated to Italo Balbo, probably one of the best known and discussed fascist leaders. There is also a street named in honor of the famous aviator, Balbo Drive.

These honorable mentions are astonishing for Italians who are used to living in a country that erased most of the signs of the Fascist Era.

Balbo’s Greatest Success: The Intercontinental Flight toward USA

The city of Chicago was celebrating the centennial anniversary of Chicago’s incorporation as a city with the Century of Progress World’s Fair of 1933-34. Balbo was, at that time, the most eminent figure of fascism after Mussolini. For the Chicago event the Italian aviator decided to organize an intercontinental flight, the second after that of 1930 from Orbetello, in Tuscany, to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Aviation was the symbol of modernity. Lindberg crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. Futurism, the most important Italian cultural movement lead by Marinetti, recognized aviation as the vanguard of new technology. Balbo considered the United States the ingenious pioneer of mechanical progress and an enormous reserve of optimism, health and strength. The aviator appreciated the USA as the guarantee for durable peace.

The twenty four seaplanes left from Italy and landed in Chicago on the 15th of July were enthusiastically greeted by the population as a second Lindberg-like achievement. The Italian flight of 1933 impressed the world with its Savoia-Marchetti airplanes flown in formation over the ocean. It was an epic moment for Italy and for Italian-Americans. It was a sign that the Nation had turned towards modernity after centuries of poverty.

In the same year the Italian boat Rex won the Blue Riband, which is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic in regular service with the record highest speed. In addition, the highway between Milano and Torino was inaugurated; the Fori Imperiali street in Rome was opened; the Italian team won a record number of medals at the Los Angeles Olympic Games of 1932, and in 1934 Italy won the World Cup of football.

After the flight Balbo was the most famous Italian in the world, greeted by the mayor of Chicago, and by the Governor of Illinois, Henry Horner who described the aviator as a novel Columbus. Balbo was featured on the cover of Time magazine, and he was also adopted by the Sioux as “Chief Flying Eagle”.

On their way back the airplanes stopped in New York for a great parade. Balbo and his top officials were invited for a luncheon by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The Political Decline and the Mysterious Death

Success and his unconventional behavior were also the causes of his political decline in Italy. For popularity and for his role in the Fascist party Balbo was the only one that could have had a real chance to substitute Mussolini. Apparently the Duce saw him as a threat and was also suspicious of his pro-British sentiment. This may have caused Mussolini to remove him from the spotlight by appointing him governor of Libya.

In Italy the years after World War I were tumultuous and violent. Balbo, like the other fascist leaders, was often involved in bloodthirsty actions against the Trade Unions or the Socialist and the Popular parties. In 1923 Balbo was implicated in the murder of Father Minzoni which happened close to his city Ferrara. The court absolved him but because of his role in the Fascist party of Ferrara the doubts on his indirect responsibility remained.

Balbo was also one of the few to publicly criticize Mussolini’s choice to build an alliance with Germany and Hitler. Balbo never hid his opposition to fighting at Germany's side. Balbo disapproved of the Racial Laws of 1938 and showed his aversion publicly when his friend Renzo Ravenna, mayor of Ferrara, was removed from office because he was Jewish. The son of Ravenna affirmed that Balbo invited the father to follow him to Libya; this invitation was an indirect challenge to Mussolini.

On June 28, 1940, just short of the fortnight after Italy entered the war, Balbo was shot by gunners of the Italian navy vessel “San Giorgio”. The governor of Libya was trying to land in Tobruk on the tail end of a raid by the British air force. Balbo was 44 years old. No one knows whether this action was a case of tragic friendly fire or a murder.

General Dwight Eisenhower, as head of NATO in 1950, was lodged with one of Balbo's relatives when he visited Italy. During a public speech, the future President Eisenhower frustrated the Italian anti-fascist leaders by remarking Balbo’s charm and passion for doing things on a grand scale, which made him more a hero for Americans than for Italians.

Claudio G. Segre, Italo Balbo: A Fascist Life, Berkeley : University of California Press, 1987

Giorgio Rochat, Italo Balbo. Lo squadrista, l'aviatore, il gerarca, Torino: UTET Università, 2003

Folco Quilici, Tobruk 1940 - La vera storia della fine di Italo Balbo, Milano: Mondadori, 2004

Renzo De Felice, Storia degli ebrei italiani sotto il fascismo, Torino: Einaudi, 1988

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