Imperial Italy:
One hundred men posing on a 381 mm gun built for a never completed Francesco Caracciolo-class battleship, Ansaldo factory, 1917
Ships moored in the harbour of Fiume on 14 July 1919; from left to right, the Italian battleships
Emanuele Filiberto and
Dante Alighieri, the armoured cruiser
San Marco, and the American protected cruiser USS Olympia (C-6)
Battleship
Dante Alighieri, left, and the auxiliary ship
Cortellazzo (former armoured cruiser
Marco Polo), right, Fiume harbour, December 1920; the latter is blocking the entrance, to prevent the battleship sailing
Gabriele D'Annunzio, on 12 September 1919, led a force that occupied the city of Fiume (today Rijeka, Croatia) and unilaterally set himself as governor of the "
Reggenza Italiana del Carnaro", while proclaiming the annexation of the city to the Kingdom of Italy. The Italian government refused to recognise his coup and told him to leave, but at first did not use force to suppress the movement, as D'Annunzio's gesture had wide approval not only amidst Italian public opinion, but in the armed forces as well. Of the several Italian ships in the harbour, among which the dreadnought
Dante Alighieri, some outright defected and put themselves under D'Annunzio's command, while the others were virtually beset by desertions and the unwillingness of their commanders to escalate things.
The stalemate endured till December 1920 when, after a new Italian government had taken power, the order was given to reduce the rebellion with force. The Italian loyalist ships in Fiume received orders to leave, but some had been disabled to prevent being seized by D'Annunzio's forces, and the
Dante was prevented from leaving by the rebels placing the old ship
Cortellazzo as to block the harbour entrance. In the end, on 24 December 1920 (what would be later called by Fascist historiography and memorials the "bloody Christmas") the Italian Army and Navy attacked D'Annunzio's troops, that after token resistance surrendered at once.
Other than the geopolitical effects, this events were momentous for the Italian armed forces, as it was the first large-scale mutiny that they had ever experienced, with several thousand soldiers deserting from their units, and lone crewmen and even ships sailing to join him. The widespread approval of D'Annunzio's actions, moreover, meant that punishment levied on the deserters would be mild, both out of sympathy from the judging officers and both out of fear that harsher punishment would lead to resentment and disorder.
The King of Italy Vittorio Emanuele III surrounded by the officers and crewmen of the battleship
Duilio, Naples, 29 May 1921
