Mediterranean hegemon

This court debate lasted for half an afternoon before it ended. The scene was completely one-sided. It was the lawyers hired by Contini who spoke nonstop. They either cited classics to state the provisions, or seized on the loopholes in Matteotti's article in "Socialist" to refute it. On the other hand, Matteotti's defense lawyer could only explain in vain "I didn't mean it that way", "I didn't have such a purpose", "I didn't mean it that way" and other seemingly useless statements.

Even if you don't understand the law, you can understand how big the plaintiff's chance of winning is when you see this scene: you need momentum, you need a scene, you need arguments, you need eloquence... You can accuse these most famous lawyers of sophistry and deliberate misinterpretation, but the problem is that the legal provisions are dead, and the key is whether people can use them. Otherwise, for the same law, its provisions are open and clear, and the trial details and relevant judicial interpretations are also clear, why do you still need to hire lawyers, why is there a difference between famous lawyers and non-famous lawyers?

"... In view of the mental harm caused to our client by Mr. Matteotti in a series of articles and speeches, the damage to the reputation of the client and the Youth Daily, and the damage to the reputation of various third-party stakeholders, we demand the following compensation:

First, pay 10 million lire for mental damages;

Second, Mr. Matteotti publicly apologizes in the newspaper Socialist;

Third, bear the litigation costs related to the case."

10 million lire is a considerable amount of money. Once the verdict is made, Matteotti himself will not be able to bear it. It may not be worth mentioning for the Socialist Party, but he knows very well that the party will not pay for him, because the other party's lawsuit is not against the Socialist Party, but against Matteotti personally. Although the direction and goal are clear, the reality is so cruel - this young man under the age of 20 is notoriously difficult to deal with. On the other hand, if Contini was asked to pay 10 million lire, he would not even blink an eye. It was only 500,000 US dollars, not a big deal...

After the trial, the judges exchanged opinions and announced that the trial was over and the verdict would be announced on a later date.

Matteoti did not know how he walked out of the court. His mental state was very bad. To put it bluntly, he was careless in this matter. The other party was obviously well prepared. Whether it was investigating his black materials or deliberately publishing the article that made him furious in the Youth Daily, it was all part of the whole plan. Unfortunately, he did not expect that the other party would use the judicial system. He used the polemical tactics against political opponents and was fooled.

The next day, the newspapers were all about the trial. The neutral third party did not care about who won or lost in the political orientation of the two sides. Instead, they were particularly interested in Mr. Matteoti's private life that was exposed: going in and out of the red light district, false invoices, lateness, early departure, and absence, which were actually completely unrelated, were automatically made into a continuous picture by the bored citizens.

Not only was there a lot of ridicule and uproar in the newspapers, but even within the Socialist Party there were voices questioning Matteotti. It was fine to quarrel with people and to be late, leave early, and report false invoices, but going in and out of the red light district was too embarrassing. Although Matteotti swore that he did not receive any services, he did not dare to deny that he had been there.

Well, you did go there but did not receive any services. Could it be that the thing in your crotch was not good? What kind of thing is this?

In short, once the reputation spread, it was very unpleasant.

While Mussolini was in disgrace, he was very happy after reading the relevant reports. Firstly, Contini faithfully carried out his task and made Matteotti suffer so much that he had no way to express his grievances. Although the senator was still very stubborn, it was obvious that not many people listened to him. Secondly, through this report, the work of the Fascist government in the past few months was well publicized. Although there were still many shortcomings that needed to be improved, the achievements were the mainstream after all. The staged "critical" praise was easier to arouse everyone's recognition than the empty direct flattery, which made him very satisfied. In order to cooperate with Contini, he also instructed Cesare Rossi to hold a press conference to express his gratitude to the Youth Daily, a responsible media that seriously criticized and supervised the government, and would try to improve the various deficiencies mentioned in the newspaper...

Now, even the government itself has come out to admit that the series of reports of the Youth Daily are "criticisms" and expressed that it would "humbly accept and seriously rectify them", which can be regarded as confirming Contini's statement in court.

Although the result of the lawsuit has not been officially announced, it has invisibly made the Youth Daily famous. The circulation has suddenly increased from more than 10,000 copies to more than 15,000 copies. The newspaper members and the backbone of the Youth League are all very happy. Although the newspaper is still losing money, at least the amount of loss is getting smaller and smaller with the increase in circulation.

Just as Contini was busy with the follow-up work of United Motor and United Airlines, on February 7, he received a telegram from Germany saying that Hermann Goering wanted to visit him in Rome and asked if it was convenient for him.

Contini didn't take the visit seriously, but he basically guessed the other party's intention: most likely the National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany has expanded rapidly recently, and Hitler is coming to beg for alms. It's embarrassing to directly send a telegram to ask for money, so he hopes to get close to him through the means of visiting.

This was also what Contini had expected. After the Franco-Belgian coalition occupied the Ruhr area on January 13, the economic order in the Ruhr area completely collapsed. The German authorities adopted a non-violent non-cooperation attitude, shutting down all enterprises in the Ruhr area and giving workers holidays, with salaries paid by the government. France and Belgium were unwilling to be outdone. Since the Germans did not cooperate, they sent people to take over. So the coal mines in the Ruhr area were mined by French and Belgian people, and the relevant factories were occupied by French and Belgian workers to produce so that they could collect the required compensation.

This was certainly a loss-making behavior. Regardless of whether France and Belgium could spare enough labor to meet the demand, the daily cost of sending troops alone exceeded the benefits that could be obtained from production.

The German authorities were even more injured. Taxes for all enterprises in the Ruhr area stopped, and workers who were closed at home had to rely on the salaries provided by the government to make a living. The government had no other financial sources and could only solve the problem by printing money. On the surface, it temporarily stabilized the workers in the Ruhr area, but in fact it was a fatal blow to the entire German economic system. The increased expenditure turned into a fiscal deficit like a wild horse and then escalated into a flood of inflation.

If the initial decline in the mark exchange rate was only due to the external impact caused by the changes in the international political situation, it has now completely turned into an internal collapse caused by the disorder of the economic system. The mark exchange rate had fallen to nearly 40,000 marks to 1 US dollar in early February, and it was at this time that Goering came to Rome.

Due to the huge impact at home, the German National Socialist Workers' Party, which had been promoting nationalism and advocating "one nation, one doctrine, one party, one leader", has flourished, and the number of party members has rapidly expanded from less than 10,000 to more than 20,000.

His purpose was simple: to get money!