The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated in Locarno from October 5 till October 16 1925 and were formally ratified in London on 1 December 1925.
Dino Grandi: il “terminator” di Benito Mussolini a Locarno
Uno degli aspetti più interessanti della storia recente del Locarnese, è la cosidetta Conferenza di Pace di Locarno, organizzata durante l'ottobre 1925. Tra le varie personalità che vi partecipano, vedi nostro precedente…
The treaties defined how the Western European Allied powers and the new states of the Central and Eastern Europe sought to secure the territorial settlement after the end of the First World War, normalizing relations with defeated Germany under the Weimar Republic.
The treaties stated that Germany would never go to war with other countries dividing the borders of Europe into two categories: the Western borders were guaranteed by Locarno treaties, and the Eastern borders (of Germany with Poland) were open for optional revisions.
Benito Mussolini (Predappio 1883 – Giulino di Mezzegro 1945) arrived in Ticino on 15 October 1925 from Stresa. He joined the Locarno negotiations during the final day.
Benito Mussolini in Svizzera: dettagli sul suo periplo Ticino, Berna, Losanna e Ginevra.
Abbiamo già scritto brevemente nel passato sulla presenza di Benito Mussolini in Svizzera. Vi ritorniamo nuovamente, cercando di fare un approfondimento di come e cosa fece Benito Mussolini durante tutte le sue…
Mussolini was hosted in the Villa Farinelli (Muralto), which was not far from the Train Station of Locarno. The arrival of Mussolini in Locarno was enthusiastically welcomed by the Swiss population. It was also the last time when Mussolini ever visited Switzerland.
But, previously, he had already had a personal connection to this country; for example, in 1902, Mussolini emigrated to Switzerland to avoid partly his military service in Italy. He worked briefly as a stonemason in Geneva, Fribourg and Bern but was unable to find a permanent job. It is interesting to know that in 1936, Mussolini got an Honorary Degree (honoris causa) from the University of Lausanne, this Doctor title was then granted to him by the University delegation in Rome. Even at present, Mussolini still owns the Honorary Degree from Lausanne.
The villa Farinelli, situated, at present, in Via Sempione 3 – Muralto, was built by architect Paolo Zanini (1871-1914) for Giuseppe Farinelli (1867-1938), a wealthy trader from Intra, also Italian vice-consul in Locarno.
Benito Mussolini nella zona rossa del Lago Maggiore. La storia dei suoi soggiorni e visite.
Abbiamo pubblicato in precedenza un articolo sull'origine della spirale di violenza che afflisse il periodo 1943-1945 nella regione del Lago Maggiore e Ossola. Sicuramente uno dei catalizzatori di questa violenza fu la…
Sources:
Rodolfo Huber, “Locarno Ville de la Paix: Villa Farinelli” (Link)
Peter Martig, “Mussolini und die Schweiz”, Berner Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Heimatkunde Nr. 45 – 1983, (Link)
Hanspeter Born, “Genosse Mussolini in der Schweiz”, Weltwoche, Ausgabe 9 2013 (Link)
