Berlin

Berlin’s documented significance is political rather than descriptive: it was a destination in Giacomo Matteotti’s European effort to build alliances against Fascist domination in Italy. His visit formed part of a sequence of meetings abroad, but the journey was blocked when Benito Mussolini revoked his passport after Matteotti’s trip to Germany.

A Stop on Matteotti’s European Tour

During the first year of Fascist domination, Matteotti increasingly travelled outside Italy to forge links with comrades in other countries. He attended the French Socialists Congress in Lille in February, went to Paris the following month, and then travelled to Berlin to meet German Social Democrats. The account offers no description of the city itself; Berlin enters the narrative through the political work Matteotti undertook there.

International Alliances

Matteotti’s visits abroad were an attempt to build connections with French, Belgian, German, and English comrades. Berlin was therefore one point in a wider international effort, not an isolated destination. The account presents this work as an alternative course at a moment when his campaign to document Fascist violence was leaving him increasingly isolated, including within his own party.

The End of the Journey

The German leg of the tour was followed by a decisive restriction: Mussolini had Matteotti’s passport revoked after his trip to Germany. The measure blocked his further travel and closed off the international course he had pursued. In this account, Berlin marks both the reach of Matteotti’s organizing beyond Italy and the point after which that mobility was curtailed.