Cavour, in Piedmont, is portrayed as Giovanni Giolitti’s own political terrain during the crisis over forming a government. Its significance lies in the contrast between the esteem he enjoys at home and the bargaining carried on there: through a visit by the Milan prefect Alfredo Lusignoli, the town becomes a point of contact in Benito Mussolini’s effort to secure a route into government while delaying any alternative outcome.

Giolitti’s Home Ground

The narrative places Giolitti in Cavour, among the familiar signs of local respect. A pharmacist tips his hat as the elderly statesman passes, and the town celebrates his eightieth year. These details establish Cavour not merely as a location on the political map but as Giolitti’s own terrain, where his age and public standing are acknowledged in everyday encounters.

A Channel for Negotiation

Cavour also figures in the negotiations over a possible coalition government. Cesare Rossi is described as dealing with Giolitti through Lusignoli, Milan’s prefect, while Giolitti remains in Piedmont. The personal and political distance matters: Mussolini’s circle is bargaining with several possible partners, but Giolitti is identified as the one still capable of restoring the authority of the state and imposing a ministerial compromise.

Portfolios and Political Leverage

In a later conversation with Michele Bianchi, Mussolini reports that Lusignoli has visited Giolitti in Cavour and says Giolitti could offer four major portfolios—navy, treasury, agriculture, and colonies—along with four undersecretary posts. The war ministry, Mussolini adds, would go to an ally. The proposed distribution makes the visit concrete: Cavour is where a potential arrangement is explored, while the offices under discussion reveal the scale of the political bargain. Yet the broader maneuver described in the narrative is not a straightforward effort to enter a coalition. Mussolini’s purpose is to keep negotiations moving until alternatives to a Fascist government become impossible, then press Luigi Facta to resign and take power without firing a shot.