December 18, 1919

December 18, 1919, is the date on which Gabriele D’Annunzio made the proposed modus vivendi in Fiume subject to a popular referendum. The episode exposed the tension between the Commander’s appeal to popular consent and his willingness to override it when the result went against him: after reports that legionnaires had interfered with voting, he ordered the referendum annulled.

A date in the Fiume crisis

The date heads a scene set in Fiume’s operations room, where D’Annunzio is alone after the singer Lilì de Montresor has been escorted out at dawn. The narrative places his isolation within a volatile political setting. Earlier, he had asked the people whether they wanted the suffering that resistance would bring; the crowd had answered enthusiastically, and Randaccio’s flag was unfurled as the Arditi sang their battle songs. D’Annunzio then referred the decision to accept the modus vivendi to a popular vote.

The vote and its result

The account describes D’Annunzio waiting for the people’s decision, with Tommaso Beltrami guarding the door. Reports of disorder reached him during the day: legionnaires entered polling places, obstructed scrutineers and tampered with ballots. Despite those incidents, the result appeared clear before sunset. A great majority of Fiume’s voters favored the proposed agreement, which D’Annunzio had opposed.

Annulment and significance

D’Annunzio responded by summoning his personal guard and ordering the referendum annulled. The sequence gives December 18 its significance in the narrative: a public appeal to the people’s judgment becomes a decision to set that judgment aside. The vote had offered a means to settle whether Fiume should accept the compromise; its reported outcome instead deepened the divide between the Commander and the population whose voice he had invoked.