Alfredo Dallolio

My beloved cyberpunk nutcase Shin'ya Tsukamoto tackling #WWII in the Pacific: "Fires on the Plain" (2014). What more could I ask for? #movies #pacificwar #japan

She'll blame the war

"The use of US bases we're granting is the same as Spain's." Come on, Guido. It's pointless to compare a country on the losing side of WWII and with 111 US/NATO bases on its soil to one with only 5. In the EU, we need to start telling ourselves the truth. Each to their own end.

Leonardo: UK MoD announces contract for 23 AW-149 helicopters The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced a £1 billion contract award for new medium helicopters (NMH). Under the programme, Leonardo will build and deliver 23 latest generation AW-149s from Yeovil, ...

Happy ending. But the AW-149 could really have become further collateral damage from Brexit: first you scare away two competitors; then you try to strangle the last remaining (European!) one for political reasons; then, finally, you come to your senses. www.avionews.it/item/1268049...

Balbo, is that you?

a man in a suit and tie is giving a thank you sign . ALT: a man in a suit and tie is giving a thank you sign .

Comitati del no in questo momento

The Aostas' slight evolution was increased armor thickness and more engine power. The "Duca d'Aosta" was a lucky ship. But IMHO for the "Eugenio di Savoia", it was precisely her armor that saved her on at least a couple of occasions compared to the preceding Condottieri cruisers (Diaz included)

L'important, c'est qu'il ne se soit pas senti offensé parce qu'ils l'ont traité de nazi.

..., certainly not a peaceful one, for the transition from war to postwar. The Russian methods of the 'Red and White Guards' are setting standards." For anyone interested in the roots of #fascism in #ww1, Rochat's book on the Arditi is enlightening. Sadly, it has never been translated. 2/2

May 1918: the Internal Defense Committee of the Italian Army addressed Gen. Diaz with alarming news: "There are reports of active hoarding of members of the 'Arditi' corps. This is being conducted by the extremist parties of all militant persuasion, and it's a preparation..." 1/2 🧵

...or wait till November 3rd, 1918 and disembark some Bersaglieri cyclists on the Trieste Pier 😀

A beautiful comic book about the Battle of Ortigara, released in 2025: TAPUM by Leo Ortolani. I hope it's translated into other languages ​​soon. #WW1 #GreatWar #WWI

Yes. That's why the Carso Plateau was Italy's only offensive option. Ortigara was a (bloody) exception. Any judgment on Cadorna/Conrad should start from this assumption. As for amphibious landings, Gallipoli speaks volumes about this type of warfare during WWI. Especially with no naval superiority.

North-to-south view. Afternoon of June 10, 1917. Italian troops on the slopes of Mount Ortigara awaiting to launch a new assault to the top of the mountain.

South-to-North view. Positions at the start of the battle. The Italians had to descend over a hundred meters into no man's land in open terrain, then face another similar climb to reach the summit of Mount Ortigara.

Battle of Mount Ortigara (10-29 June 1917) was the numerical pinnacle (around 400.000 men involved) of the "White War" in #WW1. In a restricted and impervious high altitude space, after 20 days of battle and 25.200 losses, the Italians fell back to their original positions. More details in ALT.

"2026 is the year of the horse"

The horse

Looks like Via del Corso on a saturday afternoon. Same issue in Serie A. IMHO without a rule that prevents attackers from entering the six-yard box until the ball is in play, there is no getting out of this mess.

Canadians, you had to do ONE THING 😐

On a more constructive side: this multi-tier architecture is IMHO one of the most interesting proposal I saw recently. It was made by EUMS. I remain skeptical about the possibility of a true "European Army" in the tier one, but still...

Some *national* choices France made post-WWII are understandable given the context. But seriously: Gaullism on a continental scale today? Is France ready to share the buttons of Force de Frappe with a German colleague? That is the practical question. Because a Gaullist would never do that.

French gaullists had the same irrational fear about German rearmament. France today has a *truly* pro-European position on common debt. And it's not a Gaullist position. Gaullism has always been hostile to community budget, dreaming of a "Europe of Homelands," closer to Meloni and (sadly...) Orban.

You're right about the historic US moral-military blackmail to the nations defeated in World War II (🇩🇪🇮🇹): a big obstacle to any European autonomy. No question about that. Just like the UK's Atlantic ties. There was a certain lazyness, however, in eroding those ties, out of paranoia and fear.

So yes, there was (and still is) a France interested in a true European integration. But certainly not the *gaullist* France.

It was De Gaulle who vetoed the UK's entry into the European Economic Community (EEC) twice (in 1963 and 1967).
What Gaullism should we rediscover today, then? How was Gaullism truly pro-European, apart from its french nationalism (yes, pure nationalism) and being the anti-USA poster boys?

The Gaullists effectively blocked the Community institutions in 1965, withdrawing French representatives from Brussels (the empty chair policy) to protest the extension of qualified majority voting, which would have allowed other states to override the French veto.

De Gaulle opposed *any* loss of french sovereignty in favor of supranational institutions (such as the European Commission).
He proposed the "Fouchet Plan" (early 1960s), which aimed at a political union based only on intergovernmental cooperation, excluding the European Parliament.

Gaullist France, beyond its aversion to the US, has held back supranational European integration because it saw it as a threat to French national sovereignty and the greatness of France. Gaullism has always proposed a Europe as a "union of sovereign states," as opposed to true federal integration.

You can also add Italy's systematic indulgence towards the United States :-) This does not change the fact that the "L'Europe c'est la France" policies of Gaullism and neo-Gaullism were also an obstacle to European Independence. Precisely because they were (and still are) largely self-serving.

Don't get me wrong: I simply don't think that European strategic autonomy from the USA coincides with Gaullism, which is more of a sort of French exceptionalism. "De Gaulle was right" is a useless concept in that regard IMHO.

I love how French presidents all claim their Gaullist heritage or proclaim themselves as non-Gaullist whenever it's convenient. Just like Macron is doing right now.

I just hope this Gaullism à la carte doesn't include destabilising Libya and flirting with Russians in Cyrenaica as happened in 2011.