FIRST MEETING OF ADOLF HITLER AND BENITO MUSSOLINI

 

Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany, and Benito Mussolini, the Fascist dictator of Italy, met face-to-face in Venice on 13th and 14th June 1934. 

The June 14, 1934, meeting in Venice was the first between Hitler and Mussolini. It was highly awkward, largely unproductive, and defined by stark personal and stylistic clashes as the two dictators sized each other up. Hitler arrived at the Lido airfield in a Junkers Ju 52, mistakenly believing the meeting would be a quiet, private affair. He was dressed in a casual beige trench coat and carried a rumpled fedora. He was deeply embarrassed to be greeted by Mussolini, who was dressed in full, striking Fascist military regalia in front of 200 journalists. They met for two days. Formal discussions were held at Villa Pisani in Stra, with an additional stop at Piazza San Marco in Venice. The central and most contentious topic of their talks was the fate of Austria. Mussolini wanted to protect Austrian independence and strongly opposed Hitler’s aggressive ambitions to annex the country. No formal agreements were signed. Both left unimpressed. Mussolini privately called Hitler's ideas "boring" and "stupid" and famously whispered to his staff, "I don't like him". This historic meeting took place just 16 days before the Night of the Long Knives, during which Hitler's political opponents were killed. Italy was the premier power. Mussolini had been in power since 1921. Hitler became the dictator in 1932.