President Sergio Mattarella told
students and staff at the university of Marseilles Wednesday
that the Great Crash of 1929 had spawned the "fairy tale" that
regimes run by strongmen were essential to preserve national
interests.
"The economic crisis of 1929 shook the foundations of the global
economy and fueled a spiral of protectionism, unilateral
measures, with the progressive erosion of alliances," he said in
an academic address.
"Many states did not grasp the need to address that crisis in a
cohesive manner, settling instead on nineteenth-century visions,
focusing on the domestic dimension, counting on the resources of
enslaved peoples overseas.
"Authoritarian phenomena took over in some countries, attracted
by the fairy tale that despotic and illiberal regimes were more
effective in protecting national interests".
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