ROME LETTER: Some foreign media have gleefully used the accident as a stick to beat the Italian character with
“FOR TOO long, there has been a fatuous contempt for Italian arms in Anglophone countries, largely as a result of wartime propaganda. The truth is that Italian soldiers were tough and hardy, and on innumerable occasions they fought as bravely as any soldiers in the world. But the Italian record in adapting operational concepts to technology was almost uniformly disastrous.”
(The quote is from Alameinby Jon Latimer).
I belong to a generation that was brought up on the old joke about Italian tanks being equipped with five gears – four reverse and one forward. Yet, many who subscribe to that stereotypical view of Italian soldiery, especially during the North African desert campaign, are perhaps unaware of the fierce resistance put up at El Alamein by the crack paratrooper regiment, the Folgore. This lot simply refused to surrender, with 4,667 troops from the original complement of 5,000 being killed in battle.
Or what about the last message sent from the divisional commander of the Italian Ariete artillery regiment at El Alamein? “We have three tanks left. I am counter-attacking.” The commander of course died in this counter-attack.
In reality, military historians have for some time acknowledged that many of those Italians who fell in the North African campaign were courageous, innovative and skilful soldiers.
All of this is by way of preamble to a reflection on the inevitable, sustained bad international press generated by the behaviour of Capt Francesco Schettino, captain of the Costa Concordia,the Italian cruise ship which ran aground on Friday January 13th with the loss (so far) of 18 lives. Firstly, there was the bitter irony of David Letterman on his Late Showon CBS.
Not surprisingly, he made much of the captain’s explanation of how he had ended up in a lifeboat, thus abandoning the sinking ship approximately two hours before many of his passengers and crew. Remember, the captain had told investigators that he “slipped” and fell into the lifeboat. Sure, joked Letterman, we all know that on those cruises people are always falling into the lifeboats, it is a real problem for the shipping companies. People just keep “falling” into lifeboats, he jeered.
Defending Capt Schettino in relation to the accusations that (a) he provoked the tragic accident (18 dead so far), (b) that his indecision and lack of leadership in the hour following the collision may have cost lives and (c) that he abandoned ship before passengers and crew could prove a difficult task. In time – a very long time, no doubt – a court will establish his level of culpability and responsibility.
Not surprisingly, though, international public opinion has already made up its mind: this was a typically Italian piece of cowardice and a typically Italian "f..k-up". Der Spiegelspelt it out the other day, in a piece which compared the captain to a hit and run driver: "Is anyone astonished by the fact that the captain of the Costa Concordiais Italian? It would be difficult to imagine a German or even a British captain doing a similar manoeuvre and then fleeing." No sooner said than the Berlusconi-family-owned Il Giornale responded with a remarkably venomous piece, entitled "We Have Schettino, You Lot Have Auschwitz", saying: "According to Der Spiegel, we are a nation of 'Schettinos' and there's nothing surprising about the Concordiatragedy. We're people to avoid, a burden for the European Union and a problem for the euro. On the other hand, the Germans are very capable
"We've already read in Hitler's speeches of how the Germans are a superior race … It's true, we Italians have the deaths of 30 or so liner passengers on our conscience but the German race has wiped out six million passengers … and unlike the Italians, the superior race of Germans did nothing to attempt to save even one of them. On the contrary we saved 4,200 passengers on the Concordiaand we saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Jews at the time of the wretched (1938) Racial Laws … "
This futile exchange of prejudices clearly does nothing to ease the pain of those who lost friends and relatives on the Concordia.Just at this moment of euro crisis, too, both Germany and Italy come in for plenty of negative press. If international media labelled Schettino "Capt Cowardice", Napoli football fans from his home village in Campania responded by taking a banner reading "Capt Schettino, We Are With You" to a recent Napoli home game.
There is maybe good reason to reflect on Italian safety standards in the workplace, on the roads, at home and elsewhere – but this is hardly the moment.
For example, my mechanic deactivates the seat belt alarm in his car – he says seat belts bring bad luck. That, though, is a debate for another day.
What is for sure is that, as the military historian quoted above would indicate, stereotypical national prejudices are neither accurate nor helpful.