![]() There, as leader of the short-lived Italian Regency of Carnaro, he made use of many of the trappings that Mussolini would later co-opt including the title Duce, black shirted militia, and – more significantly for this article – the “Roman” salute. World War I hero, poet, playwrite and rabble rouser, d’Annunzio marched 2,600 volunteers into the city of Fiume (now Rijeka in Croatia) to claim it for Italy. However, it wasn’t the Nazis who adopted this salute first, but the Italian Fascist party, who in turn adopted it from earlier Italian nationalist and proto-fascist Gabriele d’Annunzio. Although there are no contemporary Roman texts that make reference to this salute, the Nazis can be forgiven for believing it was Roman as many 19th and 20th century plays, artwork and movies depicted the salute as ‘Roman.’ The first time the salute can be seen is in the Jacques-Louis David painting Oath of the Horatii created in 1784. Adopted in the 1930s it is commonly believed that the salute was based on an ancient salute used by the Romans. Like many of the symbols of Nazi Germany, it was not created by the party. But just where does this infamous salute come from? ![]() Lots of national gestures have meaning behind them, but the Hitler salute, known in German as Der Deutsche Grub, carries such heavy connotations, that in certain parts of the world you can be arrested for doing it. ![]()
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