Achille Starace

Achille Starace (August 18, 1889 — April 29, 1945) was a prominent leader of Fascist Italy before and during World War II.

A highly decorated solider during World War I, Starace joined the Fascist movement in Trento in 1920, rising quickly through the ranks and catching the attention of Benito Mussolini, who placed Starace in charge of the Fascist group in Venezia Tridentina. In October 1921, Starace became Vice-Secretary of the National Fascist Party. He joined Mussolini's march on Rome the following year. He rose through the ranks of the National Party, eventually becoming secretary in 1931. While fanatically loyal to Mussolini, he was controversial, and made enemies by the end of his tenure. He took a leave of absence to participate in the invasion of Ethiopia. He returned in 1936 to the secretary position, but was removed in 1939. He became Chief of Staff, but was fired for incompetence in 1941. He was arrested in 1943 after Mussolini's ouster, but was released, and made his way to Mussolini's German-backed Social Republic in northern Italy, but was arrested by the Fascists for having "weakened" the Party while he was secretary. He was released again, and moved to Milan, where he was recognized by anti-Fascist partisans who took him into custody, showed him Mussolini's dead body, and then summarily tried and shot him. His body was strung up next to Mussolini's.

Achille Starace in The Hot War
In February 1951, with World War III only a few weeks old and already going badly for the U.S. and its allies, President Harry Truman decided to use atomic bombs in East Germany and in the Soviet Union's satellites with the goal of slowing down the Soviet supply line. He even hoped that the attacks might prompt the governments of the various satellites to reconsider their alliance with Russia, or to prompt the citizens of those states to rebel against their pro-Soviet governments. Secretary of Defense George Marshall, while somewhat dubious, did recall the Italians ultimately rose and shot Benito Mussolini, his mistress, Clara Petacci, and Achille Starace. Truman immediately thanked Marshall forc remembering Starace's name.