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In 1924 the too-violent Balbo resigned command of the Fascist Militia. Il Duce tucked him away as Undersecretary of National Economy, and he might have stayed in this sackcloth & ashes of atonement indefinitely had he not managed to wangle over to the Ministry of Aviation with his same rank of Undersecretary. Aviation and Balbo being what they are, this fiery Fascist soon got up so much momentum in the Air Service that in 1928 he skyrocketed to the rank of full "General of Air," next year entered the Mussolini Cabinet as its youngest member (33) as Air Minister. New Minister Balbo immediately removed Italy's three greatest air heroes of that time—de Bernardi, Ferrarino and de Pinedo—entirely from the public eye and from feats of air prowess, assassinated their fame to such an extent that today who remembers their names?
Under the new Air Minister, aviation's fighting arm, as well as Italian commercial aviation, took giant strides. In mass formation flights, personalty led by the Air Minister, Italy began to excel more spectacularly each year. The name of Italo Balbo made headlines everywhere, and Dictator Mussolini figured it was about time to give him a taste of what he had given the three Heroes de Bernardi, Ferrarino and de Pinedo.
Nothing proved the mastery of Mussolini in Italy more completely than the way in which he managed to dominate Balbo, loading him with the rank of Air Marshal in reward for his Century of Progress flight, embracing him publicly while ecstatic Romans huzzahed, and then packing him off to be Governor of Libya, puncturing the world bubble of his fame, so that today not everyone remembers Italo Balbo. This sort of abrupt shift Il Duce constantly employs as a method, calls it ""changing the guard," keeps even Fascism's greatest dignitaries ever on the qui vive, for no Cabinet Minister can be sure the next ring on his telephone may not mean promotion, transfer or eclipse.
Libya is more than twice, as big as Texas, seven times larger than Italy, but it has not a single river, and the poor people live mainly on dates and date paste. Of the 700.000 inhabitants some 500,000 are Mohammedans, about a third of these Negroes. Jews number about 27,000, Italians some 36,000, and sporadic nomads account for the rest. That Italy owns Libya she owes to her famed Socialist, the late Giovanni Giolitti, who was five times Premier, staged the Libyan War in 1911. He was hotly accused by moderates and conservatives of "unconstitutional conduct in declaring war without the consent of Parliament," but nothing succeeds like success. After Socialist Giolitti had annexed administration of Libya, from Turkey by the Treaty of Ouchy, enthusiasm in Italy was such as to go a long way toward doubling the Socialist vote in Italy's next election.
When Italy had to spend every lira she could scrape together on the World War, she virtually abandoned Libya and at times enemy German submarines made so bold as to operate openly out of at least one of its harbors.