In 1933, Mussolini made a speech to the Italian Senate which this publication title calls "Il Patto Mussolini." In it he reviews the conditions agreed to in the "Pact of Four," a ten-year treaty of non-aggression signed eight years earlier in 1925 by the ambassadors of Germany, Britain, Italy, and France. Mussolini argues that if the pact were to be re-negotiated in 1935, the four powers would recognize "the exigencies of the new political and economic realities," which refer in part to Hitler's disturbing rhetoric, Germany's miltary build-up, and to the world economic crisis which began in 1929. The pact was never renewed, and as one can easily gather from this 1933 speech, Italy had already taken the preliminary steps to a disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany.

At 74 years old, Guido Mazzoni may not have been present in the Senate when Mussolini gave this speech. The extent of his involvement with the Fascist party is not known. It does not seem from the materials in the collection that he was an active member, but, at least on the surface, he went along with the rising tide, as did so many others.