The Dark Side of Italian History 1943–1945 (original) (raw)

Ordinary anti-Fascism? Italy and the fall of Fascism, 1943–1945

Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 2019

This article focuses on the immediate years after the fall of the Fascist regime from 1943 through the end of World War II. It asks: What did the Italians make of Fascism and its role in the country's history as they witnessed the demise of the regime? How should we assess the nature of their anti-Fascist reactions at the time? Does the postwar conflation of Resistance and Liberation with anti-Fascism adequately represent their experience? Drawing on personal diaries written during 1943-1945, the article specifically examines three key temporal moments: the downfall of Mussolini on 25 July 1943, the armistice of 8 September 1943 and Italy's proclamation of war against Germany on 13 October 1943. The article's ultimate goal is to bring out the meanings that emerge out of the lifeworld of ordinary citizens in interaction with official narratives. RIASSUNTO Basato su diari privati scritti durante gli anni dal 1943 alla fine della seconda guerra mondiale, l'articolo esamina tre momenti cruciali di questo periodo: la caduta di Mussolini il 25 luglio 1943, l'armistizio dell'8 settembre 1943, e la proclamazione di guerra dell'Italia alla Germania il 13 ottobre 1943. Le domande affrontate sono: Come reagirono gli italiani al disfacimento del regime? Come si puo' valutare il loro antifascismo? Quale fu la loro esperienza, ed è essa rappresentata adeguatamente dalla nozione di antifascismo identificato con resistenza e liberazione?

The Contrasting Image of Italian Women Under Fascism in the 1930’s

2011

The Fasci di Combattimento then became a political party in 1921 with the name of Partito Nazionale Fascista (PNF, Fascist National Party), and subsequently a dictatorship in 1925, remaining under the power of Benito Mussolini until 1943, when his dictatorship collapsed. 13 As Lasansky explains, The new regime quickly gained the support of the industrial working classes, the middle class, landowners, and business through political rhetoric that promised social reform, political power of the people, and a new form of aggressive nationalism. They established a corporate economy that united workers and business leaders within a system of intense productivity. By 1926 Mussolini had transformed the government into a totalitarian state. He gained control of the press, abolished the Parliament, and eliminated competing political parties. While the Italian monarchy survived during this rule, its power was greatly diminished. 14 There are many aspects of Fascism that characterized not solely the Italian movement, but to some extent all the fascist movements across Europe and the world. Perhaps the fundamental idea behind Fascism was that of being "revolutionary," meaning a break with the past, and the creation of something new that Italy had ever experienced before. And under many aspects (positive or negative) Fascism was precisely that. The term "revolutionary" can be interpreted as a revolution "against modern society, with its connotations of industrialism, individualism and bourgeois values; or, alternatively, as a 12