Italy Reborn: From Fascism to Democracy
Italy Reborn: From Fascism to Democracy

Author: Mark Gilbert

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2024-09-24

Total Pages: 518

ISBN-13: 0393867099

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A brilliant, meticulously researched account of the birth of Italian democracy after Mussolini. The rebirth of Italy after the Second World War is one of the most impressive political transformations in modern European history. In 1945, post-fascist Italy was devastated by war, and its reputation in the international arena was nil. Yet by December 1955, when Italy was admitted to the United Nations, the nation had contested three acrimonious but free general elections, had a flourishing press, and was a leader in the rebuilding of Europe. This is the dramatic story told by Italy Reborn. It charts the descent of Italy into Fascism, the scale of the wartime disaster, the Italian resistance to Nazi occupation, the horrors of civil war, and the establishment of the Republic in 1946. The Cold War divided, in 1947, the coalition of parties that had led the resistance to Fascism and Nazism. The book’s final chapters deal with the consolidation of Italian democracy and with the statesmanship of Alcide De Gasperi, the premier from December 1945 to August 1953. The book persuasively argues that De Gasperi deserves more credit than he has typically been accorded for Italy’s postwar democratization and shows how Italian democracy was constructed on a sound foundation—which is why it has been able to survive its many postwar crises. Largely based on contemporary Italian sources, Italy Reborn is both an original account of this crucial period in Italian history and a remarkable example of how democracies are made.

The Machine Has a Soul
The Machine Has a Soul

Author: Katy Hull

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2021-01-12

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 0691208123

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A historical look at the American fascination with Italian fascism during the interwar period In the interwar years, the United States grappled with economic volatility, and Americans expressed anxieties about a decline in moral values, the erosion of families and communities, and the decay of democracy. These issues prompted a profound ambivalence toward modernity, leading some individuals to turn to Italian fascism as a possible solution for the problems facing the country. The Machine Has a Soul delves into why Americans of all stripes sympathized with Italian fascism, and shows that fascism’s appeal rested in the image of Mussolini’s regime as “the machine which will run and has a soul”—a seemingly efficient and technologically advanced system that upheld tradition, religion, and family. Katy Hull focuses on four prominent American sympathizers: Richard Washburn Child, a conservative diplomat and Republican operative; Anne O’Hare McCormick, a distinguished New York Times journalist; Generoso Pope, an Italian-American publisher and Democratic political broker; and Herbert Wallace Schneider, a Columbia University professor of moral philosophy. In fascism’s violent squads they saw youthful glamour and impeccable manners, in the megalomaniacal Mussolini they perceived someone both current and old-fashioned, and in the corporate state they witnessed a politics that could revive addled minds. They argued that with the right course of action, the United States could use fascism to take the best from modernity while withstanding its harmful effects. Investigating the motivations of American fascist sympathizers, The Machine Has a Soul offers provocative lessons about authoritarianism’s appeal during times of intense cultural, social, and economic strain.

Benedetto Croce and the Birth of the Italian Republic, 1943-1952
Benedetto Croce and the Birth of the Italian Republic, 1943-1952

Author: Fabio Rizi

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2019-01-02

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 1487530234

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As president of the Italian Liberal Party, Benedetto Croce was one of the most influential intellectuals involved in Italian public affairs after the fall of Mussolini. Placing Croce at the centre of historical events between 1943 and 1952, this book details his participation in Italy’s political life, and his major contributions to the rebirth of Italian democracy. Drawing on a great amount of primary material, including Croce’s political speeches, correspondences, diaries, and official documents from post-war Italy, this book illuminates the dynamic and progressive nature of Croce’s liberalism and the shortcomings of the old Liberal leaders. Providing a year-by-year account of Croce’s initiatives, author Fabio Fernando Rizi fills the gap in Croce’s biography, covering aspects of his public life often neglected, misinterpreted, or altogether ignored, and restores his standing among the founding fathers of modern Italy.

Architecture and the Novel under the Italian Fascist Regime
Architecture and the Novel under the Italian Fascist Regime

Author: Francesca Billiani

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2019-09-14

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 3030194280

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Architecture and the Novel under the Italian Fascist Regime discusses the relationship between the novel and architecture during the Fascist period in Italy (1922-1943). By looking at two profoundly diverse aesthetic phenomena within the context of the creation of a Fascist State art, Billiani and Pennacchietti argue that an effort of construction, or reconstruction, was the main driving force behind both projects: the advocated “revolution” of the novel form (realism) and that of architecture (rationalism). The book is divided into seven chapters, which in turn analyze the interconnections between the novel and architecture in theory and in practice. The first six chapters cover debates on State art, on the novel and on architecture, as well as their historical development and their unfolding in key journals of the period. The last chapter offers a detailed analysis of some important novels and buildings, which have in practice realized some of the key principles articulated in the theoretical disputes.

The Poet and the Dictator
The Poet and the Dictator

Author: Jean Mudge

Publisher: Praeger

Published: 2002-05-30

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13:

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This vivid biography is a study of the life and times of the Italian poet-activist, Lauro de Bosis. Remarkably productive as a poet, cultural diplomat, and political subversive, de Bosis founded and lead an underground resistance group, the National Alliance for Liberty. His actions culminated in a dramatic solo flight over Rome in October 1931, showering the city with protest leaflets against the Fascist dictatorship before plunging to his death. This feat brought world attention to the existence of anti-Fascism, much to Mussolini's chagrin and rage. De Bosis's story, told against the backdrop of Rome's politics in the 1920s, is at once personal, national, and international. World figures —- from Mussolini, Croce, Ezra Pound, to Walter Lippmann, Thornton Wilder, and his lover, the actress Ruth Draper —- were all within de Bosis's compass. Gifted, quirky, original, and impulsive but principled to the point of giving up both personal love and family for his cause, his life shows how Mussolini's regime systematically cleared out the cream of Italy's young liberal intellectuals. Based on previously untapped archival resources, this is the first biography of a young, gifted Italian poet who dared to challenge the power of a totalitarian state with his practical idealism and fierce determination to protect Italy's fragile democracy from il Duce.

A History of Italy
A History of Italy

Author: Claudia Baldoli

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2009-11-19

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1137013664

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Until the beginning of the 18th century, to be 'Italian' meant to identify with a number of collective memories, rather than a national memory. Yet there are elements of continuity that have shaped Italian identity over the past 1,500 years. Religion, food, art and architecture, a literary language, as well as a particular relationship between cities and countryside, between family and civil society have all contributed to present day Italian culture and politics. Baldoli explores the history of Italy as a country, rather than as a nation, in order to trace its fascinating cultural and political development. Offering a way into each period of Italian history, the book brings Italy's past to life with extracts from poetry, novels and music. Drawing on the latest research published in English and Italian, this is the ideal introduction for all those interested in Italy's cultural and social past and its significance for the country's present.

What Universities Owe Democracy
What Universities Owe Democracy

Author: Ronald J. Daniels

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2021-10-05

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1421442698

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Introduction -- American dreams : access, mobility, fairness -- Free minds : educating democratic citizens -- Hard facts : knowledge creation and checking power -- Purposeful pluralism : dialogue across difference on campus -- Conclusion.

Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini

Author: Charles River Editors

Publisher: Independently Published

Published: 2019-01-28

Total Pages: 112

ISBN-13: 9781795056489

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*Includes pictures *Includes quotes and contemporary accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy. You in America will see that some day." - Mussolini It's easy to forget how young Italy was when Benito Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883. It is hard to conceive a territory with such a long and ancient history was once young and troubled with constant conflict and instability. Similar to Germany, Italy was unified in 1861, but contrary to its northern cousin, its previous history was one of separation. Italy had no great romantic idea of a "Great Germany," keeping it unified even during the wars between city-states. Benito Mussolini was born and raised in a highly volatile environment where ideas already considered extreme by most contemporary observers, such as Socialism, would undergo a deep and violent transformation. Mussolini would ride that wave to power, and he would hold it for decades as he opportunistically tried to strengthen Italy's position and empire. That would lead him to foreign interventions in Africa, and eventually an alliance with Nazi Germany's Adolf Hitler, ultimately costing him everything and devastating his country throughout World War II. Mussolini's final act was an attempt to flee his fate. On April 25, 1945, he was able to move about without German interference as the Allies advanced. He wore a German uniform to hide his identity and tried to march north with retreating troops, thinking he would find a way to freedom from Germany, but an armed force of partisan troops stopped the column on April 27, 1945. Mussolini was immediately identified, captured, and briefly jailed along with his lover, Claretta Petacci. There was no great trial waiting for Mussolini and no last moment under the spotlight. The partisan troops organized a show trial to give the proceedings some sense of legality, and on April 29, 1945, they took Mussolini and Claretta out of jail. The Italian dictator was shot, along with his lover, after which their corpses were brought back to Milan's Loreto square and hung by their feet. The very next day, Hitler would commit suicide in his bunker in Berlin, and the fighting in Europe would finally come to an end a little more than a week later. Benito Mussolini: The Life and Legacy of Italy's Fascist Prime Minister profiles one of the 20th century's most notorious leaders. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Mussolini like never before.