The Myth of Squadrismo in the Fascist Regime

7/28/2019 The Myth of Squadrismo in the Fascist Regime

1/21

The Myth of Squadrismo in the Fascist RegimeAuthor(s): Roberta Suzzi ValliSource: Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 35, No. 2 (Apr., 2000), pp. 131-150Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/261201 .

Accessed: 02/06/2013 17:28

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Sage Publications, Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toJournal of

Contemporary History.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 130.102.42.98 on Sun, 2 Jun 2013 17:28:12 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sageltdhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/261201?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/261201?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sageltd


2/21

Journal f Contemporary istoryCopyright? 2000 SAGEPublications,London,Thousand Oaks,CA andNew Delhi,Vol35(2), 131-150.[0022-0094(200004)35:2;1--150;0 298]

RobertaSuzziValliThe Myth of Squadrismo in the FascistRegime*

In a 1994 essay on the latest Italian studies on fascism, Niccolo Zapponidescribed a 'paradoxical' situation he had come across in his exploration ofthe large number of books and essays on the origins of fascism or the crisis ofthe liberal state. Until the first volume of Emilio Gentile's Storia del partitofascista was published in 1989, there was what he called a 'systematic repres-sion' of fascist violence; it has been vociferously condemned but never studiedand analysed.1Ever since the end of the second world war, squadrismo, the fascist move-ment based on armed squads, has received little attention from historians. Thislack of interest is in large part the result of the view that prevailed until the1980s that fascism was a 'historical negativity', lacking both cultural specificityand autonomy. The activity of the squads was seen as the concrete expressionof this 'negativity' and was used as one of the main arguments for the notionthat fascism was a form of class reaction. The squadristi were proof of themercenary nature of a movement controlled by the agrarian bourgeoisie. Themore rigorous Marxist historians, especially during the 1950s, even warnedagainst attributing too much importance to squadrismo by considering it theinstrumentwhich helped fascism rise to power: they did not want interest in theaction of the squads to detract from the fact that fascism's success dependedsolely on the decisions of the holders of capital.2 Other Marxists, for theirpart, in subscribing to the theory of 'revelation', identified not only capitalistmanipulators but also ideological mentors: agrarian squadrismo embodiednationalist ideas widespread throughout Italy in the early part of the century,described as the 'prelude to fascist squadrismo', which had encouraged thebourgeoisie to take up the defence of its own interests.3These interpretations all share the view that on its own squadrismo wouldnot be worth studying. Its only interest lies in the fact that it sheds lighton problems which historians consider truly important, either the economicinterests of the ruling classes or the crisis of the liberal state. Even recently theaction of the squads was described as only an 'external manifestation' of the*Translated by Anne Heaton-Ward1 N. Zapponi, 'Fascism in Italian Historiography, 1986-93: A Fading National Identity',Journal of Contemporary History, 29, 4 (October 1994), 558.2 L. Basso, Due totalitarismi. Fascismo e Democrazia Cristiana (Milan 1951), 258.3 P. Alatri, Le origini del fascismo (Rome 1956), 15.

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/21

Journal f ContemporaryHistoryVol35 No 2

crisis.4 Where the subject of squadrismo is addressed, it is generally todenounce the connivance between action squads and government forces,magistrates and police forces, not to mention the weakness of the oppositionand the mistakes made by Italian socialists. The question of why the crisisfound expression in violence remains unanswered.Yet, as early as the end of the 1950s Nino Valeri recommended thatsquadrismo be studied more closely. He perceived its originality, whichderived not from its love of violence, but from its affirmation of a 'moralsystem pertaining to violence: in other words, violence is elevated to the statusof an ethical rule'. The presence of a 'moral system' implies the possibility thatthere was an identifiable squadrista 'mentality' which influenced the twenty-year span of fascism. This led Valeri to raise a particularly important subject:the new form of organization of these squads of youths, their methods and thepropaganda they used paved the way for a definite break with the tradition ofparliamentary liberalism. It prepared the nation for 'direct totalitarian demo-cracy', as embodied in the fascist regime.5Despite Nino Valeri's work, there was no fresh interest in squadrismountil the end of the 1970s when Aquarone, Lyttelton and Petersen publishedstudies on the issue of violence in Italian fascism. These historians' main con-tributions lie in their identifying the shortcomings of interpreting squadrismoexclusively in terms of class struggle. The squadristi were not mere mercenarysoldiers: they sometimes acted independently to achieve their own goals,which could be distinct from those of the agrarian class. Three main pointsemerged from their detailed analyses, which focused on the characteristics ofsquadrismo. Firstly, as Valeri suggested, the squadristi did not considerviolence a mere instrument but rather a value on which to base the conduct ofone's life; secondly, the ritual and symbolic aspects of violence deserve specialattention as it is in these that a great deal of the originality of squadrismo with-in the Italian political scene lies; thirdly, if violence is a value, it does not dis-appear with the creation of the regime but continues to survive within it.When squadrismo is seen in this way it becomes clear that it was an importantelement in fascist Italy;it was not a phenomenon limited to nostalgic groups ofintellectuals - such as Selvaggi's followers - who were dissatisfied with thenormalization of fascism after the March on Rome.64 R. Vivarelli, Storia delle origini del fascismo (Bologna 1991), 18; P. Farneti, 'La crisi dellademocrazia italiana e l'avvento del fascismo: 1919-1922', Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica, 5, 1(January1975), 45-82.5 N. Valeri, 'Origini del fascismo, squadrismo e lotta di classe' in Lezioni sull'antifascismo (Bari1960), 8.6 A. Aquarone, 'Violenza e consenso nel fascismo italiano', Storia contemporanea, 10, 1(February 1979), 145-55; A. Lyttelton, 'Fascismo e violenza: conflitto sociale e azione politica inItalia nel primo dopoguerra' and J. Petersen, 'II problema della violenza nel fascismo italiano',Storia contemporanea, 12, 6 (December 1982), 965-1008. On the subject of the squadrismo ofthe Selvaggi see L. Mangoni, L'interventismo della cultura. Intellettuali e riviste del fascismo(Rome-Bari 1974), 93-195; R. Busini, 'II "Selvaggio" squadrista (1924-25): le radici di unacorrente del cosiddetto "Fascismo di sinistra"', Quaderno '70 sul Novecento, 1970, 35-89; W.

132



4/21

SuzziValli: heMythof Squadrismon theFascistRegime

Emilio Gentile studied these new ideas in greater depth and detail, andindeed traced the true origins of fascist totalitarianism to squadrismo.Squadrismo gave to fascism its way of life and its 'integralist' political mental-ity, according to which fascism requiredabsolute power to re-model the entireItalian nation along the lines of the squadrista 'apostle-warrior'.British and American political scientists and sociologists have alsoapproached the subject of fascist violence in Italy. They formulated a defini-tion of squadrismo as ritual violence exerted by paramilitary groups over 'sub-versives' with the approval of the state and the local elites, in order to create aparadigm for the study of events unconnected with Italy in the 1920s. Thisapproach gives rise to wholly unfounded comparisons, such as betweensquadrismo and American vigilantism or even Red Brigadeterrorism.Recentlythere have been studies comparing the fascist action squads and the naziSA (Sturmabteilungen)which argue that fascism and nazism are comparablein the 'movement' phase which precedes the conquest of power: the pointsin common they mention include the fact that the squadrista and the Germanstorm-trooper were both social outcasts and that they shared a similarlyviolent lifestyle.8 However, the essential difference between the two isobscured: the SA was a party militia, a paramilitarygroup complementing thepolitical activity of the NSDAP. Squadrismo, on the other hand, stood at thecentre of a new kind of political movement; it was, if anything, a militia party(partito-milizia), rather than a party militia. Membership of the Fascist Partymade one a combatant in the name of Italy.9Another limitation of these attempts at comparison lies in the image ofthe squadrista upon which they are based: a 'confused' or 'failed' individual,predisposed to violence because he is incapable of reasonable discussion,generally recruited from a section of the middle class in the phase of down-ward mobility and, because of this, full of hatred for the proletariat which heconsiders responsible for his demise. The lack of studies on squadrismo andthe difficulty of finding information on rank-and-filesquadristihave led to thisstereotype being widely accepted as fact.This image of the squadrista finds no support in the data presented in thisarticle. These are drawn from a sample of 440 squadristi, 220 from BolognaAdamson, 'The Culture of Italian Fascism and the Fascist Crisis of Modernity: The Case of IISelvaggio', Journal of Contemporary History, 30, 4 (October 1995), 555-75.7 E. Gentile, Le origini dell'ideologia fascista (1918-1925) (Bari 1975; Bologna 1996); idem,Storia del partito fascista 1919-1922. Movimento e milizia (Rome-Bari 1989); idem, II culto dellittorio (Rome-Bari 1993) (English trans. The Sacralisationof Politics in Fascist Italy (Cambridge,MA 1977); idem, La via italiana al totalitarismo (Rome 1995).8 M. Clark, 'Italian Squadrism and Contemporary Vigilantism', European History Quarterly,18, 4 (October 1988), 33-49; F.F. Magherini, 'A Comparative Analysis of the Effectiveness ofPolitical Violence in Italy: Fascist Squadrism (1919-1922) and Red Brigades Terrorism (1970-1982)' PhD diss., Tufts University 1993; S. Reichardt, 'Gesellschaften im Ubergang. Uberlegungenzum Vergleich faschistisher Kampfbiinde in Italien und Deutschland' in A. Triebel (ed.), DiePragmatik des Gesellschaftsvergleichs (Leipzig 1997), 139-55.9 See E. Gentile, Storia del partito fascista, op. cit., 461 seq.

133



5/21


6/21

SuzziValli: heMythof Squadrismonthe FascistRegime

'national radicalism'. But in 1921 fascism not only aspired to get rid of themalfunctions of the system, but also aimed to present itself as 'a new way ofliving and viewing politics'.12 Political virgins', people who had never beforebeen actively involved in politics, were called to join the ranks of the squadristito reinforce the fresh approach. And indeed for many squadristi joining thefascio di combattimento it was the first time that they had been members of apolitical movement. In our sample, only 12 per cent of the squadristi fromBologna and 9.5 per cent of those from Florence had previously been membersof a political party, but it must be added that these percentages are probablylower than in reality, given the difficulty of gathering information on indi-viduals' previous political allegiance. For Bologna the figures break down as: 7republicans, 1 anarchist, 1 socialist, 2 radicals, 2 liberals and 13 nationalists(10 of whom came from the nationalist youth group); for Florence: 7 republi-cans, 1 anarchist, 3 socialists, 4 liberals, 2 constitutionals, 4 nationalists.The fact that most of the squadristi were political novices was mainly afactor of their youth. The high proportion of young people in the PNFmembership has been singled out by Petersen and Gentile as one of its featureswhich distinguished it from the other political parties in Italy. This character-istic has often led fascism to be understood as a generational conflict, youngpeople between the ages of 15 and 20 rebelling against their parents, and theextreme nature and violence of squadrismo explained as a consequence of theage of its members rather than their social class.'3The following table classifies the squadristi from Bologna and Florenceaccording to their year of birth. Comparing these figures with those availablefor other communes we find that whereas 78 per cent of the squadristi inMassa Carrara in December 1921 were aged between 16 and 27, in Bolognathe percentage rises to 88.4 per cent and in Florence to 83.5 per cent:

TABLE1Pre-1880 1881-86 1887-93 1894-1900 1901-06 Total

Bologna 4 (1.9%) 3 (1.4%) 17 (8.2%) 93 (44.7%) 91 (43.7%) 208Florence 6 (2.8%) 8 (3.8%) 21 (9.9%) 78 (36.8%) 99 (46.7%) 212Such high percentages are explained by the fact that both Bologna andFlorence are university towns and attract large numbers of students in that agegroup. The average age of the squadristi was only just below 23 (22.8 inBologna, 22.9 in Florence) which compares to 24 in Reggio Emilia and 23.5 inMassa Carrara.

Among the squadristi from Bologna and Florence included in the sample,43.7 per cent and 46.7 per cent respectively were born after 1900, the last year12 NOI, 'Ritorno al principio del fascismo', La Rinascita (Padova), 1 August 1921. On thesubject of national radicalism, see E. Gentile, II mito dello Stato nuovo (Rome-Bari 1982), 3-29.13 Grildrig [A. Cappa], Le generazioni nel fascismo (Turin 1924); B. Wanrooij, 'The Rise andFall of Italian Fascism as a Generational Revolt', Journal of Contemporary History, 22, 3 (July1987), 401-18.

135



7/21

joural of ContemporaryHistoryVol35 No 2

of conscription for the first world war. Figures given to the National Congressin November 1921 indicate that 57.4 per cent of the members of the fasciclaimed to be war veterans. According to the figures from our sample, the per-centage of squadristi from Bologna and Florence who took part in the war issmaller: 47.5 per cent (out of 183 people) and 45.4 per cent (out of 187). Thegreat majority of squad leaders were ex-officers. In our sample, the ratio ofsimple soldiers to officers is 1-4 for the former servicemen from Bologna and1-5 for those from Florence. And the fact that the majority, or at least half, ofthe squadristi did not fight in the war at all illustrates the importance for theyoung of the myth created round it, notably by the relatively small number ofArditi whose group was well represented amongst the squadristi: there were12 in Bologna (13.8 per cent of the ex-soldiers) and 18 in Florence (21 percent).Political innocence is not only a factor of age: squadrismo also called to 'allthose who have been disappointed and have felt left out in the past'.14 n otherwords, it gladly welcomed people from groups which had never had a voice intraditional politics.Classifying the various occupations of our sample of squadristi according tothe headings used by Sylos Labini in his analysis of the social composition ofthe Italian population15we obtain the following:

Bologna Florence% %1 Bourgeoisie (land-owners, entrepreneurs, professionals) 15.9 9.32 Middle classes (white-collar workers, self-employed petty

bourgeoisie and other specific categories) 78.8 87.53 Working class 5.3 3.6The following table lists the different job descriptions of the squadristi, alsoat the end of 1921. Several jobs have a separate entry here even though theycould be included in another existing category on the list. For example,

employees of the railway and postal services have separate entries althoughthey are both 'public employees'; bank clerks could be included under theheading 'private employees':TABLE 2

Occupation Bologna FlorenceLand-owner 6 8Industrialist 7 5Architect 1 -Lawyer 9 3Accountant 3 1Engineer 2 1Doctor 2Teacher - 1Private sector employee 16 9

14 'Ricostruzione', L'Assalto, 2 April 1921.15 P. Sylos Labini, Saggio sulle classi sociali in Italia (1870-1970) (Rome-Bari 1974).

136



8/21

SuzziValli: heMythof Squadrismonthe FascistRegime 137

Bank clerk 4 8Public employee - 3Railway employee 13 16Post office employee 2 2Detective 1Shop assistant 1 4Driver - 1Cook 1 -Waiter 2Student 89 86(secondary school) (22) (42)(university) (62) (35)Tradesman 6 10Photographer 1 1Sales representative 2 3Door-to-door salesman 1 -Barber 1Baker - 2Mechanic - 3Blacksmith 1-Insurer 1 1Sea captain - 1Civil air pilot - 1Artist - 5Journalist 5 4Member of the armed forces 1 5War pensioner 1 1Manual worker 6 -Decorator 1 1Bricklayer 2Fascio porter - 1Unemployed 1 5TOTAL 189 192

The clear predominance of the middle class echoes the figures of ReggioEmilia, Carrara and Udine, whereas working-class participation is lower here,in large part because of the economic structure of the two cities. The mostobvious difference lies in the number of students: nearly half the squadristi -47 per cent in Bologna and 44.8 per cent in Florence - as opposed to 2 percent in Reggio Emilia and 9.7 per cent in Carrara and 16 per cent in Udine.The high percentage of student membership in fascism is confirmed by reportsof the prefects and chiefs of police on the composition of the local fascistbranches and by figures on the PNF - Petersen has worked out that duringthe winter of 1921-22 fascism managed to recruit 12-13 per cent of allstudents in Italian universities and schools.16Since there is little data available on the professional background of thestudents' parents, we have to rely on national statistics. These show a strong16 On the Socialist Party's lack of interest in and hostility towards students, see F. De Negri,'Agitazioni e movimenti studenteschi nel primo dopoguerra in Italia', Studi storici, 16, 3(September 1975), 733-63.



9/21


increase between 1911 and 1931 in middle-class students enrolling at uni-versity (from 52 per cent to 70 per cent) accompanied by a decrease in uppermiddle-class students (from 39 per cent to 16 per cent).17These statisticsindicate that we are dealing with a phase of upward mobility of the middleclasses. At the same time the growth in the number of university studentsincreased the glut of graduates, which is considered an 'endemic characteristicof Italian society' from the 1880s, leading to the increase in unemploymentamongst the highly educated which contributed to the strong political radical-ization of the young.In the case of most university students it has been possible to find out whichsubject they studied. There is a strong prevalence of scientific subjects, especi-ally at Bologna, which contradicts the widespread belief that fascists werepredominantly from petty bourgeois families imbued with humanistic culture.This echoes the national statistics for the same period which also show anincrease in numbers enrolled to study engineering, medicine and agriculture:

TABLE 3Bologna Florence

Architecture 2 -Chemistry 3 4Economics - 1Engineering 22 1Law 8 9Humanities - 1Maths 1 1Medicine 18 7Agriculture 5 1Social sciences - 3Veterinary science 2 -

An individual's decision to join squadrismo was often influenced by personalrelationships established long before his involvement in politics. This helped tocreate a climate of intimacy within the squads. There were friendships datingback either to school or university days: in Bologna, for example, 10 of thesquadristi studying medicine both matriculated and graduated at the sametime; school friends are mentioned in the memoirs or diaries of squadristi.Family ties were often a clinching factor leading individuals to join the squads:limiting ourselves to the closest kinship, 55 of the 220 squadristi of Bolognahad at least one squadrista brother, and in 7 cases father and son belonged tothe same squad; in Florence there were 40 and 5 cases respectively.Information on the careers of individual squadristi after the March onRome is more difficult to gather as a great number disappeared without trace- many students returned to their native region when they graduated - andseem to have retired from political activism. The most reliable data are thoseon expulsions from the Fascist Party - which affected 23.6 per cent of the

17 M. Barbagli, Disoccupazione intellettuale e sistema scolastico in Italia (Bologna 1974).

138



10/21

SuzziValli: heMythof SquadrismontheFascistRegime

Florentines and 16.4 per cent of the Bolognesi - and careers within it:research reveals that 57 per cent of the squadristi from Bologna and 39 percent of those from Florence never held an official function within the PNFbetween 1921 and 1943. The discrepancy between both cities confirms thegeneral feeling that Tuscans were over-represented in the national politicalapparatus.18The posts held by the squadristi can be divided between those ona national level, including federal secretaries, and those which are limited to alocal level, from the members of the federal directorate (direttorio) to thecouncillors (consultore) in the district fascist groups (gruppirionali fascisti). Inboth Bologna and Florence, 16 per cent of those who held some officebelonged to the first group, whereas for 84 per cent their involvement waslimited to posts in town or provincial branches, and was sometimes purelyhonorary. We also know in which years the squadristi achieved their highestposts. In both Bologna and Florence this occurred firstly in 1921-22, then in1932-34 (when the 1932 PNF statute had ruled that the leadership positionswithin the party should be given either to the people who had fought the revo-lution or to the young), and lastly in 1939-43, the highest point.These dates illustrate the active interest the regime displayed for thesquadristi from the 1930s onwards. This was also clear from the series ofmeasures adopted in favour of the squadristi between 1932 and 1940 to helpthem find successful careers in public employment.19However, the squadristiwere not merely a protected group: in accordance with the values expressed inthe myth of squadrismo they became the models for the creation of the newItalian of the fascist age. This myth was born along with the activity itself, in1921-22. It was the tendency of the squadristi immediately to translate theirpolitical actions into epic and religious terms. We shall now examine one ofthe instruments of propagation of the myth of squadrismo, which has beenoverlooked until now: squadristi novels. We shall then look at how the partyused the myth in two very different situations: the burial of the Florentinefascist martyrs in Santa Croce in 1934 and the Exhibition of the FascistRevolution of 1942.

The year of publication of the squadristi novels gives a first indication of thedevelopment of the myth of squadrismo during the fascist years: out of 18identified novels only two were published before 1930, one in 1930, and theother 15 between 1932 and 1941. Publishers' figures between 1918 and 1943show that literary works were the most successful, in that in general they hadthe largest print run.20Here we shall concentrate on the novels belonging to18 See M. Palla, 'I fascisti toscani' in Storia d'Italia. Le regioni dall'Unita ad oggi. La Toscana(Turin 1986), 517.19 See M. Rusciano, L'impiego pubblico in Italia (Bologna 1978), 90-1.20 M. Giocondi, Lettori in camicia nera. Narrativa di successo nell'Italia fascista (Florence1978), 7-15. See also G. De Donato and V. Gazzola Stacchini (eds), I best seller del ventennio. IIregime e il libro di massa (Rome 1991).

139



11/21

Journal f ContemporaryHistoryVol 35 No 2

the popular 'heroic-fascist' genre in which the protagonist explicitly identifieshimself as a squadrista.Many of the authors of these novels had first-hand experience of the eventsthey described. They include unknown writers whose 'revolutionary novels'remained their only published work, and famous authors and journalists suchas Mario Carli, Bruno Spampanato, Dario Lischi and the Roman squadristaMarcello Gallian. There are also authors who were not squadristi, such asthe painter Luigi Ugolini or the magistrate Romolo Moizo. With the exceptionof the books by Gallian, these works rarely have great literary value: thecharacterization is simple, even banal, and the narrative tends to follow a pre-dictable pattern. They do, however, offer important clues for identifying thecharacteristics of the myth of squadrismo.The squadristi heroes come from a variety of social backgrounds, rangingfrom old aristocracy and rural bourgeoisie to petty bourgeoisie, unemployedorphans and working-class children. Yet their life before squadrismo doespresent similarities in that it embodies various forms of immorality. Robertode Castelgo and Marcello Spina, Gustavo and Federico2' live in idleness and,enjoying the privileges of their birth, devote their existence to the satisfying ofmaterial pleasures;Giuliano and Aldo22 ive under the yoke of their passion fortwo women, a prostitute and a profiteer, and their families suffer on theiraccount; Berto23has allowed himself to 'get drunk' on the promises of the'reds' and in 1920 enrolled in his village's branch of the Socialist Party;othersare 'disillusioned with life',24seeking to adapt to the 'spiritual vacuum' of thebourgeois world which surrounds them.The plot of the novels is based on the protagonist's path to redemption: hefinally reaches his goal when he joins the squadra. In some cases, the hero'sfirst opportunity to break away from his pre-war existence comes during thefirst world war, but when he returns from the battlefield as a war veteran heis sucked back into living in a state of 'bestial torpor'. Italy in 1919 is depictedas a corrupt country, both in towns and in rural villages. On one side, theold bourgeoisie, enriched by the war, spends its time partying, dancing andchatting in bars;on the other, the proliferating demonstrations of the socialistswho dodged the draft and now pillage shops in town, burn haystacks in therural areas and desecrate national symbols.The hero only reacts against this state of affairs and consciously breaks withthe past when he turns to fascism. This offers him the opportunity to give anew meaning to his existence: life becomes a 'mission' from the moment he

21 R. Mandel, Dopo la guerra, Romanzo diciannovista d'ambiente veneziano (Milan 1934);G.S. Pellegrini, Giovinezza, giovinezza ... (Florence 1923); M. Gallian, IIsoldato postumo (Milan1935).22 A. Anghinoni, II santo manganello. Romanzo dello squadrismo (Modena 1932); A. Baiocchi,Generazioni. Romanzo della guerra (Milan 1930).23 F. Carosi, Bagliori (Rome 1935).24 A. Rossi, Vigilia, Romanzo squadrista (Turin 1940); B. Spampanato, Trent'anni. Romanzodelle nostre generazioni (Rome-Naples 1936); D. Lischi, Novelle del fascismo (Pisa 1932).

140



12/21

SuzziValli: heMythof Squadrismon the FascistRegime

chooses to aim for a high and noble goal. There are two factors which pushmost of the protagonists to choose squadrismo. The first is love for the father-land: Giuliano decides to enrol in the Fascist Party when he sees the tricolourhis grandfatherfought for in Garibaldi's campaigns being trampled on duringa communist meeting; Berto feels that his love for his country is incompatiblewith membership of the Socialist Party and thus joins the fascists; youngAttilio,25born in 1907, chases away an anarchist who tried to snatch a smallnational flag belonging to a schoolfriend.The second factor is that the young were fascinated by the first uniformedfascists. In their eyes, these men, who defended the war veterans and thereforethe nation, were virility personified, wearing the uniform of the Arditi of theGreatWar, their bold eyes filled with disdain for the timid bourgeoisie, the airof challenge deriving from being the few against the many. Their very lookspromised to satisfy the desire for adventure burning in those who had not beenable to take part in the war and had not been satisfied even by the experienceat Fiume. 'The end of the war', wrote Gallian,

... had unleashedwithin us a terrible agefor war,an insufferablenfatuationwithwar,afiercedesire o experiencewar. Merechildren .. we rushed o Fiume or the sensationofbeing ikethe others,armed: o tryand lead a warourselvesas othershaddone. This is thetruth: herewas no project,no patrioticgoal,no philosophical spiration.26Enrolment in the squads changes the protagonists deeply: they become menand leave behind a lifestyle which now seems effeminate: Valerio Ferrandi,from a peasant background, moves to Florence to find work as soon as hefinishes his accountancy studies and becomes drawn into the bourgeois worldof the city, where he acquires a reputation as a philanderer;he only feels he hasbecome a real man after he has taken part in his squad's first skirmish withthe socialists, during which he is 'christened by hatred, made a man by thedrama'.27Taking part in the fights brings about a first transformation in the

personality of the new squadristi who develop the characteristics of the malestereotype recently described by Mosse: Berto explains how. . political struggle especially freed me from any negativity. Each night before going intoaction it totally took over my life. It made me unprejudiced and decisive in action, like theothers, or even more so .... I forgot everything else. I developed a will of iron which gavesignificance and purpose to my every move.28

As well as changing the personality of the protagonists, enrolment in thesquads also purifies them, as they end the immoral life they led previously: thesquadristi of aristocratic stock reject the privileges they enjoy because of theirbirth and begin to work; Giuliano leaves the prostitute and returns to hisstudies; Aldo leaves the woman who was only interested in his money and falls25 He is the hero of U. Cuesta's children's story, IIpiccolo squadrista (Rome 1937).26 M. Gallian, Comando di tappa (Rome 1934), 128.27 Rossi, op. cit., 63.28 Carosi, op. cit., 255-6. See G.L. Mosse, The Image of Man. The Creation of ModernMasculinity (Oxford 1996).

141



13/21


in love with a respectable girl, the daughter of a miner; Marcello, havingwandered across Italywith Elena, the bourgeois marriedwoman with whom heis having a passionate affair, returns home to look after his farm and promisesto marry his cousin Fernanda, the embodiment of pure and spiritual love.Final redemption is primarily defined as freedom from all 'hints of thebourgeois nature'.29The 'bourgeois element' which the successful squadristamanages to eradicate is actually an attitude which is not limited to the bour-geois class but affects the bourgeoisie, aristocrats and proletarians alike. In thenovels, the 'perfumed and pampered' bourgeois who fill their houses with use-less knick-knacks are put on the same level as drunken workers who beat theirwives and cannot feed their families: both types are profoundly selfish, exclu-sively concerned with the material aspects of life and absolutely incapable ofmaking any personal sacrifices in the name of a cause higher than their ownlife. The 'bourgeois' invariably react the same way when faced with thesquadristi: they run away in fear, lock themselves indoors and prepare toabnegate their former beliefs to side with the strongest.The heroes of Gallian stories take their squadrista struggle against the bour-geoisie to the furthest extreme: they renounce all material riches, their 'mouthof fire' (revolver) being their only remaining possession, live in bare, crumblinghouses and feed themselves on the animals they manage to catch during theday: swallows, parrots, frogs and goldfish - the dear pets of the bourgeois. Asa squadrista, Gallian aims to annihilate the entire bourgeois class, its property,and especially its way of life which has permeated all social classes, so that'love becomes a bedroom, hunger a table, sleep a tapestry, the street a parade,the town a sitting-room'.30There might seem to be a contradiction between this strong anti-bourgeoiscontent and the conclusion of most of the novels where the hero marries arespectable girl, returns to being a brilliant student and becomes a conscien-tious worker, following a typically bourgeois notion of what is right. This isindeed ambiguous. It must be pointed out, however, that it is not the bour-geois values inherited from the Risorgimento of Mazzini and Garibaldi thatthe squadristi reject but rather what they consider their degeneration broughtabout by liberal Italy. The opposition of the squadristi to the bourgeoisiemainly consists of asserting the political nature of existence. The squadristahero is prepared to die for the cause because he sees life as 'dutiful militaryservice'. Life without politics is dull, useless and immoral, whereas once aperson has enrolled in the squads and understands the primacy of politics, thislends significance to his existence. The squadrista then finds true love, reward-ing work and success in his studies.29 G.M. Sangiorgi, 75 m/m. Romanzo di guerra (Milan 1931), 97. On the fascist struggleagainst the bourgeoise, see R. De Felice, Mussolini il duce. Lo stato totalitario 1936-1940 (Turin1981), 93-100.30 M. Gallian, Racconti fascisti (Milan 1937), 31-6; idem, Gente di squadra (Florence 1941),53. See P. Buchignani, Marcello Gallian. La battaglia antiborghese di un fascisista anarchico(Rome 1984).

142



14/21


In Gallian's novels, however, the process of regeneration does not have asuccessful outcome, because the fascist revolution itself has led to a regimewhich becomes increasingly bourgeois. The squadrista is practical and acceptslife in a house full of material possessions, has a wife and children, regularmeals and the ambition to become a member of parliament; alternatively, hedrops out of society, lives in poverty, surrounded by the mementoes of his pastraids and has a humble job cleaning public toilets, or he becomes a patheticfigure spending a portion of his 'normal' life trying to recapture the thrill of anight spent preparing for action: Alessio, the hero of the short story Manovre aFregene, leaves his home, wife and children for two or three days every monthto practise military manoeuvres alone in the woods, living as if a war wereraging, testing his resistance to hunger, thirst and tiredness before returningtohis mother's villa at the seaside for a party;Gustavo takes up cycling in order to'knock himself out' with physical effort and experience afresh the rapture of'sacrifice'.31Other novelists focus on the former squadrista and describe his disappoint-ment in the fascist regime and the difficulty he has in adapting to it: but theydo find that the squadrista spirit lives on in the fascist university groups (GUF)and they see the war in Africa as taking up the fight on a new, overseas front.32Gallian, on the other hand, is racked by total and hopeless bitterness anddespair because he does not see any possibility of conveying his experience toaspiring squadristi:

We are squad people. Some people are born bankers, others lawyers or scientists, or officeworkers, and others are born squad people, an undefinable quantity, but one assured ofimmense experience.... They are rough people, it goes without saying, but unbiased anddesperate. Like war and epidemics, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, they cleanse, destroyand then come to an end. Otherwise we might grind to a halt; we might drop off in the midstof a bourgeois pustule, collapse onto a dunghill, the drab surroundings of a hospital. We arelost people, though nobody has taught us how to lose ourselves.33

All the novels draw attention to the profound changes which have takenplace within the squadrista. He has become a 'new man' having acquired thewarlike virtues of courage, loyalty, pride and willpower. This 'new man'embodies traditional male virtues, but even before they joined the squads theheroes of the novels were 'men': they had fought a war, they were 'philan-derers'. It is only with squadrismo, however, that they acquire a sense of thereligious nature of their existence. This devotion to a superior goal (also amasculine quality) becomes the most important value in their lives and trans-forms manly traits into virtues. The new man is a believer who lives politically.This was the model for the regime which did not aim to create new squadristi,a small group of men capable of great things, but a new 'everyday' Italian:

I wouldn't want that in order to reach the inebriating goal of being and feeling oneself a 'new31 Gallian, Racconti fascisti, op. cit., 73-84; idem, II soldato postumo, op. cit.32 G. Rosso, Credere. Romanzo fascista (Milan 1936), 113 and 209-10.33 M. Gallian, Preface to Combatteva un uomo (Florence 1939), 7-10.

143



15/21


Italian' in the middle of old Europe one had to prove oneself in some spectacular aviation orsporting feat or in some memorable achievement. I wouldn't want us to forget that even civilservants or shopkeepers can and must be 'new Italians'. . . . The aim is to create inMussolini's Italy, an everyday new Italian, regardless of circumstances, regardless of pro-fession. There already are representative samples - almost symbolic ones, I'd say - of thegeneration of 'new Italians'; it already has its heroes: it now needs its groups, its 'milieux'and also its masses.34

The grotesque project of creating a new kind of Italian was carried out. One ofthe most effective instruments to shape the new Italians - 'men capable of liv-ing and dying for the Idea' - was the cult of martyrs, which drew on manyelements of the funeral ceremonies of the squadristi. According to Gallian, intimes of peace the squadrista found life unbearable because of the prospect ofa conventional death: 'We can no longer hope to die with honour, we can nolonger pray for intercession, for a glorious death, on the field or on the road,in the midst of great danger'. There is no longer any possibility of giving deatha worthy conclusion. Martino dies alone, in his own bourgeois bed, whereasSpigolo expires in hospital after a bout of dysentery.35The fascist regimewanted to convey the message that the new fascist Italian always dies a hero,even if death finds him in his sleep or through illness, because the believer isguaranteed immortality whatever may happen.One of the most important dates to consider when studying the cult of thefascist martyrs is 27 October 1934, when 37 Florentine fascists of the vigilwere buried in Santa Croce. The preparation of the 'Sacrarium' involvedextensive and expensive rebuilding of the crypt - work which took a year tocomplete. The plan to create an opening linking the crypt directly to the insideof the church was postponed. Instead, the entrance, framed by a simple door-way, opened onto the Via dei Malcontenti so that the lines of tombs in themain nave were visible from the street. The tombs were carved out of Tuscanstone and red paint highlighted the engraved names, age, date and place ofdeath of the martyr. Each sarcophagus was covered with a marble bas-reliefportraying the martyrdom. The line of tombs was broken by a chapel in whichtwo imposing slabs of stone bearing the fascist oath were placed above thealtar, framed by lictors' fasces. A marble frieze ran the whole length of thenave above the tombs, inscribed with the word 'Presente!', representing thefascist ritual of calling the roll, imitating the Sacrarium of the 1932 Exhibitionof the Fascist Revolution which inspired many of the chapels dedicated to thefascist martyrs.The actual burial began in July 1934, when the bodies of the localmartyrs were exhumed and taken to Florence, to be reburied in the crypt.The trip to Florence seems to have been the funeral rite which preceded theresurrection ceremony planned for 27 October: the local fascist branch pre-pared the mortuary chapel on its own premises and old comrades watched34 A.P., 'L'"italiano nuovo" quotidiano', II Bargello, 14 December 1930.35 Gallian, Gente di squadra, op. cit., 193.

144



16/21


over the body throughout the whole night. The coffin was then carried all theway to Florence by former squadristi, taking it in turns with younger fascists.Only when the village of origin was much too far from the city was theexpeditions' transport truck, the '18BL', used. Shops along the path of theconvoy closed as a sign of mourning, flags hung at half-mast.On 27 October, the ceremony began with a religious service in the Duomo,from which the coffins emerged in the ternary formation lines the squadristihad adopted from the Arditi and the legionaries of Fiume,36proceeding in theorder of date of death to the church of Santa Croce. Each coffin was carriedonthe shoulders of six squadristi who were replaced seven times so that a total ofnearly 1000 former Blackshirts took part. There were no funeral signs alongthe route but rathersigns of life: the roads were decorated with drapes recallingthe roll call as bannersbearingthe name of one of the martyrswere followed byanother reading 'Presente!'; the walls of the streets were covered with largeposters displaying the choruses of the most famous squadristi songs; thenational flag fluttered everywhere, with no reference to mourning. When theprocession reached the Piazza di Santa Croce, the secretary of the PNFsignalled the start of the calling of the roll. A radio broadcast enabled thepeople gathered in every square in Italy to answer 'Presente!' in chorus. Eachname was followed by a roll of drums and a gun salute, whilst one by onethe coffins were taken down to the crypt where they were blessed by theArchbishop of Florence. Mussolini then watched them being lowered into thetombs as patriotic hymns and the soaring notes of Pergolesi's Orfeo were sung.The ceremony was an impressive demonstration of vitality. It enabled thefascists to compare the new fascist religion with Christianity, as both managedto create a lasting 'link between the living and the dead, between the immor-tality of the idea portrayed in the sacrifice of the Fallen and the daily work ofthe flock'.37The atmosphere of the crypt helped to emphasize the sacred natureof the fascist ideal, to the extent that dying for the cause seemed more attrac-tive than life itself: in the words of a young fascist taking his turn at guardingthe Florentine sanctuary,

... it is permeated by a soft light, neither sad nor opaque. It is a new light, like somethingspiritual and unreal. It seems to radiate from the martyrs .... The dark figures of thecomrades on duty stand out near the entrance against the walls. Motionless and blackagainst white walls, they jump out strangely and remind one that Life is sometimes sadderthan Death.38The burial of the 37 Florentine squadristi enriched the myth of squadrismo

with new elements. Santa Croce is the monument dedicated to the Great Menof the Nation: Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Alfieri, Foscolo are buried there and36 A. Pavolini, 'Le bare alleggerite', II Bargello, 27 October 1934. This article tells the history ofsquadrismo through the history of its funeral ceremonies. On the subject of squadrista funeralrites see E. Gentile, II culto del littorio, op. cit., 51-5.37 G. Contri, 'Rito di fede rivoluzionaria', II Bargello, 27 October 1934.38 C. Gori, 'Turno di guardia in S. Croce', II Bargello, 9 December 1934.

145



17/21


Dante's cenotaph is kept there, the Memorial Park to the Gold Medals of theGreat War lies in the square outside. Burying the martyrs in this symbolicplace underlined the spiritual unity between the Risorgimento and fascism,between the remarkable men who shaped the ideal of the Italian nationand the fighters who defended it when it risked 'destruction by the folly ofnegation'.3 It established a line of development in the history of the Nation,running through the Risorgimento, the first world war, squadrismo and thefascist regime: the entire Liberal era was by-passed and fascism became thetrue shaper of Italy which, on the one hand, trod in the footsteps of the mostglorious national tradition and on the other, injected strong and 'energetic life-blood' into the old body of Italian history by way of the squadristi.40In holding and diffusing this new life-blood, Santa Croce was the spiritualheir of the 1932 Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution which ended in Rome theday after the Florentine ceremony. A drawing which appearedon the first pageof Milizia Fascista on 4 November 1934 portrays this sense of continuity: thePalazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome and Santa Croce are linked by a road madeof coffins, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier towering over them in themiddle. So squadrismo and its martyrs became part of the 'sacred history' offascism: it was seen as the heroic time between the originating event - the firstworld war - and the advent of the fascist regime which revived its spirit.The 1932 Exhibition played a fundamental role in shaping the myth ofsquadrismo, which underwent dramatic development after the celebrationsof the tenth anniversaryof the March on Rome. There have been many studieson the Exhibition of 1932, whereas those of 1937 and 1942 have beenvirtually ignored.41 Each of the three exhibitions had a very distinct characterwhich can be summarized by quoting the descriptions most commonly used inthe contemporary press: 1932 was dubbed the 'Temple', 1937 the 'Archive'and 1942 was the 'History book'. The huge success of the first exhibitionprobably motivated the organization of the next two events, but after ten yearsboth the objectives of the exhibition and the appeal of the myth of squadrismowere no longer in any way the same. The changes were mainly the result of thedifferent historical climate in which the events took place: in 1932 there wasgrowing consensus within the regime and fascism seemed to be thriving; in1942, after the disastrous military defeats, consensus had crumbled. Thetwentieth anniversaryof the March on Rome was celebrated amidst profoundpublic despondency,42following the Anglo-American landing in North Africaand the shelling of northern Italian towns.Already the 1937 Exhibition, moved from its central location in the Via39 'Il rito solenne', II Regime Fascista, 27 October 1934.40 Contri, 'Rito di fede rivoluzionaria', op. cit. On the subject of fascism, the creator of anation, see E. Gentile, La grande Italia (Milan 1997), 149-225.41 On the 1932 Exhibition see E. Gentile, II culto del littorio, op. cit., 213-35 and the biblio-graphy it lists; M.S. Stone, The Patron State. Cultureand Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton 1998).42 R. De Felice, Mussolini l'alleato. I. Crisi e agonia del regime (Turin 1990), 720-77; S.Colarizi, L'opinione degli italiani sotto il regime 1929-1943 (Rome-Bari 1991).

146



18/21

SuzziValli: heMythof Squadrismonthe FascistRegime

Nazionale to Valle Giulia, had seen fewer visitors, to the extent that peopletalked of a 'total absenteeism of visitors':43he daily average dropped from 80visitors in the first two years the show was held to 8 or 10 in 1940. Even thefascist leaders, including Mussolini, could be accused of absenteeism. Thepublicity campaign which had been so successful in 1932 was not repeated,and nobody thought of adopting the most basic promotional tools, such asgroup discounts.The last exhibition met with similar indifference. Whereas the opening ofthe 1932 Exhibition was the main event in the celebrations of the tenthanniversary of the revolution, Mussolini only attended the opening of thepermanent Exhibition in Valle Giulia on 28 October 1942 as a fall-backoption: in the original plans for the celebration of the 'Ventennale', he was toinaugurate the Esposizione Universale di Roma that day.The organization of the exhibition was entrusted to a minor figure on thefascist cultural scene - Pino Stampini, a low-ranking party official whoassembled an insignificant team around himself. Unlike the first exhibition,there seems to have been no input from Mussolini in the new design of therooms, nor did he monitor the progress of the work. From the start, the 1942Exhibition lacked the enthusiasm which had permeated the preparation of thefirst: in 1932 all fascists were sent invitations to participate by sending theirmementoes; in 1942 the organizers decided to reuse the material which hadalready been collected, merely rearranging it more 'scientifically'. The aim ofthe new permanent exhibition, to which a 'Centre for Historical Studies onFascism' had been added, was

... to give fascism a historical awareness of itself. This means giving it the ability to measureand judge itself, as if it were an outsider, in terms of what it is and what it aims toachieve .... Our intention is not to glorify or exalt our times but rather to document its maindates, the most important days and its most memorable events.44

The desire to document the history of fascism with scientific rigour led to aneffort to classify the exhibits in an 'artistically didactic' system inspired by astyle of 'modern art which is not surrealist, but clear and easy to understand'.45This principle had already been applied to the simple and linear fasade of thebuilding: eschewing the 'modernist violence' of the fa(ade of the Palazzo delle43 Archivio Centrale dello Stato, PNF-Direttorio Nazionale, Servizi vari, serie II, b. 333. fasc.'Corrispondenza riguardante il personale (vario) in servizio presso la Mostra'; b. 331, fasc.'Biglietti d'ingresso'.44 G. Hurle, 'La Mostra permanente del Fascismo', Prima Linea, 15 May 1943.45 G. Malanotte, 'Una palpitante documentazione storica della Marcia della Rivoluzioneattraverso le sale della Mostra Permanentedel Fascismo', L'Assalto (Perugia), 14 December 1942.Anyone trying to reconstruct the layout of the exhibition should consult the photographs kept inthe Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista. Archivio fotografico, bb.296-300. There is also a short guidebook to the exhibition, probably written by Regdo Scodro:Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista (Rome, undated but published in 1942). For a more detailedanalysis of the exhibits see R. Suzzi Valli, 'Riti del Ventennale', Storia contemporanea, 24, 6(December 1993), 1019-55.

147



19/21


20/21

SuzziValli: heMythof Squadrismon theFascistRegime

The didactic ambition of the exhibition was even more obvious in therooms of the 'Second Phase'. The room devoted to 'Fascist Doctrine' merelydisplayed the fundamental texts of the Revolution on five panels - theDoctrine of Fascism, the Code of the State, the Labour Charter, the EducationCharter and the Mussolinian Codes. The room dedicated to the Party offeredcommentaries to the most important articles of the Statutes. Maps, charts andstatistics were the only tools used to reconstruct the battles waged by fascismto build an Empire and those it fought in Spain. The room devoted to theinternal and international enemies of fascism was similarly dry. Judaism andFreemasonry,which in the heart of the campaign to exterminate the Jews wereconsidered equally dangerous, were allocated a wall each in a room withbrightly-coloured panels showing the Jewish spider spinning her web in thedark, and the green Masonic Hydra gasping as she lies mortally wounded.The three following rooms focused on the current war. They showed how theTreaty of Versailles was the beginning of a concerted attempt by the UnitedKingdom, France and Yugoslavia to surround Italy. The last room, dedicatedto the Heroes, mainly the Duke of Aosta, Bruno Mussolini and Italo Balbo,reminded visitors of how much blood had been shed for the new nationalcause by the Monarchy, Mussolini's family and the Revolution.The most striking feature of the 1942 Exhibition was its coldness, theabsence of emotion, which made the exhibits seem lifeless. In the 1932 Exhibi-tion, the 'static' documents were metamorphozed into 'slices of real life', in an'inference full of vitality and emotion which spoke directly to the visitor'ssoul'. Instead, in 1942 the visitor was left to bring the documents to lifehimself, filling them with his own emotions and adding to them his ownmemories. The years of squadrismo in particularwere no longer brought backto life and seemed 'stuck in a distant and no longer vivid memory'.47The squadrismo of the earlier years now belonged to the past, but at thesame time was destined to return. Another feature of the exhibition was itscyclical presentation of history. This was conveyed in the order of the rooms:the first and last rooms were linked by the name of Mussolini, the two worldwars were displayed opposite one another; the martyrdoms of Berta andGiordano were echoed in that of the Heroes; the war in Africa and the Spanishcampaign embodied squadrismo beyond the national borders, and, movingfrom the rooms dedicated to squadrismo to those on the last war, the ardourand 'mystic morale' of the first Blackshirtssurvived in the new 'M' battalions.In short, squadrismo would eventually live on in the new soldiers who weregoing to find themselves facing on an international level the same enemieswhich the squadristi had eradicated within the country.This reliance on the inevitability of destiny illustrates a change in theapproach to the squadrismo myth. The regime had used it in different ways: in47 PNF, Mostra della rivoluzione fascista, a historical guide edited by D. Alfieri and L. Freddi,(Bergamo 1933), 72; Caesar, 'Visitando la Mostra della Rivoluzione', La Provincia di Vercelli,28May 1943; 'La Mostra della Rivoluzione si riapre oggi a Valle Giulia', II Messaggero, 28 October1942.

149



21/21


the anti-bolshevik diatribe, in the anti-bourgeois campaign launched byMussolini at the end of 1938, and before each of the fascist wars to encouragethe Italian soldiers and instil in them warlike virtues. As late as March 1939, ata national meeting of the squadristi, the 'alignment' and the 'will' of the entirepopulation of Italy were compared to 'a giant action squad ready to act at thefirst sign from the Duce'.48In all these cases, the appeal of squadrismo was underlain by the belief thatit was possible to change Italians and to make them the exporters of the'new fascist civilization'. The course of the war and the lack of 'heroism' inthe behaviour of the Italians eventually killed Mussolini's belief that it waspossible to form new men, so the squadrista model seemed obsolete.This does not, however, entail the end of the myth of squadrismo. Itsurvived above all amongst young fascists. The publications of the GUF, evenduring the second world war, have numerous references to the young inherit-ing and continuing the revolutionary purity of squadrismo.49 The GUFadmired the intransigency of the squadristi, their readiness to sacrifice them-selves, their fight for Truth, their deep-rooted anti-bourgeois feeling, and theirdesire to continue a revolution which the fascist regime had weakened.Squadrismo therefore continued to be a reference even for the fascist critics ofthe regime and turned out to be the most lasting of the myths of fascist culture,to the extent that it survived the fall of the regime and reappearedas one of thepillars of the Republic of Sal6.

Roberta Suzzi Vallireceived her doctorate from the Scuola superiore di studi storici,San Marino. Her publications include essays on fascist cultureand the Italian Fascio of London. At present she is workingon a book on squadrismo.

48 'I primi legionari', II Giornale d'Italia, 26 March 1939.49 See Architrave, the monthly publication of the Bologna GUF, II Barco of the Genoa GUF, IICampano of the Pisa GUF, Rivoluzione, of the Florence GUF and Roma Fascista of the capital'sGUF. For all of these the issues from 1940 to 1942 are the most relevant. On the attitude of theyoung during the war see R. De Felice, Mussolini l'alleato, op. cit., 865-97.

150

Documents

The Myth of Squadrismo in the Fascist Regime