Following a historically chronological approach, and with a clear focus on the marked regional diversity characterising Italy, this volume analyses the impact of social, economic, cultural and political transformation on the lives of Italians. It assesses their living standards, their health and education, their working conditions and their leisure activities. The final part of the book examines contemporary Italian society in the light of the political and moral crisis of the early 1990s.

Developing a knowledge of the Spanish-Italian connection between right-wing extremist groups is crucial to any detailed understanding of the history of fascism. Transnational Fascism in the Twentieth Century allows us to consider the global fascist network that built up over the course of the 20th century by exploring one of the significant links that existed within that network. It distinguishes and analyses the relationship between the fascists of Spain and Italy at three interrelated levels - that of the individual, political organisations and the state - whilst examining the world relations and contacts of both fascist factions, from Buenos Aires to Washington and Berlin to Montevideo, in what is a genuinely transnational history of the fascist movement. Incorporating research carried out in archives around the world, this book delivers key insights to further the historical study of right-wing political violence in modern Europe.

The history of totalitarian states bears witness to the fact that literature and print media can be manipulated and made into vehicles of mass deception. Censorship and Literature in Fascist Italy is the first comprehensive account of how the Fascists attempted to control Italy's literary production. Guido Bonsaver looks at how the country's major publishing houses and individual authors responded to the new cultural directives imposed by the Fascists. Throughout his study, Bonsaver uses rare and previously unexamined materials to shed light on important episodes in Italy's literary history, such as relationships between the regime and particular publishers, as well as individual cases involving renowned writers like Moravia, Da Verona, and Vittorini. Censorship and Literature in Fascist Italy charts the development of Fascist censorship laws and practices, including the creation of the Ministry of Popular Culture and the anti-Semitic crack-down of the late 1930s. Examining the breadth and scope of censorship in Fascist Italy, from Mussolini's role as 'prime censor' to the specific experiences of female writers, this is a fascinating look at the vulnerability of culture under a dictatorship.

The first comprehensive history of the Vatican’s agenda to defeat the forces of secular liberalism and communism through international law, cultural diplomacy, and a marriage of convenience with authoritarian and right-wing rulers. After the United States entered World War I and the Russian Revolution exploded, the Vatican felt threatened by forces eager to reorganize the European international order and cast the Church out of the public sphere. In response, the papacy partnered with fascist and right-wing states as part of a broader crusade that made use of international law and cultural diplomacy to protect European countries from both liberal and socialist taint. A Twentieth-Century Crusade reveals that papal officials opposed Woodrow Wilson’s international liberal agenda by pressing governments to sign concordats assuring state protection of the Church in exchange for support from the masses of Catholic citizens. These agreements were implemented in Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany, as well as in countries like Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. In tandem, the papacy forged a Catholic International—a political and diplomatic foil to the Communist International—which spread a militant anticommunist message through grassroots organizations and new media outlets. It also suppressed Catholic antifascist tendencies, even within the Holy See itself. Following World War II, the Church attempted to mute its role in strengthening fascist states, as it worked to advance its agenda in partnership with Christian Democratic parties and a generation of Cold War warriors. The papal mission came under fire after Vatican II, as Church-state ties weakened and antiliberalism and anticommunism lost their appeal. But—as Giuliana Chamedes shows in her groundbreaking exploration—by this point, the Vatican had already made a lasting mark on Eastern and Western European law, culture, and society.

Although the unification of Italy in 1870 initially defined the nation's geographical boundaries, Italians faced challenges of determining their nation's social, political and cultural identity. This volume examines the struggle to recast the nation according to their visions.

This volume of Twentieth-Century Italian Drama covers the period spanning from the end of the nineteenth century to that immediately following World War II, displaying the rich breadth of Italian theater in the modern age, from the comedic legacy carried on by such writers as Eduardo De Filippo to the delicate tragedy of playwrights like Federigo Tozzi.Included are seven full-length plays, five one-act plays, one variety sketch, and three futurist sintesi (sketches). Brief introductions preceding each play contextualize the piece within the various movements in Italian theater, and biographies of the editors and translators appear at the end of the volume. An extensive bibliography offers many suggestions for further reading in English.The playwrights included are Gabriele D'Annunzio, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Ettore Petrolini, Raffaele Viviani, Pier Maria Rosso di San Secondo, Federigo Tozzi, Massimo Bontempelli, Achille Campanile, Italo Svevo, Luigi Pirandello, Eduardo De Filippo, and Ugo Betti.

Over the course of the 20th century, the rapid transformation of Italy from an impoverished, predominantly agricultural nation to one of the strongest economies in the world forged a fascinating and contradictory society where gender relations were a particular mix of modernity and tradition. In this accessible and innovative study, Perry Willson provides a nuanced and insightful analysis of the impact of social, political, economic and cultural developments on Italian women's lives. She also explores how women were affected by, and how they themselves helped shape, key historical events such as the rise of Fascism, the 2 world wars, the 'economic miracle' of the post-war years and the cultural and political upheavals of the 1970s. Women in Twentieth Century Italy is the first book-length overview of Italian women's experience during this period of intense and dramatic change. Drawing on the latest historiography in the field and written in a lively and engaging manner, it is essential reading for anyone with an interest in Italy's recent past.

Following a historically chronological approach, and with a clear focus on the marked regional diversity characterising Italy, this volume analyses the impact of social, economic, cultural and political transformation on the lives of Italians. It assesses their living standards, their health and education, their working conditions and their leisure activities. The final part of the book examines contemporary Italian society in the light of the political and moral crisis of the early 1990s.

This book provides an innovative cultural history of Italian colonialism and its impact on twentieth-century ideas of empire and anti-colonialism. In October 1935, Mussoliniʼs army attacked Ethiopia, defying the League of Nations and other European imperial powers. The book explores the widespread political and literary responses to the invasion, highlighting how Pan-Africanism drew its sustenance from opposition to Italy’s late empire-building, and reading the work of George Padmore, Claude McKay, and CLR James alongside the feminist and socialist anti-colonial campaigner Sylvia Pankhurst’s broadsheet, New Times and Ethiopia News. Extending into the postwar period, the book examines the fertile connections between anti-colonialism and anti-fascism in Italian literature and art, tracing the emergence of a “resistance aesthetics” in works such as The Battle of Algiers and Giovanni Pirelli’s harrowing books of testimony about Algeria’s war of independence, both inspired by Frantz Fanon. This book will interest readers passionate about postcolonial studies, the history of Italian imperialism, Pan-Africanism, print cultures, and Italian postwar culture.