Fascism, World War II, Resistance

The long negotiations that followed the armistice began in Paris on 18th January 1919 and led to the peace treaties known as the Treaty of Versailles.

Italy took part in the negotiations as a winning power together with Great Britain, France and the United States, but in reality it was always in a subordinate position with respect to the allies, and the peace negotiations did not respect, as was to be expected, the criteria set by the Pact of London of 26th April 1915, especially as far as the annexation of Dalmatia and colonial compensations were concerned. The cabinet crises that followed one another in those years (Orlando, Nitti, Giolitti) – while nationalism was being fomented on one hand by D’Annunzio’s actions, with the occupation of Fiume in September 1919, and on the other by the Fascist Movement, which was more and more active all over the country – determined a growing hostility towards the liberal governments, that cleared the way for the putsch that brought Mussolini to power on 28th October 1922. The situation was aggravated by social unrest and strikes, by the impoverishment caused by the ravages of war and by the moral decay resulting from the conflict, all factors that played no small part in leading to the post-war difficulties.

The fascists were quick in reacting to this situation, driven by solid class motives, even if veined by aggressive and nationalist rhetoric converging on the myth of the strong man that would raise the country from chaos, leading it to the status of a great power.

Even the thriving Catholic movement of Vicenza found itself targeted by the cross-fire of the fascist squads, and the most significant event of this offensive was when the fascist squads stormed the rectory of Monsignor Giuseppe Arena, the leader of the provincial Catholic movement. Within the totalitarian state, the Church was the only autonomous and independent entity, even if acting according to its own peculiar timings and ways, occasionally bringing it closer to the regime’s positions and other times moving away from them, consequently standing as the only moderate alternative to the regime. Fascism in power soon revealed its true face: a class dictatorship, barely camouflaged by references to Imperial Rome, even though a few undeniable impressive successes, the use of popular slogans such as the Battle of Wheat and the myth of the Place in the Sun, and a shrewd and hammering propaganda, gained it widespread support.

Gagliardetto fascista del Comune di Vicenza

Divisa da prigioniero nei lagher tedeschi (Mauthausen)