- Department of Historical and Geographic Sciences and the Ancient World,
via Vescovado 30, 35141, Padova (Italy) - +390498278537
- Fascism, Modern Italian History, Italian fascism, Political Violence, 20th century France, 20th Century Spain, and 30 moreOccupation and Resistance in WW2, Social Conflict, Nationalism And Wwi, First World War, War and violence, Storia Contemporanea, Military Intelligence, Military History, Second World War, Historiography, European History, French History, Italy, Spain, Contemporary Italian History and Politics, Antifascism, Modern European History, Italian Studies, Political Violence and Terrorism, Italian (European History), Fascismo, History, History of Psychiatry, Transnational and World History, War Studies, Spanish History, World War I, Violence, Interwar Period History, and Political Historyedit
- I am associate professor of Contemporary History at the University of Padova (Italy). Before coming to Padova, I have... moreI am associate professor of Contemporary History at the University of Padova (Italy). Before coming to Padova, I have obtained postdoctoral fellowships to carry out research in Oxford and Dublin. I have studied the Intelligence network of the Italian Resistance movement and the fascist squadrismo (‘The institutionalisation of squadrismo’, Contemporary European History, 2013; Squadrismo e squadristi nella dittatura fascista, Rome 2014). More recently, I have engaged in a broad research project on forms of political violence and various armed associations in Europe in the twenty years leading to the First World War. In 2015, I have been been awarded a major grant from the European Research Council for the project ‘The Dark Side of the Belle Époque. Political Violence and Armed Associations in Europe before the First World War’.edit
During the belle epoque, many thousands of male European citizens joined military youth groups and paramilitary units, volunteer and private police forces, company defense groups, student battalions, civic militias, and shooting clubs... more
During the belle epoque, many thousands of male European citizens joined military youth groups and paramilitary units, volunteer and private police forces, company defense groups, student battalions, civic militias, and shooting clubs throughout the continent. This article investigates the features, aims, and impact of armed associations in Europe in the approximately thirty years preceding the outbreak of the First World War. The legal context within which armed associations could prosper, their involvement in strikes and in the fight against crime, and the development of patriotic armed groups are the main lines of inquiry pursued in the article. Examination of armed associationism in pre-1914 Europe, a long understudied topic, has the potential to stimulate fresh thinking on crucial aspects of modern statehood, the balance between private rights and public prerogatives, crucial forms of nationalism and patriotism, and deep-seated fears and hopes, and possibly also to shed new light on the Great War and its aftermath. The article argues that armed associationism was a specific social phenomenon with a particularly European dimension and was a response to the profound reconfigurations in social and political balances that were taking place throughout the continent.
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On 14 July 1919, the Italian Parliament was discussing a vote of confidence in Francesco Saverio Nitti's cabinet. Often accused of being an opportunistic politician and a cold-hearted economist, unable to grasp the passions and the new... more
On 14 July 1919, the Italian Parliament was discussing a vote of confidence in Francesco Saverio Nitti's cabinet. Often accused of being an opportunistic politician and a cold-hearted economist, unable to grasp the passions and the new situation created by the end of the war, Nitti's legacy has often been surrounded by a general antipathy. 1 However, at the time, the government that Nitti was going to lead was seen with great hope. It was born with the ambitious purpose of moving the country away from the legacies of the First World War towards a new future of prosperity. 2 Nitti's internal policy reflected his economics-oriented background and was well exemplified in the motto "consume less, produce more", that he repeated again and again during his parliamentary speeches. Usually tolerant and neutral in economic disputes, Nitti's government was nonetheless harsh and repressive against any real or perceived political demonstrations, often interpreted as the prelude to social revolution and a waste of energies and productive resources. 3 While parliament was discussing the vote of confidence, Nitti, in his capacity as minister of the interior, issued a circular letter to all the prefects of the Kingdom of Italy. The circular was part of a broad set of measures that the government was taking in response to the impending "super strike" (scioperissimo) called by left-wing organisations, parties and unions in solidarity with the Bolsheviks and against the intervention of western powers in Russia. 4 Nitti invited the prefects to "keep in touch" with reliable members of liberal "groups [fasci] and veterans' associations" in order to obtain their "collaboration at times when public authorities cannot remain isolated and only rely on public officials and the public force". Nitti also invited the prefects to prevent any autonomous initiative: if such groups want to cooperate to enforce law and order and to repress violence and attempts at revolution, they will act patriotically by voluntarily observing the orders of the authorities and by accepting their leadership in accordance with the regulations, which cannot be but unique. 5 Interestingly, Mussolini's newly established Fasci di combattimento were among those patriotic organisations that the authorities considered potentially useful for deployment in strikebreaking services. 6
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In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Europe, the United States and large areas of the globe experienced labour unrest and multiple strike waves at an unprecedented pace and intensity, some of which developed a... more
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Europe, the United States and large areas of the globe experienced labour unrest and multiple strike waves at an unprecedented pace and intensity, some of which developed a quasi-revolutionary momentum. From the bitter conflicts of the pre-war period, through the epochal tremors of war and revolution, to the violent spasms of the 1920s and 1930s, a sense of impending cataclysm, symbiotically associated with fears of revolutionary upheaval and forebodings of social anarchy, ceaselessly haunted those who had assumed the role of guardians of the established order. While much work has been devoted to socialist parties and revolutionary organisations, the multifaceted experiences of anti-labour mobilisation and privately organised coercion have not received the same degree of scholarly attention.
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From the end of the nineteenth century onwards, Italy witnessed a significant increase in labour conflicts, trade unionism and social protests, all of which shook the foundations of the liberal state. Following the failure of the... more
From the end of the nineteenth century onwards, Italy witnessed a significant increase in labour conflicts, trade unionism and social protests, all of which shook the foundations of the liberal state. Following the failure of the authorities' attempts to deal with mass protests, efforts were made under the governments of Giovanni Giolitti to adopt new policing policies that embraced state neutrality in social conflicts and the deployment at the same time of substantial police forces to prevent the escalation of conflict and bloodshed. The success of these policies is highly questionable and there were major differences in this respect between northern and southern Italy, and between rural and industrial areas. Nevertheless, these policies contributed to the fear of abandonment and desire for revenge felt by significant sections of the propertied classes, and the issue of strikebreaking was at the centre of the controversy. Focusing on the Po Valley, this article first presents a broad overview of the political situation in Italy with emphasis on policing policies and work replacement, then analyses the various forms of legal and illegal private strikebreaker protection organizations that took on clear subversive aims. Drawing on newspapers and archival records, the article highlights the overlap between private and public law enforcement and the combination of coercion and consensus in the Italian countryside. The long-term consequences of the unresolved issue of strikebreaking and private policing help explain the rise of Fascism after the Great War.
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L’articolo si propone di analizzare la crisi dello Stato liberale italiano durante l’età giolittiana attraverso la ricostruzione delle declinazioni tanto giuridiche e quanto pratiche delle tematiche della legittima difesa e della... more
L’articolo si propone di analizzare la crisi dello Stato liberale italiano durante l’età giolittiana attraverso la ricostruzione delle declinazioni tanto giuridiche e quanto pratiche delle tematiche della legittima difesa e della costituzione di corpi armati. La prima parte è dedicata al dibattito giuridico su porto d’armi, legittima difesa e corpi armati, con un’attenzione specifica alle posizioni dei positivisti e del giurista Vincenzo Manzini. Al tempo stesso, le questioni di dottrina non restano confinate a trattati ed enciclopedie giuridiche ma riflettono declinazioni pratiche di cruciale importanza sul terreno delle lotte sociali. Pertanto, nella seconda parte, l’articolo affronta l’analisi dell’evoluzione del quadro giuridico relativo a guardie notturne e guardie campestri al fine di sondare i cambiamenti della funzione sociale della proprietà privata e del ruolo dello Stato nella difesa dell’ordine. Infine, attraverso due casi studio (le Pattuglie cittadine di Bologna e i Volontari lavoratori di Parma) vengono esaminati i processi di legittimazione politica e giuridica attraverso i quali dei privati cittadini si arrogano il diritto di reprimere in prima persona scioperi e disordini sociali. A emergere è una critica profonda dei fondamenti della legittimità dello stato liberale in nome di una sorta di legittima difesa di classe e di una riappropriazione della sovranità con chiare spinte eversive.
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Despite the conventional images of the Belle Époque, the first fifteen years of the 20th century were undermined by awareness that the foundations of civilized life were precarious. The article analyzes the fears and anxieties, and hopes... more
Despite the conventional images of the Belle Époque, the first fifteen years of the 20th century were undermined by awareness that the foundations of civilized life were precarious. The article analyzes the fears and anxieties, and hopes and aspirations, of propertied classes in Italy, France and Spain in the fifteen years preceding the Great War. The aims of the article are twofold. First it analyzes perceptions of fear during major strikes and daily life, relating them to those cultural factors (like religion and a preoccupation with private property) which contributed to shape and influence anxieties and uncertainness. Emotional expressions are examined in relation both to the political cultures which gave them significance, and to the practices to which they gave rise and from which they also originated. Secondly, the article analyzes the ‘materiality’ of emotions and the emotional characters which are rooted in actions. Indeed, emotions act as a means of framing and reaching judgments on social events and may fuel organizational initiatives and even collective violent practices. Studying the interplay between emotions, political cultures and practices in contexts of high-level political and social unrests, the article offers new insights into a broader comprehension of a crucial (though sometimes underestimated) period in European history.
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The purpose of this article is to analyse the role played by organized political violence in pre-1914 Europe, with special regard to labour conflicts, through the analysis of the social composition and the practices of four movements... more
The purpose of this article is to analyse the role played by organized political violence in pre-1914 Europe, with special regard to labour conflicts, through the analysis of the social composition and the practices of four movements which deliberately resorted to armed organisation: the Somatén in Catalonia (Spain), the Jaunes trade union in the French Département du Nord, the Citizen Patrols, and the agrarian squads in the province of Bologna (Italy). Despite their different origins and contexts, these movements pursued similar political strategies based upon the deliberate use of violence and guns, and shared anti-socialist, authoritarian and anti-democratic purposes. The analysis of their practices and political cultures enable us to evaluate the nature of the democratic processes in pre-1914 Europe and also helps to contextualize and understand the political and social violence which came to the fore after the end of the war in 1918.
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The purpose of this article is to examine the historiographical debate on armed groups and political violence from the 1900s to the early 1920s. Analysing the cases of Italy and Spain, the article investigates how practices and forms of... more
The purpose of this article is to examine the historiographical debate on armed groups and political violence from the 1900s to the early 1920s. Analysing the cases of Italy and Spain, the article investigates how practices and forms of organised political violence before the First World War can be interpreted as a sign of the crisis of the Liberal regimes and of the emergence of authoritarian political cultures.
In the last years, historians have paid much attention to paramilitary groups and political violence in the aftermath of the Great War, often considering the conflict itself as a trigger factor. The first section analyses this debate, with special attention to the controversial concept of “brutalization”, while the second section focuses on the cases of Italy and Spain. Finally, the third section uses archival sources to study practices, political cultures and the relationship between State powers and the Catalan Somatén Armado and the Citizens’ Patrols in Bologna in the pre-war period.
In the last years, historians have paid much attention to paramilitary groups and political violence in the aftermath of the Great War, often considering the conflict itself as a trigger factor. The first section analyses this debate, with special attention to the controversial concept of “brutalization”, while the second section focuses on the cases of Italy and Spain. Finally, the third section uses archival sources to study practices, political cultures and the relationship between State powers and the Catalan Somatén Armado and the Citizens’ Patrols in Bologna in the pre-war period.
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This article argues that squadrismo represented a central feature in the ideology and politics of Fascist Italy, influencing the whole period of the dictatorship. In the second half of the twenties, many squadristi became political... more
This article argues that squadrismo represented a central feature in the ideology and politics of Fascist Italy, influencing the whole period of the dictatorship. In the second half of the twenties, many squadristi became political prisoners, accused of being ‘bad Fascists’: it looked like the end of squadrismo. Despite punishments and (brief) periods of imprisonment, the squadristi actually continued to play an important part in the fascistisation of Italian society, in particular during the intransigent 1930s. By disciplining the blackshirts while continuing to make use of their particular skills, Fascism hoped to ‘tame the revolution’.
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This article deals with the phenomenon of fascist squads (squadrismo) in Genoa. Because of a large presence of workers and trade unions and a strong hostility to Fascism, Genoa provides a remarkable laboratory where interactions between... more
This article deals with the phenomenon of fascist squads (squadrismo) in Genoa. Because of a large presence of workers and trade unions and a strong hostility to Fascism, Genoa provides a remarkable laboratory where interactions between practices and multifaceted representations of blackshirts' violence can be tested. Resorting to largely unexplored sources - such as personal files of blackshirts sentenced to political confinement and transcripts of the 1929 criminal trial against Gerardo Bonelli, former leader of Genoese blackshirts - it has been possible to outline not only the political function of fascist squads but also the social and psychological profile of the protagonists of fascist violence. The analysis of the repression that involved Genoese and Italian squads in the second half of the Twenties makes clear that the blackshirts' experience gave place to opposite and conflicting representations and definitions. Furthermore, the article shows how violent militancy was able to shape individual and collective identities in a way that even the Party's purges were not able to affect.
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This book provides a comparative and transnational examination of the complex and multifaceted experiences of anti-labour mobilisation, from the bitter social conflicts of the pre-war period, through the epochal tremors of war and... more
This book provides a comparative and transnational examination of the complex and multifaceted experiences of anti-labour mobilisation, from the bitter social conflicts of the pre-war period, through the epochal tremors of war and revolution, and the violent spasms of the 1920s and 1930s.
It retraces the formation of an extensive market for corporate policing, privately contracted security and yellow unionism, as well as processes of professionalisation in strikebreaking activities, labour espionage and surveillance. It reconstructs the diverse spectrum of right-wing patriotic leagues and vigilante corps which, in support or in competition with law enforcement agencies, sought to counter the dual dangers of industrial militancy and revolutionary situations. Although considerable research has been done on the rise of socialist parties and trade unions the repressive policies of their opponents have been generally left unexamined. This book fills this gap by reconstructing the methods and strategies used by state authorities and employers to counter outbreaks of labour militancy on a global scale. It adopts a long-term chronology that sheds light on the shocks and strains that marked industrial societies during their turbulent transition into mass politics from the bitter social conflicts of the pre-war period, through the epochal tremors of war and revolution, and the violent spasms of the 1920s and 1930s.
Offering a new angle of vision to examine the violent transition to mass politics in industrial societies, this is of great interest to scholars of policing, unionism and striking in the modern era.
It retraces the formation of an extensive market for corporate policing, privately contracted security and yellow unionism, as well as processes of professionalisation in strikebreaking activities, labour espionage and surveillance. It reconstructs the diverse spectrum of right-wing patriotic leagues and vigilante corps which, in support or in competition with law enforcement agencies, sought to counter the dual dangers of industrial militancy and revolutionary situations. Although considerable research has been done on the rise of socialist parties and trade unions the repressive policies of their opponents have been generally left unexamined. This book fills this gap by reconstructing the methods and strategies used by state authorities and employers to counter outbreaks of labour militancy on a global scale. It adopts a long-term chronology that sheds light on the shocks and strains that marked industrial societies during their turbulent transition into mass politics from the bitter social conflicts of the pre-war period, through the epochal tremors of war and revolution, and the violent spasms of the 1920s and 1930s.
Offering a new angle of vision to examine the violent transition to mass politics in industrial societies, this is of great interest to scholars of policing, unionism and striking in the modern era.
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Weiten Teilen Europas gelang es nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg nicht, den Zustand einer post-war-society zu überwinden, in der die öffentliche Teilhabe an Politik zuweilen mit einem hohen Maß an innenpolitischer Gewalt einherging. Insbesondere... more
Weiten Teilen Europas gelang es nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg nicht, den Zustand einer post-war-society zu überwinden, in der die öffentliche Teilhabe an Politik zuweilen mit einem hohen Maß an innenpolitischer Gewalt einherging. Insbesondere für die sich neu formierende Rechte und die paramilitärischen Verbände spielte militantes Verhalten eine Schlüsselrolle. Jugendliche und insbesondere Studierende waren wichtige Multiplikatoren in solchen Bewegungen, da sie diese als Experimentierfelder für gewalttätige Erfahrungen betrachteten, wobei sie ihren Mangel an Kriegserfahrung oft durch zunehmende Brutalität gegen innere und äußere Feinde kaschierten.
In den hier versammelten Beiträgen werden die regionalen Dimensionen studentischer Gewalträume und -kulturen untersucht. Im Vordergrund steht dabei die Frage, wie die regionalen Verhältnisse einen Radikalisierungsprozess beschleunigen bzw. bremsen konnten und welche spezifischen Gewaltkulturen sich in den diversen regionalen Gewalträumen entfalteten.
In den hier versammelten Beiträgen werden die regionalen Dimensionen studentischer Gewalträume und -kulturen untersucht. Im Vordergrund steht dabei die Frage, wie die regionalen Verhältnisse einen Radikalisierungsprozess beschleunigen bzw. bremsen konnten und welche spezifischen Gewaltkulturen sich in den diversen regionalen Gewalträumen entfalteten.
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Roma, 1° novembre 1922. Sono passate solo poche ore dalla marcia su Roma, e il neo-presidente del Consiglio Benito Mussolini promette l’immediata smobilitazione di tutte le squadre in nome del ripristino più rigoroso dell’ordine... more
Roma, 1° novembre 1922. Sono passate solo poche ore dalla marcia su Roma, e il neo-presidente del Consiglio Benito Mussolini promette l’immediata smobilitazione di tutte le squadre in nome del ripristino più rigoroso dell’ordine pubblico.
In realtà, la conquista del potere non segna affatto la fine dello squadrismo né della violenza. Sia che vengano arruolati nelle unità della nuova Milizia Volontaria oppure che agiscano sotto le spoglie dei circoli rionali o dei gruppi sportivi, gli squadristi continuano a giocare un ruolo decisivo nella scena politica italiana. E quando il regime, anche per merito delle sue camicie nere, sarà abbastanza forte da imporre una dittatura a viso aperto, squadrismo e violenza non verranno mai meno.
Attraverso il ricorso a nuove fonti, questo libro propone una visione innovativa del ruolo dalla violenza squadrista negli anni centrali della dittatura mussoliniana. Le vicissitudini dei protagonisti dello squadrismo sono indagate a tutto tondo: dalle camicie nere condannate al confino di polizia, al pari dei tanto odiati antifascisti, a coloro che sulla pratica della violenza e sul mito dello squadrismo hanno scommesso tutta la loro vita. Ne emerge un quadro complesso e articolato, nel quale lo squadrismo non può di certo essere ritenuto un “residuo anacronistico” né un “effetto collaterale” del percorso ventennale del regime, ma rappresenta piuttosto un elemento imprescindibile nella definizione del fascismo.
In realtà, la conquista del potere non segna affatto la fine dello squadrismo né della violenza. Sia che vengano arruolati nelle unità della nuova Milizia Volontaria oppure che agiscano sotto le spoglie dei circoli rionali o dei gruppi sportivi, gli squadristi continuano a giocare un ruolo decisivo nella scena politica italiana. E quando il regime, anche per merito delle sue camicie nere, sarà abbastanza forte da imporre una dittatura a viso aperto, squadrismo e violenza non verranno mai meno.
Attraverso il ricorso a nuove fonti, questo libro propone una visione innovativa del ruolo dalla violenza squadrista negli anni centrali della dittatura mussoliniana. Le vicissitudini dei protagonisti dello squadrismo sono indagate a tutto tondo: dalle camicie nere condannate al confino di polizia, al pari dei tanto odiati antifascisti, a coloro che sulla pratica della violenza e sul mito dello squadrismo hanno scommesso tutta la loro vita. Ne emerge un quadro complesso e articolato, nel quale lo squadrismo non può di certo essere ritenuto un “residuo anacronistico” né un “effetto collaterale” del percorso ventennale del regime, ma rappresenta piuttosto un elemento imprescindibile nella definizione del fascismo.
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Within the framework of the European Research Council (ERC) project “The Dark Side of the Belle Époque. Political Violence and Armed Associations in Europe before the First World War” (http://www.prewaras.eu - PI prof. Matteo Millan), the... more
Within the framework of the European Research Council (ERC) project “The Dark Side of the Belle Époque. Political Violence and Armed Associations in Europe before the First World War” (http://www.prewaras.eu - PI prof. Matteo Millan), the Università degli Studi di Padova – Department of Historical and Geographic Sciences and the Ancient World – and the École Française de Rome (EFR) will be holding an international workshop in Rome (EFR) on 23 January 2019. This scientific event aims to create an original
dialogue, both comparative and transnational, around a topic that is relatively new for the period 1870-1914, namely armed groups. This subject will be considered in relation to political violence and with a relatively flexible geography: Euro-Mediterranean spaces, understood in a broad sense. By focusing on armed groups and their forms of legitimization,
action and organization, the study of political violence can empirically deepen our knowledge of the so-called “State monopoly of legitimate violence”. Armed groups and their forms of legitimacy were not unrelated to the power of the State, even though these groups were not integrated into national armies (at least, not directly). The main question to be addressed is the relationship between armed groups and the legitimate use of violence, by analyzing similarities, differences, transfers and their influences on the social world at large (associations, coteries, clans, the nation, etc.), throughout the Euro-Mediterranean region between 1870 and 1914.
dialogue, both comparative and transnational, around a topic that is relatively new for the period 1870-1914, namely armed groups. This subject will be considered in relation to political violence and with a relatively flexible geography: Euro-Mediterranean spaces, understood in a broad sense. By focusing on armed groups and their forms of legitimization,
action and organization, the study of political violence can empirically deepen our knowledge of the so-called “State monopoly of legitimate violence”. Armed groups and their forms of legitimacy were not unrelated to the power of the State, even though these groups were not integrated into national armies (at least, not directly). The main question to be addressed is the relationship between armed groups and the legitimate use of violence, by analyzing similarities, differences, transfers and their influences on the social world at large (associations, coteries, clans, the nation, etc.), throughout the Euro-Mediterranean region between 1870 and 1914.
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In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Europe, North America and large areas of the globe experienced labour unrest and multiple strike waves, some of which developed a quasi-revolutionary momentum. Although considerable... more
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Europe, North America and large areas of the globe experienced labour unrest and multiple strike waves, some of which developed a quasi-revolutionary momentum. Although considerable research has been done on the formation of labour movements and on the social, economic and institutional realities of labour conflicts, rather less attention has been paid to the repressive policies and practices of employers, and of local and national state authorities. In response to the steady growth of socialism and a renewed burst of revolutionary fears, exacerbated by the long drawn-out effects of economic competition, industrial firms and corporations increasingly resorted to the employment of paramilitary units, special police, vigilantes, professional strikebreakers and private detective agencies against organized labour and in the protection of their assets and investments. These groups typically operated on the frontiers between the legal and the extra-legal, drawing their strength from the language of the law, but often stepping outside it to carry out acts of violence, intimidation, and subversion. The ERC-funded research project PREWarAs hosted by the University of Padua, the University of Oxford Faculty of History and the Oxford Centre for European History (OCEH) invite scholars, at any stage of their academic career, to submit their abstract for a conference devoted to a comparative and transnational examination of industrial vigilantism, strikebreaking and labour violence in the
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In this paper, I analyses to what extent political violence characterized the society of the so-called Belle Époque by examining movements of armed civilians, militias and self-defense groups in Spain, France and Italy. Studying the... more
In this paper, I analyses to what extent political violence characterized the society of the so-called Belle Époque by examining movements of armed civilians, militias and self-defense groups in Spain, France and Italy. Studying the pre-WWI armed groups, and in particular their relationship with state institutions, I aim to understand to what extent the process of militarization posed a threat to the traditional state monopoly over physical violence. Analysing such movements may also contribute to understand to what extent democratic and inclusive regimes laid on strong basis of consensus and whether or not they had the cultural and political antibodies to defeat the authoritarian seductions of the war and post-war period.
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Despite the shimmering images of the Belle Époque, the first fifteen years of the 20th century were undermined by the awareness that the foundations of civilized life were precarious. The paper deals with the analysis of fears and... more
Despite the shimmering images of the Belle Époque, the first fifteen years of the 20th century were undermined by the awareness that the foundations of civilized life were precarious. The paper deals with the analysis of fears and anxieties, but also hopes and aspirations, of propertied classes, trying to relate them to the emergence of collective violent and organisational practices. The paper uses ‘third person’ accounts, police records and letters to examine individual and collective perceptions and emotions of propertied classes in contexts of high-intensity social conflicts in Italy, Spain and France. The aims of the paper are threefold. First, it outlines a phenomenology of propertied classes’ emotions, and in particular the fear for the social revolution. Secondly, it relates these feelings to political cultures, prejudices, and outlooks. Thirdly, it aims to analyse how emotions act as an evaluative means of framing and reaching judgements on social events and how they can fuel organisational initiatives and even collective violent practices. As the paper aims to show, even before the Great War wide sections of European societies believed that political violence was an attractive option to allay their fears, fulfil their hopes and deal with the challenges of mass politics.
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In the aftermath of the First World War, violent social conflicts arose throughout Italy and caused deep fears and anxieties among wide sections of the economic and social élites. The paper aims to analyse these conflicts from the point... more
In the aftermath of the First World War, violent social conflicts arose throughout Italy and caused deep fears and anxieties among wide sections of the economic and social élites. The paper aims to analyse these conflicts from the point of view of the rural propertied classes of the Po Valley to show the complex relationships between their emotions, political cultures and violent practices. Emotions like anxiety, fear, anger, insecurity, but also hope and resoluteness played a central role in escalating violent practices as a reaction against uncertainty, and in legitimizing new political cultures. These mentalities and feelings had often their origin in previous experiences; therefore, although the paper focuses on the aftermath of the Great War, the pre-war period will be examined as well. The aims of the paper are twofold. First, it examines the emotions of rural propertied classes, and in particular the fear for a social revolution. Secondly, it seeks to analyse the performative functions of these widespread feelings, relating them to the emergence of self-defence practices and subversive political strategies. The study of fears and hopes of agrarian middle-classes allows us to understand the mass support which the fascism was able to gain.
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Questo paper si propone di analizzare la milizia catalana “Somatén” nel periodo compreso tra il 1898 e lo scoppio della prima guerra mondiale. Nato in epoca medievale ma riformato profondamente a fine dell’Ottocento, il Somatén catalano... more
Questo paper si propone di analizzare la milizia catalana “Somatén” nel periodo compreso tra il 1898 e lo scoppio della prima guerra mondiale. Nato in epoca medievale ma riformato profondamente a fine dell’Ottocento, il Somatén catalano si configura come una milizia composta – in questo periodo – da oltre 40.000 uomini armati e caratterizzata da una diffusione capillare, dal piccolo villaggio rurale ai sobborghi di Barcellona. Attraverso il ricorso a fonti d’archivio e allo spoglio del bollettino ufficiale del Somatén («Paz y Tregua»), questo paper vuole delineare una rapida panoramica dell’organizzazione del Somatén a inizio Novecento, soffermandosi poi in particolare sui rapporti tra la milizia e le autorità statali. L’obiettivo è ricostruire in che modo il ricorso a milizie private in supporto alle forze di polizia possa aver rappresentato un tessuto di esperienze concrete, capace di diventare un modello significativo attorno al quale organizzare nuove forme di reazione autoritaria e antidemocratica, soprattutto in un momento di profonda crisi dei tradizionali equilibri di potere.
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Armed Groups and Political Violence in Belle Époque Europe
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One position is available within the ERc-StG project "The Dark Side of the Belle Époque. Political Violence and Armed Associations in Europe before the First World War"
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Negli ultimi anni la discussione sul fascismo è tornata al centro del dibattito pubblico con una rilevanza che non sarebbe stata pensabile all’inizio del nuovo millennio. A partire dalle domande emerse dal rinnovato interesse... more
Negli ultimi anni la discussione sul fascismo è tornata al centro del dibattito pubblico con una rilevanza che non sarebbe stata pensabile all’inizio del nuovo millennio. A partire dalle domande emerse dal rinnovato interesse storiografico, il libro racconta come il fascismo ha cambiato l’Italia, dando vita ad un regime che si distingueva nelle forme e nelle ambizioni da altre esperienze del passato e contribuiva a trasformare nel profondo la politica contemporanea. I temi posti al centro di questa indagine sono la violenza, l’impero, la guerra, la politica, l’economia, la religione, la cultura, ma anche l’antifascismo, la propaganda, la vita quotidiana e l’impatto all’estero dell’esperienza fascista. Sono argomenti centrali nella storia e nell’interpretazione del regime, qui approfonditi a partire da prospettive spesso inedite, che reinterrogando gli studi esistenti avanzano interpretazioni originali e propongono nuovi interrogativi.