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In the Axis War on the side of Germany, Mussolini's Italy was responsible for serious war crimes, especially in Yugoslavia and Greece. This 'dark side' of the fascist war, however, is not present in the national memory built after 1945. To distinguish Italy from the former German ally and avoid a punitive peace, the monarchist and anti-fascist ruling classes elaborated a master narrative that highlighted the opposition of the Italian people to Mussolini's war and the humanitarian behavior of Italian soldiers, depicted as saviors of Jews. All responsibility for the crimes committed in the Axis war was placed on the shoulders of the Germans, who thus became a convenient alibi for the national conscience.
Price: $130.00
Pages: 352
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Imprint: Manchester University Press
Series: Cultural History of Modern War
Publication Date:
29 August 2023
ISBN: 9781526157133
Format: Hardcover
BISACs:
Social and cultural history, Second World War
'Focardi offers a compelling, well-researched examination of how the ‘good Italian’ myth was constructed, sustained, and incorporated into Italy's national identity... I can wholeheartedly recommend this book.'
Alessandro Salvador, Modern Italy
Filippo Focardi is a Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Padua
Introduction
1 Italy and the Axis in Allied propaganda
2 Who betrayed their country?
3 The origins of war memory
4 ‘Italy won too’: atonement and redemption of a ‘nation underground’
5 Forgetting the Axis
6 ‘Good Italians’ and ‘bad Germans’
7 Humans or Germans?
Conclusion
Index