CERC Public Seminar: 'From Fascist Purge to Anti-Fascist Purge: Post-War Italy and its Three 'Hot' Summers, 1946-48'

Tuesday 16 May 1:00-2:00pm
at Room 212, Level 2, 234 Queensberry Street, The University of Melbourne

presented by

Dr Michael Kelly

(History Department, University of Melbourne, National University of Singapore)

Abstract

Following the Second World War, the Italian government initiated a purge of Fascists within Italian society. The purge was short-lived, however, and its failure, in conjunction with the subsequent anti-partisan campaign which followed, left many ex-partisans frustrated and embittered. They had fought the Fascists in association with the Allied powers, yet their calls for justice and retribution against ex-Fascists had been largely overlooked and, increasingly, judicial proceedings were initiated against former members of the Resistance. As a result, many partisans , who initially were relatively apolitical at the end of the war, now turned to the Italian Communist Party in the hope of political support for their demands. Finding sympathy within the party, but little practical assistance, some partisans turned to more radical measures. Thus began three 'hot' summers of partisan activity. At Santa Libera in the Cuneese in 1946, at Casale in 1947 and in numerous other towns throughout Piedmont during the mid-1940s partisans once again took up the call to arms. In displays of frustration and outrage the partisans attempted to force the issue of national renewal back onto the political stage. This paper examines the practical results and political consequences of their actions and the disastrous conclusion during the factory occupations and call to revolution of the summer of 1948.

Biography

After careers in IT, ESL teaching, and in Management, Dr Kelly completed a PhD in modern European history–with a specialisation in modern Italy–at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He lectured and tutored in the History Department at the University of Melbourne and in the School of Social Sciences at Victoria University, before joining National University of Singapore as an Assistant Professor in 2006. His teaching and research interests include: modern Italian history and politics, with an emphasis on Italian fascism, anti-fascism and resistance, as well as Risorgimental studies; modern European history; nineteenth and twentieth century British history; twentieth century military history; war and gender; the comparative study of fascism; labour and social history, both in Britain and Italy; oral history–particularly the relationship between memory and history; migration history (especially Italian settlement); European nationalism; and the history of civil and human rights.