Overview
Benito Mussolini
(1883—1945) Italian Fascist statesman, Prime Minister 1922–43
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A. J. P. Taylor
(1906–90),historian. His many publications include The Habsburg Monarchy (1941), The Troublemakers (1957, from his Ford lectures), The Origins of the Second World War (1961), a life of Beaverbrook ...
Abyssinia
Christian-ruled empire in the Horn of Africa and Upper Nile, whose orthodox church depended upon the patriarchate of Alexandria. Muslim expansion during the 7th and 8th centuries disrupted the ...
Abyssinian War
1935–6.Conflict between Abyssinia and Italy. Mussolini used a border incident in December 1934 at Walwal as a pretext for pursuing his aim of imperial expansion in north Africa. The Italians invaded ...
Achille Starace
(b. 1889, d. 28 Apr. 1945).Italian Fascist One of the earliest Italian Fascists, he led the Fascist movement in Trentino. He was Secretary of the National Fascist Party 1931–9. During this time he ...
Ada Negri
(1870–1945).Poet, novelist, and one of the first significant working-class voices in Italian literature. Brought up in poverty in Milan by a widowed mother, as she describes in her autobiographical ...
Adolf Hitler
(1889–1945)German chancellor and Nazi leader (1933–45). One of the most powerful and evil leaders in the history of the world, he achieved a following in Germany and his native Austria that enabled ...
Afredo Oriani
(1852–1909).Novelist and essayist. Born in Faenza, he was educated in Bologna, where after further studies in Rome and Naples he worked briefly in the legal profession before withdrawing to ...
Albania
One of the poorest of the former communist states, Albania is now moving towards the European UnionThough Albania is a coastal country, not much of its territory is at sea level. Mountains make up ...
Alcide De Gasperi
(b. 3 Apr. 1881, d. 19 Aug. 1954).Italian Prime Minister 1945–53Early careerBorn in the Trentino (which was then part of Austria‐Hungary), he graduated from the University of Vienna in 1905. He ...
Amelia Rosselli
(1930–96).Perhaps the most important Italian woman poet of the 20th c. She was the daughter of an English mother and Carlo Rosselli, the prominent anti-Fascist assassinated near Paris on ...
Anschluss
(German, ‘connection’) Hitler's annexation of Austria. The German Second empire did not include Austrian Germans, who remained in Austria‐Hungary. In 1934 a coup by Austrian Nazis failed to achieve ...
Antonio Beltramelli
(1879–1930).Writer and journalist. His first novel, Gli uomini rossi (1904), is a Romeo and Juliet tale of conflict in his native Romagna between Catholics and republicans (rossi); in the ...
Antonio Gramsci
(1891–1937)Italian intellectual and founder of the Italian Communist Party.Born in Alès, Sardinia, Gramsci was educated at the University of Turin, where he studied history and philosophy. As a ...
Armed Forces and Police
The Italian army has been characterized by negative images since soon after Unification. Major military defeats, such as Adua (Ethiopia) in 1896, involved troops of mostly peasant origin with little ...
authoritarianism
A style of government in which the rulers demand unquestioning obedience from the ruled. Traditionally, ‘authoritarians’ have argued for a high degree of determination by governments of belief and ...
Aventine Secession
(Italy; 1924–6)A term derived from the withdrawal of the Roman population to the Aventine Hills in protest against the Patriciate in 493 bc. It denotes the anti-Fascist parliamentary opposition to ...
Balilla
Italian Fascist youth movement Constituted on 3 April 1926, it was organized in three main sections, the Balilla (8–15‐year‐old boys), the Avanguardie (15–18‐year‐old boys), and the Piccole Italiane ...
Battle of Caporetto
(24 October 1917)A battle fought north of Trieste when Austro-Hungarian and German forces overwhelmed the Italian army. General Cadorna withdrew his demoralized troops north of Venice, where his new ...
Benedetto Croce
(1866–1952)Italian idealist philosopher and the leading Italian intellectual of his day.He was born in Percasseroli, the son of a rich landowner, and lost his parents in an earthquake in 1883. ...
blackshirt
The colloquial name given to the Squadre d'Azione (Action Squad), the national combat groups, founded in Italy in 1919. Organized along paramilitary lines, they wore black shirts and patrolled cities ...
