These photos reveal what life was like inside fascist Italy in the blood-soaked years both before and during World War II.
Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini walk by a row of saluting Italian soldiers during a visit from Germany's new chancellor.Venice, Italy. June 1934.
Wikimedia Commons Young boys in the fascist youth group, the Opera Nazionale Balilla.Italy. Date unspecified.
Wikimedia Commons A group of girls in the Littorio fascist youth group.The word "Duce" behind them is the title of dictator Benito Mussolini.
location unspecified. Circa 1937-1939.
Wikimedia Commons A stoic face stares down from the facade of the Fascist Party Federation building.Rome, Italy. 1934.
Recuerdos de Pandora/Flickr Inside a massive Fascist Party rally.Rome, Italy. 1937.
New York Public Library A Nazi rally goes into full swing, held to welcome Italy's visiting German allies.Rome, Italy. 1937.
New York Public Library A gymnastics show performed by the Italian Youth of the Lictor, a youth movement of the Italian Fascist Party.Milan, Italy. Circa 1937-1939.
Wikimedia Commons Benito Mussolini delivers a speech.Milan, Italy. May 1930.
Wikimedia Commons A public gymnastics display.Location unspecified. Circa 1923-1924.
Wikimedia Commons Two girls dressed up like members of the ancient Roman Empire.Rome, Italy. 1937.
New York Public Library Benito Mussolini waves at a massive crowd of supporters.Rome, Italy. Circa 1920-1930.
Wikimedia Commons The Italian and Nazi flags fly side-by-side.Rome, Italy. 1937.
New York Public Library Children of the fascist youth consecrate a new flag, while dictator Mussolini looks on.Rome, Italy. October 1931.
Bundesarchiv Students salute the Italian flag.Milan, Italy. 1929.
Wikimedia Commons A public gymnastics display.Location and date unspecified.
Wikimedia Commons A group of young Italians in the Opera Nazionale Balilla fascist group.Location unspecified. Circa 1920-1929.
Wikimedia Commons Soldiers in Italy's Black Brigades, the ruling party's paramilitary arm.Location and date unspecified.
Wikimedia Commons An Italian soldier.Location unspecified. 1943.
Wikimedia Commons The inauguration of Littoria, Italy, a city created by Mussolini's fascist party.December 1932.
Wikimedia Commons Fashionable fascists dress up in anticipation of Mussolini's visit to their city.Aosta, Italy. May 1939.
Wikimedia Commons The dead body of a young woman hangs from a pole. She had been killed for resisting the National Fascist Party.Rome, Italy. 1944.
Wikimedia Commons Supporters of the Fascist Party march in a parade.Milan, Italy. November 1928.
Wikimedia Commons A Nazi general salutes a line of Italian troops before sending them off to fight the Allies.Rome, Italy. March 1944.
Bundesarchiv Benito Mussolini taps the cheek of a young boy in the Black Brigades. Brescia, Italy. 1945.Wikimedia Commons A propaganda photo shows massive tractors rolling into action and an Italian flag waving overhead.Location unspecified. 1937.
New York Public Library A soldier checks a civilian's papers.Milan, Italy. 1944.
Wikimedia Commons A young boy of the Opera Nazionale Balilla fascist youth group.Rome, Italy. 1924.
Wikimedia Commons School children pose for a photo. Behind them are graffiti tags saluting Mussolini as the "Duce" (leader) of Italy.Marano, Italy. 1930.
Wikimedia Commons Three boys of the fascist youth group show off their uniforms.Location unspecified. 1925.
Wikimedia Commons Members of the Black Brigades salute Benito Mussolini.Rome, Italy. 1935.
Wikimedia Commons A military ceremony, performed before the Altar of the Fatherland.Rome, Italy. 1930.
Wikimedia Commons A crowd salutes Hitler and Mussolini, walking side-by-side.Brenner Pass, Italy. 1937.
New York Public Library Mussolini shows a visiting German the German Book Exposition he has put on in their honor, full of the greatest works by Nazi writers.Rome, Italy. 1937.
New York Public Library The Black Brigades stand at attention.Rome, Italy. March 1936.
Wikimedia Commons Mussolini and Adolf Hitler stand side-by-side during a visit from the Fuhrer.Florence, Italy. 1937.
New York Public Library Italian troops stand at attention, awaiting inspection from the Nazi General Kurt Mälzer.Rome, Italy. March 1944.
Wikimedia Commons An Italian resistance member, working with the British troops to fight the Germans in Italy.Florence, Italy. August 1944.
Wikimedia Commons An ensign in the Italian Navy stands at attention during an inspection.Rome, Italy. March 1944.
Bundesarchiv Germany soldiers carry away members of the Italian resistance.Bolzano, Italy. November 1943.
Wikimedia Commons German and Italian military officials confer.Location unspecified. September 1943.
Bundesarchiv Benito Mussolini speaks to a young Italian soldier, a member of the Black Brigades.Location unspecified. 1944.
Wikimedia Commons Three members of the Italian resistance are hanged for treason.Rimini, Italy. 1945.
Wikimedia Commons German and Italian soldiers clump eagerly together for a photo with Mussolini.Abruzzo, Italy. September 1943.
Wikimedia Commons The dead bodies of members of the Italian resistance lie in the streets.Barletta, Italy. September 1943.
Wikimedia Commons
44 Photos Of What Life In Fascist Italy Looked Like View GalleryBefore the Nazis, there was fascist Italy. Often overshadowed by the other members of the Axis and treated as little more than a footnote in the history of World War II, Italy was actually the world’s first fascist state.
After Benito Mussolini took power in 1922, life in Italy radically changed. Every person in the nation was forced to sign up as a member of the National Fascist Party, and to swear allegiance to both Mussolini and to the ideals of fascism. Anyone who refused was denied complete citizenship, which meant that they were barred from holding jobs and ostracized from every part of society.
Meanwhile, state newspapers and cinemas across the country set to work to develop a cult of personality that treated Mussolini like a god. His presence overwhelmed the nation, whether he was making impassioned speeches or marching through the streets while crowds of dedicated followers cheered him on.
Many of those followers were indoctrinated into the party when they were young. Mussolini restructured schools across the country, making fascist indoctrination and obedience to authority the center of Italian education. Teachers were forced to use textbooks created by the Fascist Party and to swear an oath of loyalty to Mussolini.
Boys were taught the value of being strong and healthy, and of an unquestioning obedience to authority. Girls were taught to know their place. They joined groups for young Fascist women, where they were taught housework, cooking, and subservience to their husbands.
While most everyone nationwide was subservient, some fought back against Mussolini’s fascist Italy – but the violence of his Black Brigades (Blackshirts) paramilitary ruled the streets. Mussolini’s armed thugs smashed anyone who opposed the rule of fascism in Italy, sometimes forcing them to swallow castor oil until they died of dehydration.
Ultimately, it took more than 20 years for Mussolini to fall. Finally, the invading Allied armies brought fascist Italy to its knees in 1943. By the time Mussolini fell, a whole generation had only known life under his iron fist.
For more glimpses into life in the Axis, check out these photos of everyday life in Nazi Germany and these revealing images of life inside the Hitler Youth.
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