Il fascismo e la guerra civile spagnola. Propaganda e comunicazione
Abstract
This thesis stands as a detailed reconstruction of the military intervention in Spain by the Fascist
regime, creating an original approach to the subject:
<<In fact, more than a narrative of the events occurring on the field, reconstructs the story that was
the Spanish Civil War for the Italian population. This story is determined by a precise and personal
choice: the will to follow chronologically the events, without losing sight, therefore, not losing sight
of the bonds, but focusing specifically on how communication functions. The events, therefore,
regardless of the "reality" of the facts, take a precise look through the various channels of
propaganda, however, making "reality" in the eyes of the population>>.
The thesis reconstructs the climate created by the regime on the Spanish Civil War, through the
most diverse sources, from newspapers to magazines, until the enormous amount of newsreels and
documentaries produced by the Luce Institute:
<<Naval battles. Violence against defenseless women. Priests humiliated by an angry population.
Desperate women in the tunnels of the besieged Alcazar. Clashes between the streets of cities
reduced to ruin. Violence on alone and defenseless men. Trucks full of food for men and women
starving. Gutted buildings. Bombs that explode during a church service. Spectacular duels in the
skies. Legionaries advancing in front of the scared enemy. Legionaries with bayonets. Legionaries
riding on horseback. Fearless Italians fighting. Italians willing to die in front of a gun ready to
fire. Men against machines. Horses against tanks. Italians in the snow. Italians greeted as heroes.
Women scorned because fighters. A cemetery of hanged men in a wood. Priests martyrs who forgive
their tormentors. A Republican who seeks God in the moment of death. And again advancing
legionaries. Legionaries returning to Italy. Legionaries who die in heroic deeds. The troops going
into the city, greeted by a relieved and joyful people.
Following the attention and perseverance with which the Spanish Civil War was sent to the Italian
population there are no more doubts: it was a long series of themes and images, repeated and
interpreted in all their facets, and crystallized in the psychology of the italian population>>. [edited by Author]