Arditi del Popolo
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The ''Arditi del Popolo'' (''The People's Daring Ones'') was an Italian militant anti-fascist group founded at the end of June 1921 to resist the rise of
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
's
National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...
and the violence of the
Blackshirts The Voluntary Militia for National Security ( it, Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN), commonly called the Blackshirts ( it, Camicie Nere, CCNN, singular: ) or (singular: ), was originally the paramilitary wing of the Natio ...
(''squadristi'') paramilitaries.Gli Arditi del Popolo (Birth)
It grouped revolutionary trade-unionists,
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
s,
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
s,
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
s, republicans,
anti-capitalists Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economi ...
, as well as some former military officers, and was co-founded by Giuseppe Mingrino,
Argo Secondari Argo Secondari (12 September 1895 – 17 March 1942) was an Italian anarchist and militant anti-fascist and one of the founders of the anti-fascist group Arditi del Popolo. Biography Early life Secondari was born to a large middle-class fami ...
and
Gino Lucetti Gino Lucetti (31 August 1900 – 17 September 1943) was an Italian anarchist and anti-fascist who attempted to assassinate the dictator Benito Mussolini in 1926. After World War I he was involved in many clashes and political brawls during th ...
– who tried to assassinate Mussolini on 11 September 1926 – the deputy
Guido Picelli Guido Picelli (9 October 1889 – 5 January 1937) was an Italian Communist politician and anti-fascist militant. He was a founding member of the ''Arditi del Popolo'' and a participant in the Spanish Civil War where he died in battle. Biography ...
and others. The ''Arditi del Popolo'' were an offshoot of the ''
Arditi Arditi (from the Italian verb ''ardire'', lit. "to dare", and translates as "The Daring nes) was the name adopted by a Royal Italian Army elite special force of World War I. They and the opposing German '' Stormtroopers'' were the first modern ...
'' elite troops, who had previously occupied
Fiume Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
in 1919 behind the poet Gabriele d'Annunzio, who proclaimed the
Italian Regency of Carnaro The Italian Regency of Carnaro ( it, Reggenza Italiana del Carnaro), also known in Italian as (), was a self-proclaimed state in the city of Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia) led by Gabriele d'Annunzio between 1919 and 1920. ''Impresa di Fiume'' ...
. Those who split to form the ''Arditi del Popolo'' were close to the
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
Argo Secondari Argo Secondari (12 September 1895 – 17 March 1942) was an Italian anarchist and militant anti-fascist and one of the founders of the anti-fascist group Arditi del Popolo. Biography Early life Secondari was born to a large middle-class fami ...
and were supported by
Mario Carli is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...
. The ''
formazioni di difesa proletaria The Formazioni Di Difesa Proletaria () were Italian anti-fascist formations, born during the two-year Biennio Rosso period in Italy (1919–1920), later organized as a united front between 1921 and 1922. The birth of the workers' defense formatio ...
'' (Proletarian Defense Formations) later merged with them. The ''Arditi del Popolo'' gathered approximately 20,000 members in summer 1921.Gli Arditi del Popolo: I numeri dell'organizzazione


Relations with the workers' movement and organized parties

Composed of socialists, anarchists and communists, the ''Arditi del Popolo'' were not supported by leftist parties (neither by the
Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...
, PSI, nor by the
Communist Party of Italy The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current ...
, PCd'I). The ''Arditi'' were criticized by the socialist newspaper ''
Avanti! ''Avanti!'' is a 1972 American/Italian international co-production comedy film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills. The screenplay by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond is based on Samuel A. Taylor's play, ...
'' on 7 July 1921, following a demonstration in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
the previous day. On 10 July 1921, ''
Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the co ...
'' announced the demonstration and
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
wrote an article the next month praising the ''Arditi del Popolo'' as a unified action of the 'entire proletariat' against fascism and criticizing the Bordigan tendency of the PCd'I."In Rome, a rally was held to organize the fight against fascism, which was attended by 50,000 workers, representatives of all parties: communists, socialists and even republicans. 5,000 ex-combatants in military uniform went there and not a single fascist dared to be seen in the streets." – V. I. Lenin ('Discorsi alla riunione dei membri delle delegazioni tedesca, polacca, cecoslovacca, ungherese e italiana', vol. XLII, 1968, pp. 306-307) On 3 August 1921 the PSI signed a " pacification pact" (''patto di pacificazione'') with Mussolini and his Fasces of Combat on 3 August 1921, while the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) and the PSI refused to officially recognize the anti-fascist militia. Furthermore, the PCd'I ordered its members to quit the organization because of the presence of non-communists in its ranks. The PCd'I organized by themselves some militant groups (the ''Squadre comuniste d'azione''), but their actions were relatively minor and the party kept a non-violent, legalist strategy. The Bordigan tendency was opposed by the Marxist philosopher
Antonio Gramsci Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , , ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosopher, journalist, linguist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, political theory, sociology, history, and linguistics. He was a ...
, and many communist activists, who supported the ''Arditi''.Gli Arditi del Popolo: la storia
In October 1921, the
Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...
criticized the "sectarian policy" of the PCd'I, who threatened those of its members who supported the ''Arditi'' with disciplinary measures. However, after the alignment of Gramsci and of ''
L'Ordine Nuovo ''L'Ordine Nuovo'' (Italian for "The New Order") was a weekly newspaper established on 1 May 1919, in Turin, Italy, by a group, including Antonio Gramsci, Angelo Tasca and Palmiro Togliatti, within the Italian Socialist Party. The paper was the ...
'' to the PCd'I's direction, the anarchist ''
Umanità Nova ''Umanità Nova'' is an Italian anarchist newspaper founded in 1920. It was published daily until 1922 when it was shut down by the fascist regime. In some places, its circulation exceeded that of the socialist paper '' Avanti!'' Upon the fal ...
'' newspaper remained the sole mouthpiece of the workers' movement which supported the ''Arditi del Popolo''.


Parma and dismantlement of the group

One of the ''Arditi''s most important successes was in
Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...
during the events known as the
Barricades of Parma The Parma Barricades (''Barricate di Parma''), also known as the siege of Parma, were a series of battles between anti-fascist forces of the ''Arditi del Popolo'' and the Proletarian Defense Formations against the fascist Squadristi in August 192 ...
in August 1922, when 350 ''arditi'', directed by the
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
veterans Antonio Cieri and Guido Picelli, successfully defended the city against a 20,000-man fascist offensive headed by
Roberto Farinacci Roberto Farinacci (; 16 October 1892 – 28 April 1945) was a leading Italian Fascist politician and important member of the National Fascist Party before and during World War II as well as one of its ardent antisemitic proponents. English histo ...
, who would join the
Grand Council of Fascism The Grand Council of Fascism (, also translated "Fascist Grand Council") was the main body of Mussolini's Fascist government in Italy, that held and applied great power to control the institutions of government. It was created as a body of th ...
in 1935, and
Italo Balbo Italo Balbo (6 June 1896 – 28 June 1940) was an Italian fascist politician and Blackshirts' leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force, Governor-General of Libya and Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa. Due to his young a ...
, one of the four main planners of the
March on Rome The March on Rome ( it, Marcia su Roma) was an organized mass demonstration and a coup d'état in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, Fa ...
. The ''Arditi'' benefitted from massive popular support in this task. But with the complicity of state security forces, the fascists assassinated and detained most of the leaders of the anti-fascist movement, which was completely dismantled by 1924.


Legacy

Many ''Arditi del Popolo'' later joined the
International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...
during the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
(1936–39). The name was also re-used by Resistance during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The communists Antonello Trombadori and
Luigi Longo Luigi Longo (15 March 1900 – 16 October 1980), also known as Gallo, was an Italian communist politician and secretary of the Italian Communist Party from 1964 to 1972. He was also the first foreigner to be awarded an Order of Lenin. Early l ...
created an organization thus named on 25 July 1943. The song ''Siam del Popolo gli Arditi'' has been written in honor of the group.


List of notable members

*
Argo Secondari Argo Secondari (12 September 1895 – 17 March 1942) was an Italian anarchist and militant anti-fascist and one of the founders of the anti-fascist group Arditi del Popolo. Biography Early life Secondari was born to a large middle-class fami ...
, anarchist *
Gino Lucetti Gino Lucetti (31 August 1900 – 17 September 1943) was an Italian anarchist and anti-fascist who attempted to assassinate the dictator Benito Mussolini in 1926. After World War I he was involved in many clashes and political brawls during th ...
, anarchist *
Guido Picelli Guido Picelli (9 October 1889 – 5 January 1937) was an Italian Communist politician and anti-fascist militant. He was a founding member of the ''Arditi del Popolo'' and a participant in the Spanish Civil War where he died in battle. Biography ...
, communist deputy * Alberto Acquacalda, anarchist (assassinated by Fascists on 11 August 1921) *
Riccardo Lombardi Riccardo Lombardi (16 August 1901 – 18 September 1984) was an Italian politician. Early life Lombardi was born in Regalbuto, in the province of Enna (now in the province of Catania), in 1901. He studied at the Pennisi College of Acireale, a ...
, socialist (not officially a member but a participant) *
Giuseppe Di Vittorio Giuseppe Di Vittorio (Cerignola, 11 August 1892 – Lecco, 3 November 1957), also known as Nicoletti, was an Italian trade union leader and Communist politician. He was one of the most influential trade union leaders of the labour movement after ...
, communist *
Tigrino Sabatini Tigrino Sabatini, (8 March 1900 – 3 May 1944) was a communist and a leader of the Italian Resistance, executed for his activities as a zone-commander of the Movimento Comunista d'Italia, also known as ''Bandiera Rossa.'' Born in the province of S ...
, communist *
Renzo Novatore Abele Rizieri Ferrari (May 12, 1890 – November 29, 1922), better known by the pen name Renzo Novatore, was an Italian individualist anarchist, illegalist and anti-fascist poet, philosopher and militant, now mostly known for his posthumously p ...
, anarchist * Vincenzo Baldazzi, socialist * Antonio Cieri, anarchist


See also

* Italian Fascism *
Militant anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...


References


Bibliography

* Tom Behan, ''The Resistible Rise of Benito Mussolini'', Bookmarks, 2003,
account
of the book in ''
Socialist Worker ''Socialist Worker'' is the name of several far-left newspapers currently or formerly associated with the International Socialist Tendency (IST). It is a weekly newspaper published by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in the United Kingdom since ...
'' review) *Iain McKay ''The Irresistible Correctness of anarchism''
a review
of Behan's book from an anarchist perspective)


Italian language

* Gentili, Valerio, ''Roma combattente'', Roma, Castelvecchi, 2010 * Gentili, Valerio, ''La legione romana degli Arditi del Popolo'', Roma, Purple Press, 2009 * Balsamini, Luigi, ''Gli Arditi del Popolo. Dalla guerra alla difesa del popolo contro le violenze fasciste'', Casalvelino Scalo, Galzerano, 2002. * Francescangeli, Eros, ''Arditi del Popolo. Argo Secondari e la prima organizzazione antifascista (1917-1922)'', Roma, Odradek, 2000. * Rossi, Marco, ''Arditi, non gendarmi! Dall'arditismo di guerra agli arditi del popolo 1917-1922'', Pisa, BFS, 1997. * Fuschini, Ivan, ''Gli Arditi del Popolo'', prefazione di Arrigo Boldrini, Ravenna, Longo, 1994. * Cordova, Ferdinando, ''Arditi e legionari dannunziani'', Padova, Marsilio, 1969. {{DEFAULTSORT:Arditi Del Popolo 1921 establishments in Italy 1924 disestablishments in Italy Anti-fascist organisations in Italy Modern history of Italy Militias in Europe Paramilitary organisations based in Italy