Popular Opinion in Fascist Italy: Observations and Reflections

Christopher Duggan - NYU Florence

In contrast to Nazi Germany and Stalin's Russia, the issue of popular opinion in Fascist Italy remains relatively unexplored. The reasons for this are in part still political. In this lecture, Professor Duggan uses private diaries, most of them unpublished, in order to gain some insights into what ordinary people thought and felt about the regime. Professor Duggan stresses the centrality of the "cult of the Duce" to the apparatus of support for fascism, and underlines the extent to which the religious dimensions of fascist ideology appeared to resonate strongly with ordinary people, not least because they seemed to intersect with traditional Catholic principles and practices.

Christopher Duggan, Professor of Italian History and Director of the Centre for Modern Italian History, The University of Reading
September 23, 2014