Communism and Anti-Communism in Early Cold War Italy: Language, Symbols and Myths

The most peculiar founding element of the Italian democratic political system after the Second World War was the Communist/anti-Communist struggle. The strongest Communist party in the West had to deal with an anti-Communist and pro-Western government coalition, and their conflict played out in fascinating ways through projects, ideas and symbols. This book investigates the role of cultural associations, newspapers and the popular press in anti-Communism, highlighting a dimension that explains the force and the diffusion of anti-Communist opinions in Italy after 1989, as well as the crisis of traditional parties.

Until now, most historians of Italy have focused their attention on political parties as the only influence on the public construction of political orientations and civic identities. Others, noting the importance of the Church in Italian culture and social relations, have shown Italian political struggle as occurring between Communism and organised Catholicism. This volume takes these into account and enlarges the traditional view of the anti-Communist ‘front’, introducing new aspects and key figures, and placing the case of Italian Cold War anti-Communism in an international context for the first time.