Educare il popolo bambino. Le colonie al mare, in montagna, in città durante gli anni del fascismo

At the end of World War I, in a time of widespread illiteracy in Italy, the Italian school system in the Liberal Period was in the midst of a serious crisis1, burdened by financial problems, a shortage of buildings, and conflicts between the state and church over educational aims and teaching programs. With the advent of the fascist regime, the moral education of youth also became a point of contention: who was in charge of educating young Italians, the future soldiers ready to sacrifice themselves for the nation? After much discussion, a law was passed on April 3, 1926, that gave the fascist organization Opera Nazionale Balilla the monopoly on the moral education of children and adolescents, which had until then been the charge of church institutions. Though after the concordat of 1929, Pius IX had issued the encyclical ’Divinis Illius Magistri’ about the role of the Church as the sole true educator of children, the fascist regime continued its efforts: all religiousoriented associations, such as Azione Cattolica, were dissolved, and scout groups were banned. And any time priests and brotherhoods tried to organize recreational, sporting, or welfare activities, they were invited to desist and repeatedly attacked by the fascist militia. As such, starting in the late 1920s, the education of youth was progressively in the hands of organizations connected to the fascist party, which were entrusted with indoctrinating young fascists to the new secular religion.