Pocket Guide To Italy 1952: Analysis

Italian entrance to World War II with the Axis powers can best be described as a rash decision made by a fascist tyrant: Benito Mussolini. After Mussolini’s dismissal in July of 1943, American occupation of Italy continued in order to push German soldiers out of Italy. Even after Italian liberation in 1945, American occupation continued to aid in the implementation of a sound government and to continue establishment as allies (History). Between American and Italian people during occupation laid a barrier of hierarchy of American society and ignorance of the culture and history of Italy. Through the guidebooks given to American soldiers during occupation of Italy, American attempts to destroy this barrier can be seen through the progression

Just nine years later, the Roman Empire and Renaissance periods, rather than seen as fallen and inefficient, are viewed as “brilliant phases of its history” (PGI 1952 5). The first is referenced as a period characterized by the birth of Christianity, engineering, and architecture: all things that would have been fascinating to the soldiers that such a country could start such a movement. The Renaissance is characterized as the period in which “Italy attained a kind of supremacy that owed…everything to the brilliance and achievements of its explorers, scientists, painters, writers, sculptors, architects, and others” (PGI 1952 6). Again, the blame is passed from the Fascist party to Mussolini himself who was killed in 1945. Words describing Italian history begin to change from negative to positive including words like “brilliant”, “enriched”, and

The Roman Empire is referenced as, as the 1954 guide, a time of engineering, but also as a time that contributed highly to “modern political administration and law”. The “Glory of the Renaissance” is characterized as a time with arts “still unsurpassed” and exploration that led to the discovery of the New World (PGI 1964 25). This guidebook is the first and only guidebook to go into detail about the time between the Renaissance period and WWI: the Italian Risorgimento. The Risorgimento was a movement who’s primary aim was to liberate and unite Italy after the Italian kingdom fell and was taken over by several different countries. History pertaining to either of the World Wars is limited to two small paragraphs of information, comprising of approximately ten percent of the historical content given in the guidebook. The description of Italian history in this guidebook had the most positive connotation of any of the previous guidebooks, using words such as “grandeur”, “finest” and