Education Under Mussolini

Question 1

what were primary school students taught?

Answer 1

Mussolini and Fascists ‘saved’ Italy from communist revolution

Question 2

what was made compulsory in 1929?

Answer 2

all teachers in state schools to swear oath to Mussolini’s fascist regime and the King
1931: extended to university lecturers

Question 3

how did Mussolini deal with textbooks?

Answer 3

• carefully reviewed
• many banned
• replaced with government books that emphasised Mussolini and fascism

Question 4

why was indoctrination unsuccessful to an extent?

Answer 4

1923: Giovanni Gentile, first fascist minister of education
* continued traditional academic education
* introduced exams that made it difficult to progress to secondary education
* number of secondary school children and university students declined

Question 5

what was the ONB?

Answer 5

opera nazionale balilla
* method to indoctrinate young people
* 1937: merged with ‘Young Fascists’ to form the GIL
* membership made compulsory for 8-21 year olds
* physical fitness programmes, summer camps and pre-military training, political indoctrination, and swear loyalty to mussolini

Question 6

what was the impact of youth groups on young children?

Answer 6

• **40% **of 4-18 year olds avoided membership
• private and catholic schools did not enforce ONB membership
• many had already left school by age 11 due to difficult entrance exams
• contempt for fascism was not uncommon in universities