major Western European neo-Fascist party, now
rebranded as Alleanza Nazionale (AN). The MSI-AN
was especially a party with historical and cultural
roots diametrically opposed to the heritage of
anti-Fascism and the Resistance. Following a new
electoral law in August 1993, the change from the
proportional system centred on the constitutionalist
parties to a majority system that favoured a bipolar
arrangement, with one pole dominated by forces
alien or even opposed to anti-Fascism, triggered
a fierce confrontation that was based on an
unprecedented use of history for political purposes.
One of the main factors behind the struggle for
memory in the country was the need of the centre-
right to legitimize Gianfranco Fini’s MSI-AN as
a force fit to sit in government, after its electoral
victory under Berlusconi in April 1994.
With varying degrees of conviction, all the
parties in the governing coalition converged on a
course of action aimed at neutralizing anti-Fascism
as a factor of political legitimization and replacing
1
it with anti-totalitarianism as the new point of
reference. Anti-Fascism and the memory of the
Resistance were depicted as politically obsolete and
even dangerous ideals for Italy’s “new Republic”, a
country in need of a somewhat “patriotic” renewal.
From this point of view, the Italian case bears
similarities to the processes in Central and Eastern
Europe which, at roughly the same time, erased
the previous memorial structure based on the cult
of the Resistance and on the role played by the
Communists and built new memories that cultivated
the traditions and values of the homeland.
The traditional criticism of the Resistance,
described as being a “fratricidal civil war” sought
by the Communists, quickly led to the demand for
an alternative public and institutional memory. For
this purpose, the right wing called for “pacification”
between Fascists and anti-Fascists with the aim
of creating a new “shared memory”. A traditional
demand of the far-right MSI, notably the idea of
national “pacification” was invoked with a rhetorical
emphasis on the recognition of the “good faith”
and “ethical patriotism” of the young Italians
(benevolently called “the boys of Salò”) who, after 8
36
Observing Memories
ISSUE 3
2
1. Silvio Berlusconi during a meeting in March 6, 2008 | Lorenza e Vincenzo
Iaconianni via Wikimedia Commons
2. Gianfranco Fini during the closing of the Fiuggi Congress in January, 1995
| Wikimedia Commons