HIST 350 – History and Politics of Modern Italy: The Twentieth Century

This course has been designed to review and examine the modern political history of Italy from the First World War to the end of the 20th century. After a short overview over the longer Italian History, the main areas of focus will be: the rise and the fall of Italian fascism, the Second World War and the Cold War, the workings of governing institutions in the post-war period (there will be detailed discussion of the postwar constitution and the new political system), the role of the Church, political parties and movements, the European unification process, black and red terrorism, as well as political corruption and political conspiracy. There will also be detailed discussion of the crises and transformation of the post-war Italian political system in the early 1990s.

The course seeks to provide students with basic knowledge about Italy’s modern political history, so that they may evaluate the complexity of Italian politics with some degree of sophistication. On successful completion of this course students will be able to gain a command not only of the “facts” of modern Italian political history–the dates of key events, the importance of major personalities, and such–but also come to understand the dynamics involved: the basic trends of continuity and change, cause and effect, the interplay of regional, national and international influences, and the significance of global events within Italy. The three scheduled out-door activities should allow students to get some first-hand experiences of the place where they study.