Italian, Italy Modern history

I am currently reading a book on Italy which is very interesting, the writer is Paul Ginsborg a fellow who is a scholar on Italy and who lived in Italy and was a fellow teaching at the University of Turin. The book is an account of contemporary Italian history from 1943 to 1980. It is fascinating, all that we assume about a country or think we know and in the end see that we know in fact little except for the clichés. The story starts on July 1943 when Benito Mussolini fell from power after a vote of no confidence by his own party, dismissed by the King of Italy and arrested after 20 years of absolute power. Hitler is furious orders his troops to invade Italy, the King makes a deal with the allies for Peace before he flees Rome, the allies are marching up from the South, there is no government and civil war starts.

Ginsborg then goes on to tell the tale of the different factions who will fight for power and then go on to rule a very poor country of mostly illiterate people, many forced to immigrate to Argentina, Canada and the USA and also internally within Italy seeking jobs in the North and tales of discrimination and hardships. A passage in the book about southeners arriving in Turin in winter wearing summer clothing and being bewildered by what they see in a big industrial city, all they knew was the poverty of small villages or towns south of Rome. The Vatican is also very present in all this, trying to influence events and doing all it can to regain its political hold on the country and the people which it had lost in 1870.

The USA also has a very large role pumping millions of dollars into Italy, so much so that Italy becomes the no. 1 friend and ally of the USA in Europe. In Rome the Palace of Queen Margherita is given to the US Government and becomes the new US Embassy on Via Veneto, Naval bases sprout all over the coasts. Most of the Fascist administration in government is retained so great is the fear of a communist takeover. The pope tries and succeeds in part in influencing elections in the late 1940's and 1950's. In 1955 only 7% of all households in Italy had electricity, running water and indoor plumbing. Most Italians did not speak Italian but dialects from the region they came from, living in isolation in small villages, no highways, few cars and poor communications generally. The Central government in Rome had to institute rules in education which made Italian mandatory for all. This explains why so many people I know in Canada whose parents and grand parents immigrated prior to 1960 speak regional or city dialects but no Italian.

I am currently reading about the economic miracle in the period 1955 to 1970 when the country transformed itself into a modern State. This book is fascinating, with a wealth of details and anecdotes on people and their struggles, it gives me a far better understanding of Italy today and why things are the way they are.