Feminism and Nationalism: The National Council of Italian Women, the World War, and the Rise of Fascism, 1911–1922

This article addresses the issue of Italian feminists’ acquiescence to fascism during the early postwar years. What process drove the liberal feminists into the orbit of a reactionary movement hardly likely to promote women’s emancipation? At the heart of the problem lies a myth of war elaborated during the conflict. Feminists came to consider the World War as a process of national regeneration, a gender revolution: the war educated women to citizenship, asking for the contribution of women in all fields. Perceiving the war as the cradle of a “new Italy” brought feminists close to nationalist rhetoric, making difficult the defense of women’s rights vis-à-vis the aggressive campaign of right-wing politicians and veterans against women’s work. Eventually feminists found themselves complicit in a regime which stifled their movement and remained hostile to most forms of women’s emancipation.