Abstract

Chapter two analyzes developments between 1947 and 1949 when the Cold War became firmly entrenched in Italy as evidenced by the exclusion of the communists and socialists from Christian Democratic Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi's cabinet, Italy's contentious membership in NATO, and the Pope's excommunication of communists and socialists. It argues that despite a call for the return of women behind domestic walls, the Italian women's associations actually stepped up their mobilization efforts and worked tirelessly to design and implement social service programs for housewives and working women and to participate in the great European and international debates that would affect Italy's political and economic future. To place the Italian women's associations in their international context, the chapter examines the CIF's contribution to the founding of the international Catholic organization the World Movement of Mothers in 1947 and the development of the UDI's role within the Women's International Democratic Federation.

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