Although the 50th anniversary of World War II led to some noteworthy new publications it could be argued that, in terms of the historiography in Italian, the cinquantennale represented something of a missed opportunity. This would appear not to be the case with the 60th anniversary, which has led to the publication of a great deal of innovative and impressive research, much of which is based on archival material. In most cases new research has not been the result of sensational discoveries, but the fruit of long years of research in existing archives. This special issue of Modern Italy aims to reflect the vibrant state of current scholarship by bringing together adaptations of six papers delivered at the 2005 Association for the Study of Modern Italy conference dedicated to the theme of ‘Italy at War, 1935–2005’, together with a seventh article by Philip Cooke. The articles reflect the broad thematic interests of the conference (see Modern Italy, vol. 11, no. 3, 2006 for a detailed conference report) as well as its chronological span.

Using Italian and Albanian archive sources, this essay analyses the effectiveness of Italian policy in Albania, during the years of its union with Italy (1939–1943), in the creation of a model Fascist state and in the generation of support for Italy among the Albanian population. Through the creation of party and state structures similar to those in Italy, Fascism intended to give voice to Albanian Nationalist demands, but Italian policy was undermined by a basic defect which helped to cool any initial enthusiasm: the loss of all semblance of Albanian independence and the exploitation of local resources to the benefit of the Italians alone. The Italy-Greece conflict cast a shadow on the Fascist fighting ability which not even the creation of ‘Great Albania’ (thanks to the help of the Germans) removed. As Italy's military fortunes changed for the worse, they were forced to address a growing resistance until the tragic conclusion of 8th September 1943 and the end of the occupation.

The article presents the results of a research group which has, over the last few years, carried out a careful contextualization of the massacres of civilians in four Italian regions (Apulia, Campania, Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna) during World War II. The research enables us to go beyond references to the irrationality of evil, the unchangeable core of violence in human nature or terror as an end in itself, which do not contribute much to an analytical interpretation. The aim has been to place these massacres in a more precise historical context by reconstructing the power structures, the logic and the cultural conditioning which made them possible, the behaviour and aims of the various protagonists, the complex evolution of the survivors’ memories and the ways in which the community memory has been taken up, or expelled, by the anti-Fascist paradigm of Republican Italy.

About 2,000 Jews were deported from Rome during the nine months of German occupation, half of them after the infamous German razzia of 16 October 1943. Who took part in their identification and arrest? Italian historiography has most commonly focused on a few ardent Fascist collaborators, while the majority of Italians were proclaimed to be engaged in rescue operations for persecuted Jews. Due to the long-standing hegemony of the notion of ‘italiani brava gente’ and the taboo against discussing Italian collaboration, almost no studies of the Jewish persecution during the German occupation in Italy have been undertaken. The analysis of over 50 trials against Fascist collaborators offers insight into the caccia all'ebreo on the micro-level of occupied Rome. Elaborating on different forms of denunciations characterizing the persecution as well as the diverse motives of the Italian perpetrators, this article presents a comprehensive picture of the collaboration between German occupation forces and the population of Rome.

A study of the history of the Italian Social Republic (1943–1945) reveals the importance of the experience of Fascist Syndicalism and above all National Syndicalism. During the preceding 20 years of Fascist rule, Fascist Syndicalism had faced notable difficulties, divided as it was between the need to defend workers and that of obeying the dictatorship; but following the fall of Mussolini and the military defeat of Fascist Italy, new opportunities appeared to present themselves. In 1943 Mussolini had called for ‘socialization’ as a means of fighting the anti-Fascist democratic forces. In this context, the ideology of National Syndicalism became the key feature of a project for the construction of a totalitarian state. In spite of the inevitability of defeat, the final phase of Fascism thus involved an attempt to win over the working classes in the industrial centres of northern Italy in order to establish them as the basis for a possible revival.

The article sheds light on the power struggles at the heart of the Italian Resistance movement. From June 1944, as the movement grew rapidly, the leadership positions, both at national and local level, became ever more important and contested. The most significant roles in the Resistance, such as the national and regional leadership, but also the provincial commands, depended on the military strength of the various formations and on the power of the anti-Fascist parties. The re-formed political parties attempted to occupy important positions in the Resistance movement, hoping that these roles would help them out in any future settlement. In fact the rules of the game turned out to be far more complex and the political role played by any particular party did not determine its future success. The Anglo-Americans' influence over the power balance within the Resistance movement was to be decisive. The Allies managed to orchestrate the appointment of Raffaele Cadorna, who was not looked on favourably by the parties of the left and the Action Party, as military commander. In this way the Allies fostered the growth of moderate military formations frequently linked to Christian Democracy. In order to understand the Resistance in all its complexity, it is therefore necessary to return to the concept of internal conflict. The power struggles were better managed at national rather than local level, where they frequently led to violence.

The Resistance at the root of Italian democracy is still the object of political and often controversial debate, 60 years on. This is related to the various phases of political development in Italy: from the early post-war years, characterized by the conflict associated with the ideological clashes of the Cold War, to the 1960s and 1970s, afflicted by terrorism, to the fall of the Berlin Wall and then to the collapse of the party system. Diverse, sometimes conflicting memories of the Resistance have emerged, linked not only to the numerous forms characterizing the struggle against Nazi–Fascism, but also to the varying motives, ideals and politics which animated fighters on both sides. With the new bipolar political system and the rise of the Right, the Resistance has returned to being one of the most prominent features of political controversy. This manifests itself in editorial strategies and extensive media operations in which memories representing those people who are opposed to the ideals of the Resistance seem to have the upper hand.

Based on archival materials in Italy and the Czech Republic, the article examines the history of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) radio programme ‘Oggi in Italia’, which was broadcast from Prague to Italy throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The programme was produced clandestinely by former partisans who had fled to Czechoslovakia in order to escape prosecution during the ‘trial of the Resistance’ (processo alla Resistenza). ‘Oggi in Italia’ was a central element in the PCI's media strategy, particularly during the Cold War, when access to the official airwaves was circumscribed. The programme was thus a key element of the long-term legacy of the Resistance movement, but also played a highly significant role in the wider process of negotiation between the Communist parties of Italy, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union.