Balilla
The Balilla ( Opera Nazionale Balilla, ONB ) was founded in 1926 as a youth organization of the National Fascist Party . The name is derived from the nickname Giovan Battista Perassos , a youthful national hero who is mentioned in the Italian national anthem Fratelli d'Italia as exemplary patriotic: "The children of Italy are called Balilla". In 1937 the ONB merged with the Fasci giovanili di combattimento in the Gioventù Italiana del Littorio (German: Italian Fascist Youth , GIL for short ). The idea of the Balilla became a model for the Hitler Youth in Germany .
origin
From the beginning, fascism saw itself as a counter-movement to the liberal state of Giovanni Giolitti and its institutions. In this sense, the first futurist and fascist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti had already called for the establishment of new, fascist schools for physical courage and patriotism in 1919 . Between 1919 and 1922 the first fascist student groups were formed.
founding
In 1926, Benito Mussolini commissioned Renato Ricci with the "reorganization of youth from a moral and physical point of view". For this task, Ricci orientated himself mainly on the scouts of Robert Baden-Powell .
A law of April 3, 1926 established the ONB, which Ricci ran for 11 years. In addition to the school, the ONB should devote itself to the “care and physical and moral education of young people”. In the following years the fascist government dissolved all other youth organizations, only the youth groups of the Catholic Action remained because of the Concordat , but had to restrict their work. As a state youth, the Balilla became the model for the Hitler Youth after 1933. As a whole generation ran through the ONB, the organization had a very considerable influence on Italy throughout the 20th century.
structure
The members were divided into age groups:
- Balilla (boys between 8 and 14 years old)
- Piccole italiane ("Little Italians", girls between 8 and 14 years of age)
- Avanguardisti (male adolescents between 14 and 18 years of age)
- Giovani italiane ("Young Italians", female adolescents between 14 and 18 years of age)
- The Figli della lupa ("Children of the she- wolf ", between 6 and 8 years old) were added later .
The Balilla demonstrations also included annual national meetings called Campo Dux , attended by the avantguardisti with the best athletic performances.
uniform
The uniform of the fascist youth, based on the black shirts , the fascist combat leagues, consisted of a black shirt, sky-blue scarf, gray-green trousers, black ribbon and a fez in the tradition of the Arditi . These clothes should emphasize the military character of the youth organization.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Arnd Krüger : The Influence of the Fascist Sports Model of Italy on National Socialist Sports. In: Morgen A. Olsen (Ed.): Sport and Politics. 1918-1939 / 40. Universitetsforlaget, Oslo 1986, pp. 226-232; Arnd Krüger: Sport in Fascist Italy (1922-1933). In: G. Spitzer, D. Schmidt (Ed.): Sport between independence and external determination. Festschrift for Prof. Dr. Hajo Bernett. P. Wegener, Bonn 1986, pp. 213-226.
- ^ Mariella Colin: I bambini di Mussolini. Letteratura, libri, letture per l'infanzia sotto il fascismo. Editore La Scuola (collana Saggi), 2012 ISBN 9788835030621