Borderlands

Abstract

“Border Fascism” generally describes the relationship of antagonism and violence between Fascist authorities and non-Italian populations in provinces along Italy’s northern and eastern borders during the interwar period. Using Lega Nazionale preschool teachers’ reports from the 1927 to 1928 school year as a lens on everyday life in the borderland, this chapter argues that while ethnic repression and violence had an impact, border populations’ quotidian concerns were centered on social, cultural, and economic struggles related to poverty, isolation, and lack of opportunities. Ethnic antagonism was a factor of everyday life, but many individuals willingly accepted Fascist social interventions, modernization policies, and even Italianization which afforded them opportunities to climb the social ladder and better their everyday lives under the Fascist state.