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FrancoAngeli Journals

Studies and research

No. 309 (2025): Italia Contemporanea - Open Access section

An analysis on Italian antifascism in interwar Scotland

  • Remigio Petrocelli
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/IC309-oa1
Submitted
novembre 19, 2025
Published
2025-11-25

Abstract

This article investigates Italian antifascism in interwar Scotland. Drawing extensively on original archival sources including files on emigrants registered in the Casellario politico centrale, consular reports, British documents, and the contemporary press, it highlights the peculiarity of the Italian-Scottish case. Unlike other contexts examined by historiography, this case is characterised by a “silent” antifascism. Accordingly, the article analyses the causes behind the lack of an open opposition to the Fascist regime and its local branches among Italians in Scotland. This study contributes to expanding the geography and the scholarly debate on antifascism in Great Britain, which has been largely focused on London and prominent antifascists and exiles residing in the city. Furthermore, by shedding light on the experiences of ordinary “subversives” in Scotland, it reveals internal community dynamics and the relationship between centre and periphery, reflecting the contradictions of the Fascist totalitarian
system.

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