An analysis on Italian antifascism in interwar Scotland

Journal title ITALIA CONTEMPORANEA
Author/s Remigio Petrocelli
Publishing Year 2025 Issue 2025/309
Language Italian Pages 27 P. 196-225 File size 0 KB
DOI 10.3280/IC309-oa1
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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.

Keywords: antifascism, Fascism, fasci of Scotland, Italian-Scottish community, emigration

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Remigio Petrocelli, “Il marchio del sovversivismo”: un’analisi sull’antifascismo italiano in Scozia tra le due guerre mondiali in "ITALIA CONTEMPORANEA" 309/2025, pp 196-225, DOI: 10.3280/IC309-oa1