The concept of disability, the role of disabled people in the society and the welfare practices, arranged to guarantee health and social assistance to citizens in a situation of disadvantage, are now well established. This article aims to analyze how these aspects have been consolidated and how they have been regulated. The Great War is a term a quo to understand how and with respect to which problems the identity of the invalid has been defined; to understand how this identity was presented to the society; how a welfare system was created and how and on what basis legislative measures were promulgated. The analysis of the history of disabled ex-servicemen and of legislative actions allows us to understand the basis of the legislative measures of the second post-war period.
Keywords: disabled and crippled; First World War; identity; Italy; associations.