Little Fascist Soldiers: military education during the Mussolini government

Abstract

The military education was introduced in Italy at the end of the Unification process, when the authorities felt the need of the making of a citizen-soldier. In this period, the boys were taught their first military lessons in the Physical Education assignments at school, for the physical activity was seen as a mean of strenghtening the body and the spirit. In Fascism, the military education found a fertile field, being introduced little by little in the life of the young and the children. As the fascist government would consolidate its expansionist policy, the military education went on gathering more strength in the formative educational context. Thereby, this article has as an objective to debate the military education and its role during the fascist rule.