Anglophone Journalism in Post-War Rome,1945-1949 (2024)

Undergraduate: Connor Lopez

Faculty Advisor: Chad Bryant
Department: History

---

Anglophone journalists flooded back into Rome, Italy, following the collapse of Mussolini’s regime and, in the subsequent years of 1946 to 1949, reported on the fascist remnants and neo-fascist movements within the city. In examining the many anglophone journalists reporting on neo-fascism and fascism in Rome, patterns appear from 1946 to 1949 and provide valuable insight into Cold War politics in Rome and Italy. In 1946, the traditional Cold War politics had not been fully set in stone between the East and West, and Anglophone journalism reflects this in Rome with its preoccupation with Fascism and Neo-Fascism. The political evolution towards a Cold War environment can be seen in how Anglophone journalists react to Neo-fascist movements in Rome compared to other political movements, especially the Communist and Socialist Parties of Italy. Through this lens, in this article, it is argued that anglophone journalists did at one time take the threat of the reemergence of fascism in Italian and Roman politics as a legitimate issue, but over time, these concerns were overshadowed. In being overshadowed, the anglophone journalists allow for a new angle on how Cold War politics developed, especially concerning the political ripples this period has caused within Italian politics.