These three recurrences in August suggest that a reflection on Europe is timely: the birth of Altiero Spinelli on August 31, 1907; the founding meeting of the European Federalist Movement in Milan on August 27 and 28, 1943; and the death of Alcide de Gasperi on August 19, 1954. Spinelli and De Gasperi, two Italian statesmen, belong to a group of me...

Tuesday, June 1, 7 to 9 pm. REGISTER HERE. Presented by Francesco Ranci, organized by Casa Belvedere. The “Festa della Repubblica” is celebrated on June 2nd because on that very day, in 1946, the Italian people went to the polls. For the first time after 20 years of Fascism, after World War II had largely destroyed the country, they had an importan...

Italy and the US experienced a multifaceted relationship from 1943 to 1955. After the war the US played a historic role in assisting Italy with rebuilding and planning its future. Threatening this effort, both within and beyond Italy’s borders, were communism and the Italian Communist Political Party (PCI). During the rebuilding of Italy the US...

The sound and fury unleashed by the populist onslaught in Italy’s recent general election on 4 March 2018 may obscure the seventieth anniversary of one of the country’s most significant, controversial and decisive general elections, that of 18 April 1948. The 1948 election was the first general election since Mussolini’s ‘march on Rome’ in 1922 and...

Settant’anni fa, il 3 aprile 1948, il presidente degli Stati Uniti Harry Truman firmava il Piano Marshall. Settant’anni fa all’Italia veniva data un’occasione di rinascita dalle macerie della Seconda Guerra Mondiale, di riscatto agli occhi della comunità internazionale dopo una pesante sconfitta bellica. Settant’anni fa l’Italia sceglieva definitiv...