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| Formation | 1926 |
|---|---|
| Dissolved | 1937 |
| Type | Paramilitaryyouth organization |
| Legal status | Defunct,illegal |
Region served | Fascist Italy |
Parent organization | National Fascist Party |
Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB) was anItalianFascistparamilitaryyouth organization functioning between 1926 and 1937, when it was absorbed into theGioventù Italiana del Littorio (GIL), a youth section of theNational Fascist Party.
It takes its name fromBalilla, the nickname of Giovan Battista Perasso, aGenoese boy who, according to local legend, started therevolt of 1746 [it] against theHabsburg forces that occupied the city in theWar of the Austrian Succession. Perasso was chosen as the inspiration for his supposed age and revolutionary activity, while his presence in the fight againstAustria reflected theirredentist stance taken by early Fascism, and Italy's victories inWorld War I.
The Balilla creed echoed theNicene Creed: "I believe in Rome the eternal, the mother of my country, and in Italy, her eldest daughter, who was born in her virginal bosom by the grace of God; who suffered through the barbarian invasions, was crucified and buried, who descended to the grave, and was raised from the dead in the nineteenth century, who ascended into heaven in her glory in 1918 and 1922 and who is seated on the right hand of her mother Rome; who for this reason shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the genius of Mussolini, in our Holy Father Fascism, in the communion of the martyrs, in the conversion of Italians and in the resurrection of the Empire."[1]
Nationalists in the years after the war thought of themselves as combating bothliberal and domineering institutions created bycabinets such as those ofGiovanni Giolitti, including traditional schooling.Futurism, a revolutionarycultural movement which served as a catalyst for Fascism, argued for "a school for physical courage andpatriotism", as expressed byFilippo Tommaso Marinetti in 1919. Marinetti expressed his disdain for "the by now prehistoric and troglodyteAncient Greek andLatin courses", arguing for their replacement with exercise modelled on those of theArditi soldiers ("[learning] to advance on hands and knees in front of razingmachine gun fire; to wait open-eyed for a crossbeam to move sideways over their heads etc."). It was in those years that the first Fascist youth wings were formed (Avanguardia Giovanile Fascista in 1919, and Gioventù Universitaria Fascista, GUF, in 1922).
In time, a section namedFigli della Lupa ("Children of the She-Wolf", alluding to the myth ofRomulus and Remus; ages 6 to 8) was added. (note:Balilla andAvanguardisti were both substructures of theOpera Nazionale Balilla; the latter was not a separate organization.[2]
Between the ages of 18 and 21, young men and women would join additional groups of the ONB -Fasci Giovanili di Combattimento (seeFasci di Combattimento) andGiovani Fasciste, respectively. Male students in all forms ofhigher education were enrolled in the GUF.
The Opera Nazionale Balilla was established by law as an institution under the control of the Ministry of National Education in 1926.[3] Initially, membership was voluntary, but it was later made compulsory for boys between the ages of 6 and 18 and girls between the ages of 8 and 14.[3] In 1936, a pre-Balilla kindergarten was established for children under the age of 6.[3] ONB members were required to study military science and Italian history.[3]
While the National Balilla Institution was founded as anEnte Morale, in 1929 it was placed under the power of the Ministry of National Education, with the Head of the Government's related power devolving to the Minister of National Education.[4] In 1935 a veteran National Fascist Party politicianAraldo di Crollalanza was named the president of ONB.[5]
The organization surpassed its purpose as a cultural institution that was intended to serve as the ideological counterpart of school, and served as aparamilitary group (training for future assignments in theItalian Army), as well as education in the career of choice, technology (including post-school courses for legal adults), or education related to home and family (solely for the girls). It carried outindoctrination with a message of Italian-ness and Fascism, training youths as "the fascists of tomorrow". During the years following its creation, ONB was left without real competition, as the regime banned all otheryouth movements, including scouting and the RomanCatholic Church groupGioventù Italiana Cattolica (which was forced to limit its activities).
Moreover, the ONB took charge of all activities initiated by schools and pressured teachers to enlist all students. Aside from the usual "Fascist Saturdays", children would spend their summers incamps (which included the national-levelCampiDux, reunions ofBalilla andAvanguardisti).
Male children enrolled wore auniform adapted from that of theBlackshirts: the eponymous black shirt, thefez ofArditi tradition, grey-green trousers, blackfasces emblems, andazure bandanas (i.e.: in thenational colour of Italy). During military exercises, they were armed with a scaled-down version ofRoyal Italian Armyservice rifle,Moschetto Balilla[6] (the rifles were replaced with replica versions for theFigli della Lupa).
Balilla units were also established outside of Italy. InMalta, then aBritish colony,Maltese nationalists created a unit. Similarly, inMarseille, Balilla was implemented in the Casa d'Italia, the consular house.[7] These were disbanded with the advent of the Second World War.[citation needed]
The local headquarters of the Balilla groups were called Casa del Balilla. Many of them were purpose-built in theItalian rationalist style.
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