Il mito del Risorgimento italiano durante il fascismo – fra tradizione e tradimento .......... 175

THE MYTH OF THE ITALIAN RISORGIMENTO DURING THE FASCIST ERA: BETWEEN TRADITION AND BETRAYAL

The article analyzes the ideological reinterpretation of the Risorgimento – the 19th-century process of Italian unification involving the struggle for freedom, sovereignty, and liberal constitutional values – by Italian Fascism under Benito Mussolini. The Fascist regime instrumentalized the Risorgimento, transforming this national myth into a means of legitimizing an authoritarian, and later totalitarian, state. By betraying the true ideals of the Risorgimento, it reduced it to a propaganda myth, distorting its original meaning and replacing the ethos of civic engagement with a cult of leadership and militarism.