Women and the Italian Resistance, 1943-1945

A study of Italian women's participation in the partisan struggle against occupying Nazi Germany in Northern Italy. The first chapter briefly introduces the reader to the general characteristics of Italian fascism with a special emphasis on gender and women's experiences under the regime. The second and the third parts analyze the ways in which women became partisans, their social and political backgrounds, and their role in the movement. Based on a sample of 943 cases, the author thoroughly examined the functions of women in the hierarchy of resistance. The volume concludes with an analysis of the post-1945 Italian political scene, in terms of women's political participation and the degree to which women's involvement in the Resistance resulted in a political and feminist consciousness and female emancipation.