Modern italian history

You do not have to travel far in Italy to encounter the remains of Mussolini’s dreams of architectural splendour. From the sparkling marble and travertine palaces of the Esposizione Universale Roma (EUR) district, to the immense statues of athletes in Rome’s sports forum and the new town of Laterina in the south, the Duce’s creations are clearly visible. When the Allies had finished liberating Italy in the spring of 1945, they thought to erase all traces of fascism, but there were simply too many. So they settled on removing only the most ‘unaesthetic’.

In 1930, when she was 19 years old, Edda Mussolini married Galeazzo Ciano. His father was a loyal minister in her father’s government: it was a suitable match. Five hundred wedding invitations went out to the Roman nobility, to diplomats from more than 30 countries and to all the senior fascists, the gerarchi. After the ceremony the newlyweds left for Capri, Edda driving her own white Alfa Romeo, with servants and luggage following in another car and bodyguards in a third. They set off at top speed. Then Edda came to a sudden halt. She had noticed a fourth car behind them. She might have supposed that as a married woman she was about to get out from under the massive shadow of her father – but no.