L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers, Festa della Repub- blica, celebrates a very important date, June 2, 1946, in the history of Italy. For Readers who have gotten a little rusty on the details let me refresh your memory and mine on the significance of the date. The history of Italy is long but as a legal entity, "Italy" did not exist until the last third of the 19th century. In 1961 most of Italy was uni- fied, except for Rome which remained under the Papacy for another decade. Rome was incorporated into Italy in 1870. It was then that the various duchies, city-states, and other areas were united i n t o o n e p o l i t i c a l e n t i t y ruled by the House of Savoy as a constitutional monar- chy. In October 1922 with the famous march on Rome, Mussolini took power and w o u l d k e e p i t f o r t w e n t y years. The King remained as a c e r e m o n i a l f i g u r e h e a d even during fascism. Mussolini's fascist gov- e r n m e n t r u l e d u n t i l J u l y 1943. All aspects of life were changed; opponents were j a i l e d o r e x i l e d , a n d t h e a l l i a n c e w i t h H i t l e r w a s formed. This led to Italy's participation in WWII as an ally of the German Nazi gov- ernment in 1940. O n J u l y 2 5 , 1 9 4 3 , t h e King received Mussolini for w h a t M u s s o l i n i t h o u g h t were the usual weekly meet- ings in Rome. Mussolini was instead arrested and a new government declared war a g a i n s t G e r m a n y , w h i c h responded by invading Italy and freeing Mussolini, who formed the Italian Socialist Republic in the city of Salo' in northern Italy. The allies eventually arrived in Italy, led by the Americans, and liberated Northern Italy and the rest of the country from German occupation in April 1945. On May 9, 1946, K i n g Umberto became Italy's last king after the abdication o f h i s f a t h e r , V i t t o r i o Emanuele III, whose ability to rule had been compro- mised by his acquiescence to Mussolini's dictatorship. Finally, on June 2, 1946, following twenty years of Fascism, five years of a gru- e l i n g w a r , a n d c o n f u s i n g political times, the Italian people were asked to vote in a r e f e r e n d u m t o c h o o s e between a republican form of government or a return to the Monarchy. J u n e 2 w a s a l r e a d y a symbolic date, as it was the a n n i v e r s a r y o f G i u s e p p e Garibaldi's death in 1882. It was a beautiful Sunday in most of Italy. Voting was to take place on both Sunday and Monday. Bars and cafés were ordered closed during the voting to avoid drunken riots and scenes, 61.4% of t h e I t a l i a n p e o p l e h a d a right to vote, and 89.1% of t h e m l i n e d u p a t p o l l i n g places around Italy to cast the historic vote. Nearly half of all voters were women. The king and queen, Umber- t o a n d M a r i a J o s e ' , a l s o voted. The first results showed a very close race, with the next few days characterized by reports of victory for one or the other form of govern- ment. It was not until June 5 that the final tally showed a v i c t o r y f o r t h e R e p u b l i c . 54.3% of the voters chose a Republic, leading to the end of the Monarchy and peace- ful exile for Umberto and the royal family. Later, the I t a l i a n c o n s t i t u t i o n w a s adopted on January 1, 1948. The many events leading to June 2, and the vote itself, all combined to make it one of Italy's most important historical dates, which is why it was later declared a national holiday. *** Italy's flag is red, white, and green. Those colors rep- r e s e n t t h e t h r e e c a r d i n a l virtues: hope (green), faith (white), and charity (red) as D a n t e e x p l a i n e d i n T h e Divine Comedy. Because of its three colors, the Italian Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. f l a g i s a l s o c a l l e d i l T r i c o l o r e a n d , l i k e m a n y o t h e r E u r o p e a n f l a g s , i t s design was inspired by the flag of the French Revolu- tion, which was red, white, a n d b l u e . I n 1 7 9 6 , w h e n I t a l y w a s s t i l l d i v i d e d , Napoleon authorized its offi- cial use in parts of northern Italy. The next year, it was officially adopted as the flag of the small city-states of Bologna, Ferrara, Modena, and Reggio Emilia. Later it was adopted by many of the other city-states that Italy was composed of before its unification. During the revolutionary period of 1821-1831, when y o u n g I t a l i a n s f o u g h t t o unify the country, the Tri- colore was adopted as the emblem of reunification by the Giovane Italia (Young I t a l y ) m o v e m e n t . W h e n I t a l y w a s f i n a l l y u n i t e d under the Royal House of Savoy in 1860, the King's coat of arms was added to the flag of the white portion. About 85 years later in 1946, the Savoy coat of arms was removed after Italy became a republic. The national flag of the Italian republic must b e h o n o r e d a t a l l p u b l i c events. When other flags - s u c h a s a c i t y b a n n e r o r other local standards are d i s p l a y e d , t h e T r i c o l o r e m u s t o c c u p y t h e p l a c e o f honor: above the others or to their right. A s w i t h t h e A m e r i c a n Stars and Stripes, and other national flags, the Italian flag is raised at dawn, low- ered at sunset, and flown at half-mast in mourning. ***

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