The Cultural Gap between the Military and the Parent Society in Italy

The state of the relations between the armed forces and society in Italy displays some general features. The first is the presence of a very broad-based pacifism that has two different origins which, although quite different from each other and in some ways opposing, often end up by uniting or allying. These two traditions are a Marxist–anarchic, or more generically leftist, one, and a Catholic one that is still very strong in our country. Since the end of the Second World War, the extent of this pacifism, often with a good dose of antimilitarism, has always made relations between the country and its armed forces difficult.