Giovinezza

"Giovinezza" (dʒoviˈnettsa; ) was the official hymn of the Italian National Fascist Party, regime, and army, and was an unofficial national anthem of the Kingdom of Italy between 1924 and 1943. Although often sung with the Royal March, the official anthem, some sources consider "Giovinezza" to have supplanted it as the de facto national anthem of the country (Inno della Patria), to the dismay of Victor Emmanuel III—a powerful symbol of the diarchy between the King and Mussolini. It was subsequently the official anthem of the Italian Social Republic. Ubiquitous in mid-twentieth century Italy, the hymn emphasized youth as a theme of the fascist movement and was one example of the centrality of the Arditi to the fascist narrative. "Giovinezza" was composed by lawyer and composer Giuseppe Blanc in 1909 as "Il Commiato" (Italian for "farewell"). Blanc later also wrote other fascist songs, including The Eagles of Rome, an Ode to the Italian Empire. Previously a Turin university graduation song, and popular among Italian soldiers during World War I, the song was called "Inno degli Arditi" (Hymn of the Arditi, a corps of the Italian Royal Army during World War I, whose members joined the fascist movement in large numbers). The hymn was further popularized by the mass rallies of Gabriele d'Annunzio in Fiume. The version sung during the March on Rome was composed by G. Castaldo in 1921, using the original score by Giuseppe Blanc and words by Marcello Manni (beginning "Su compagni in forte schiere"). After the March on Rome, where it was sung, Mussolini commissioned Salvator Gotta to write the new lyrics, which were completed in 1924. Gotta's version plays on fascist themes like youth and nationalism. Its reference to "Alighieri's vision" is an allusion to Dante Alighieri marking Italy's borders on the Quarnaro (Kvarner) Gulf, thus including the province of Istria, a territory granted to Italy after World War I. After the capitulation of Italy in 1944, the Allies suppressed the hymn in Italy.