25 April: Liberation and the Constitution
The call for a national insurrection against the Germans for the liberation of the country started from Milan on 25 April 1945 – an appeal that was taken up by young people, workers, peasants and former soldiers of the Royal Army. It was there that the foundations were laid for healing deep wounds, re-establishing national unity and the birth of the Republic.
A little less than a year later, on 22 April 1946, the provisional government of Alcide De Gasperi decreed that 25 April of each year would be a national holiday. Liberation became Liberation Day.
Many words are spent, as is fitting, on the end of this dark period in Italian history and on the new phase that finally began in those days: the role of the Resistance, the debate over the new Constitution, the rise of a new Italy from the ashes of Fascism.
This year, Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's first bank, has turned the spotlight on two fundamental aspects of that period: the Resistance by women and the birth of the Constitution, with the support and promotion of two projects – or rather two historical documents of great value for the construction and re-construction of our national identity.
Women's Resistance
Women were protagonists of the Resistance by providing assistance, fighting directly and risking their lives. A long-silenced "half of history" to which Benedetta Tobagi – historian, intellectual and writer – has restored a voice and face through a theatrical reading co-produced by Intesa Sanpaolo and The Italian Literary Agency in collaboration with Giulio Einaudi Editore, the national première of which was held in October at the Bank's skyscraper in Turin.
The date of 25 April marks an end, but also a beginning: the Constitution, the Republic, the reconstruction of the country. A few months after that 25 April, work on a new Constitution began in an urgent attempt to restore a new order. The Constitution was the result of a Constituent Assembly elected by universal suffrage in conjunction with the referendum that decreed the end of the monarchy and the birth of the Republic by a large popular vote. The Constitutional Charter was drafted by a select committee of 75 members of the Constituent Assembly, chosen on a proportional basis. It was there that the fundamental principles took shape and the general understanding between the various forces present was defined. On 22 December 1947, the text of the Constitution was approved by a majority of more than 85% of the Assembly and came into force on 1 January 1948.
The birth of the Constitution
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Constitutional Charter, Intesa Sanpaolo strongly supported the project curated by Professors Giuseppe Valditara and Elisabetta Lamarque to digitise and republish the Proceedings of the Constituent Assembly. All the Proceedings of the Constituent Assembly, the Commission for the Constitution (known as the Commission of the Seventy-Five) and typewritten reports of the debates will be available for study and consultation on a website (ed. Giappichelli), with efficient, indexable search modes that can be downloaded in Word and PDF format. Currently, the Proceedings of the Constituent Assembly are collected in eight large printed volumes (over 7,000 pages) published in 1970 by the Chamber of Deputies, which can only be consulted online in photographic format. The project was presented in March in Turin at the Intesa Sanpaolo skyscraper as part of the Biennale Democrazia event of which the Bank is the main partner.
The date of 25 April also evokes heritage. As living witnesses gradually disappear, it is up to us to collect and pass on the stories of those who defended the value of freedom, in the mountains, in prisons, in the countryside, losing their lives or being marked forever. To quote Calamandrei, it was in those places of the Resistance that our Constitution, the source of the freedom we enjoy today, was born.
Photo Credits: Intesa Sanpaolo Publifoto Archive
The opening photo, taken by renowned Publifoto agency photographer Tino Petrelli, appears to be posed and not spontaneous. However, its iconic value is unquestionable. It was taken in Piazza Brera in Milan during the days of the insurrection, between 26 April 1945 and 6 May 1945. Today, the Intesa Sanpaolo Publifoto Archive is kept in Turin at the Bank's museum, the Gallerie d'Italia.
Last updated 28 April 2023 at 16:30:15
