The White Horse Press Full citation: Armiero, Marco. A Rugged Nation: Mountains and the Making of Modern Italy. Cambridge: The White Horse Press, 2011. http://www.environmentandsociety.org/node/3501. Rights: All rights reserved. © The White Horse Press 2011. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism or review, no part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, including photocopying or recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission from the publishers. For further information please see http://www.whpress.co.uk. A Rugged Nation Marco Armiero A Rugged Nation Mountains and the Making of Modern Italy: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries The White Horse Press Copyright © Marco Armiero First published 2011 by The White Horse Press, 10 High Street, Knapwell, Cambridge, CB23 4NR, UK Set in 11 point Adobe Garamond Pro Printed by Lightning Source All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism or review, no part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, including photocopying or recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-874267-64-5 But memory is not only made by oaths, words and plaques; it is also made of gestures which we repeat every morning of the world. And the world we want needs to be saved, fed and kept alive every day. It is enough to give up a little while and everything is ruined forever. Stefano Benni, Saltatempo, 2001 To Stefania and Giulia And to the memory of Marcello Contents Introduction. 1 Wild Mountains. 11 Which Wilderness? . ........................................... 11 Dragons and Other Evils . ....................................... 13 Saving the Dying Mountains . 26 Electric Mountains . ........................................... 33 Consuming Mountains . ........................................ 43 Rebel Mountains . ..................................... 53 Wild Landscapes . ............................................. 53 Sister Mountain . .............................................. 54 TheWild South Show . ......................................... 62 Sharing: Common Uses and Collective Property . 76 Heroic Mountains . .................................... 87 At the Borders of the Fatherland. 87 Landscape with Bodies . 88 ‘Life Is Healthy and the War Gentle.’ . .............................. 94 Violated Landscape . 99 Dark Mountains. 109 Revelations. 109 Tales of Two Landscapes: Damnation and Redemption . 113 Of People and Trees . 114 Of People and Goats. 129 Of Fascists and Mountaineers (A Love Story?) . ...................... 134 Making Mountaineers . ........................................ 144 Epilogue. 155 Stories, Again . ............................................... 155 Resisting Mountains. 156 Dissolving Mountains. 173 Bibliography. 195 Index . ............................................. 215 viii Pictures and Tables p. 2 Physical Map of Europe. Source: wikicommons. p. 17 Hunt in the Riccia Forests, Fortore Valley. Five wolves were killed (four appearing in the picture). Photograph by Messinese. Courtesy of Corradino Guacci’s private archive (http://www.storiadellafauna.it/). p. 18 Hunt in the Campobasso Forests. The hunter in the picture is Corradino Guacci. Courtesy of Corradino Guacci’s private archive (http://www.storiadellafauna.it/). p. 19 Poisoned wolf, Mount Matese. Photograph by Gianfrancesco. Courtesy of Corradino Guacci’s private archive (http://www.storiadellafauna.it/). p. 23 Tagliamento Valley: Lavareit’s slide. Source: Touring Club Italiano, L’Italia fisica (Milan: TCI, 1957), courtesy of Valeria Brigante’s private archive. p. 25 Illustration by Achille Beltrame, La Domenica del Corriere 13–20 December 1908. Courtesy of Valeria Brigante’s private archive. p. 31 Table 1.1. Data on deforestation collected in The Forest, the Mountain and the Pasture, p. 17. p. 34 Table 1.2. List of hydroelectric companies sponsoring the TCI Committe for Forest Protection. p. 56 Monument to Dolcino. Courtesy of the Centro Studi Dolciniani http:// fradolcino.interfree.it/index.html. Special thanks to Corrado Mornese. p. 60 David Lazzaretti. Courtesy of the Sistema Museale Monte Amiata. p. 62 Monte Labbro with ruins. Courtesy of the Sistema Museale Monte Amiata. p. 68 Postcard depicting ‘Lancers of Montebello’. Courtesy of Valeria Brigante’s private archive. p. 69 Carmine Crocco, brigand. Courtesy of the Museo di Crocco. (http:// www.museodicrocco.ilcannocchiale.it). Special thanks to Franco Loriso. ix p. 73 Nico Nanco immediately after his murder. Courtesy of the Museo Etnografico AquiloniAMusei, Photograph # 23. p. 78 Table 2.1. Tables from the Proceedings of the Royal Commission for Commons 1902, pp. 69–72. p. 90 Redipuglia. Photograph by Alessandro Gualtieri, courtesy of the photographer (www.alessandrogualtieri.com). p. 91 The AlpiniWar Memorial at the Passo del Tonale. Photograph by Alessandro Gualtieri, courtesy of the photographer (www. alessandrogualtieri.com). p. 93 Broken Column in memory of the sacrifice of the Alpini. Photograph by Alessandro Gualtieri, courtesy of the photographer (www. alessandrogualtieri.com). p. 95 Il ‘Dito di Dio’ sotto la Terza Tofana (Dolomites). [God’s finger under the Terza Tofana]. Source: L’Illustrazione Italiana, 1917 – Fratelli Treves Editori. Courtesy of Treves Editori. p. 96 Il Corno di Cavento. Source: L’Illustrazione Italiana, 1917 – Fratelli Treves Editori. Courtesy of Treves Editori. p. 100 The area of the 5 Torri. Source: L’Illustrazione Italiana, 1919 – Fratelli Treves Editori. Courtesy of Treves Editori. p. 101 Ruins on the 5 Torri. Photograph by Alessandro Gualtieri, courtesy of the author (www.alessandrogualtieri.com). p. 104 Italian military cableway, Terza Tofana (Dolomites). Source: L’Illustrazione Italiana, 1917 – Fratelli Treves Editori. Courtesy of Treves Editori. p. 105 Landscape of the Marmolada Massif with stairway cut into the rocks by the Italian Alpine Corps. Photograph by Alessandro Gualtieri, courtesy of the photographer (www.alessandrogualtieri.com). p. 107 Lagazuoi. Photograph by Alessandro Gualtieri, courtesy of the photographer (www.alessandrogualtieri.com). p. 107 Detail of the Italian barracks on the Piccolo Lagazuoi. Source: L’Illustrazione Italiana, 1917 – Fratelli Treves Editori. Courtesy of Treves Editori. x p. 109 Monte Giano. Photograph by Pasquale Foto di Pasquale Chiuppi- Antrodoco, courtesy of the photographer. p. 112 Mussolini, the ‘pseudo-skier’. Source: Rivista mensile del Club Alpino Italiano 1937, no. 33. Courtesy of the Italian Alpine Clubs Library. Special thanks to Alessandra Ravelli. p. 115 Landslide on the Gallico torrent, 1928. Courtesy of the Fototeca Accademia italiana di scienze forestali, Firenze. Special thanks to Prof. Gabbrielli. p. 117 Arnaldo Mussolini. Source: wikicommons. p. 117 Arrigo Serpieri. Courtesy of the Società Italiana degli Economisti. Archivio Storico degli Economisti. (http://ase.signum.sns.it/progetto. html) Special thanks to Valentina Gambardella. p. 119 Reforestation of the Taverone basin 1938. Courtesy of the Fototeca Accademia italiana di scienze forestali, Firenze. Special thanks to Prof. Gabbrielli. p. 126 Mussolini ‘the tree seed sower’. Source: Milizia Forestale dal V al XV anno dell’Era Fascista 1938 (Bergamo: Officine dell’Istituto di arti grafiche). Courtesy of the Biblioteca civica di Belluno. p. 131 Goats. Cover of La Conquista della Terra September 1937. Courtesy of the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli. All rights reserved. p. 139 Ruralism. Cover of La Conquista della Terra. December 1937. Courtesy of the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli. All rights reserved. p. 161 Partisan Republics. Source: Repubbliche partigiane. A cura degli Istituti Storici di Modena, Parma e Reggio Emilia in ‘Cultures et langues – étrangères’ (http://cle.ens-lyon.fr/1211883774534/0/fiche_ article#page). p. 161 Table 5.1. Partisan republics in 1944 from Peli, La Resistenza in Italia, p. 97. p. 163 Partisans, Valley of Ossola, September–October 1944. Courtesy of the Archivio Fotografico dell’Istituto Storico della Resistenza e della Societá Contemporanea nel Novarese VCO ‘P. Fornara’. xi p. 165 Partisans, Valley of Ossola, September–October 1944. Courtesy of the Archivio Fotografico dell’Istituto Storico della Resistenza e della Societá Contemporanea nel Novarese VCO ‘P. Fornara’. p. 166 Partisans, Valley of Ossola, September–October 1944. Courtesy of the Archivio Fotografico dell’Istituto Storico della Resistenza e della Societá Contemporanea nel Novarese VCO ‘P. Fornara’. p. 175 Site of the Vajont Dam. Photograph from the US Army Southern European Task Force. Courtesy from the www.Vajont.info. Special thanks to Tiziano Dal Farra. p. 176 Debris from the Vajont disaster. Photograph from the US Army Southern European Task Force. Courtesy of www.Vajont.info. Special thanks to Tiziano Dal Farra. p. 177 TheVajont riverbed after the disaster. Photograph from the US Army Southern European Task Force. Courtesy of www.Vajont.info. Special thanks to Tiziano Dal Farra. p. 183 Tina Merlin. Courtesy of the Associazione Culturale Tina Merlin (http://www.tinamerlin.it/). Special thanks to Toni Sirena. Note Unless otherwise stated, translations from the Italian are the author’s own. Biographical Note Marco Armiero (Ph.D.