ABSTRACT

D’Elia’s article casts new light on the controversial issue of Giuseppe Bottai’s approach to the so-called ‘Jewish question’. It is known that Bottai, serving as Fascist Italy’s Minister of National Education when the 1938 Racial Laws were enacted, worked determinedly for them to be rigorously implemented in the education sector. However, there is no consensus among scholars on the reasons that drove him to approve the racial policy of Italian Fascism, considering that he had never declared himself in favour of antisemitism before 1938. Was his approach dictated by opportunism and self-interest, that is, by the concern not to be politically sidelined? Or was it influenced by the rumours circulating in Nazi circles intending to discredit him as an opponent of the racial campaign, or even as being of Jewish descent? Bottai’s support of the Rome–Berlin Axis raises similar questions since he was not a Nazi sympathizer. Was such a decision made merely due to political calculation? Based on unpublished documents, this article shows, first, that Nazi officials regarded Bottai as a valuable partner and were keen to silence the rumours about his alleged Jewish ancestry; and, second, that Bottai, for his part, was not reluctant to cooperate with representatives of Italy’s German ally on racial issues and, since 1938, began considering racism a key factor in strengthening Italian-German relations. Moreover, this article argues that Bottai’s acceptance of the Axis alliance and the Fascist racial policy can reasonably be explained by taking into account his leftist Fascist ideology, marked by strong anti-bourgeois beliefs. He saw both the antisemitic turn of Mussolini’s regime and Italy’s alignment with Germany as opportunities to revitalize Fascism, driving it to embrace a revolutionary and totalitarian course.

摘要

D'Elia 的文章对 Giuseppe Bottai 处理所谓“犹太问题”的方法这一有争议的问题提供了新的视角。众所周知，1938年《种族法》颁布时，担任法西斯意大利国民教育部长的博泰坚定地努力使它们在教育部门得到严格执行。然而，考虑到他在 1938 年之前从未宣布自己支持反犹太主义，学者们对促使他批准意大利法西斯主义的种族政策的原因没有达成共识。他的做法是由机会主义和自身利益决定的吗？ ，是为了不被政治边缘化？还是受到纳粹圈子中流传的谣言的影响，这些谣言旨在诋毁他作为种族运动的反对者，甚至是犹太血统？博泰对罗马-柏林轴心的支持引发了类似的问题，因为他不是纳粹同情者。这样的决定仅仅是出于政治考虑吗？根据未发表的文件，本文首先表明，纳粹官员将博泰视为宝贵的合作伙伴，并热衷于平息有关他所谓的犹太血统的谣言；其次，博泰在种族问题上并不愿意与意大利的德国盟友的代表合作，并从 1938 年开始将种族主义视为加强意大利与德国关系的关键因素。此外，本文认为，博泰接受轴心国同盟和法西斯种族政策可以合理地解释为考虑到他以强烈的反资产阶级信仰为标志的左翼法西斯意识形态。