ABSTRACT
Based on extensive surveys and two in-depth biographical reconstructions, this chapter analyses how a life in the name of squadrismo remained possible throughout the regime. The exemplary biographies of Arconovaldo Bonacorsi and Onorio Onori, along with other cases, show how individual experiences were interwoven with the evolution of the political and social contexts during the dictatorship. In particular, military campaigns abroad (Ethiopia and Spain), the offensive against anti-fascists at home, and then the outbreak of the Second World War proved litmus tests for die-hard Blackshirts: their skills were deemed useful once again, while their expertise and fame inspired younger generations of Fascists. Moving beyond the first decade of the Fascist dictatorship, this last chapter shows how the squadristi’s violence was not an anachronistic residue, but remained a useful and essential feature throughout the regime and an element on which a successful political career could be built.
