Why is inter-war Italy missing from the list of possible National Studies in the NSW HSC Modern History Syllabus?
A topic covering Italy in the years between 1919 (the end of the First World War) through to 1939 (the beginning of the Second World War in western Europe) would be a logical complement to studies such as Russia and the USSR, 1917-41, Japan 1904-1937 and the USA 1919-41. It is easy to bookend and the expansive scholarship available on the topic means that the period could be well-resourced.
Perhaps more importantly, a study of Italian Fascism (which would be the main focus of such a topic) would be both interesting and, if Richard Bosworth’s brilliant argument in Mussolini and the Eclipse of Italian Fascism: From Dictatorship to Populism (2021) is correct, provide students with an opportunity to make sense of modern populist politics.
What follows is a brief and preliminary attempt to set out what an HSC National Study option for Italy, 1919-1939 might look like.
Framing the topic
To set this draft up, I have used the current structure of HSC National Studies which included three key components: a list of ‘key features’, a small set of content points framed as a 3-hour ‘survey’ and a larger set of content points framed as a longer ‘focus of study’.
Looking at the existing National Study options, the length of each of these components varies. Japan, 1904-1937 is among the longest, and Russia and the USSR, 1917-41 is among the shortest. That said, as anyone who has taught HSC Modern History would know, ‘not all dot-points are created equal’ so the simple number of content points only offers partial insight into the nature of each option.
National Study | Key Features | Survey Points | FOS Points |
|---|---|---|---|
China, 1927-49 | 6 | 3 | 10 |
Japan, 1904-37 | 8 | 3 | 12 |
Russia, 1917-41 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
USA, 1919-41 | 9 | 4 | 9 |
Italy, 1919-39 (new) | 6 | 3 | 10 |
Working within that basic framework and taking into account the number of key features and content points to cover in the existing options, I have included 6 key features, 3 survey points and ten focus of study points in this draft. I have also included common aspects of other National Study options such as the requirement to engage with the nation’s foreign policy.
Lastly, I have used some familiar language from the 'Russia and the USSR' topic to show how an Italy option might lend itself well to HSC exam questions. These include:
‘Consolidation of power’ which would allow students to explore the drawn-out way in which Mussolini’s dictatorship was constructed (drawn-out at least in comparison to Hitler’s in Germany)
‘Dictatorship and totalitarianism’ which opens up questions about the nature of Mussolini’s rule and the broader debates about the concept of totalitarianism
‘Attempts at social and cultural transformation’ which opens up questions about the policies pursued by the Italian Fascist regime and the degree to which they brought about change in Italy during the period identified
A first draft for an Italian National Study?
Italy, 1919-1939
Key Features:
Nature and role of ideology
Consolidation of power
Nature and impact of Fascist rule
Social and cultural transformation
Methods of control
Aims, nature and effectiveness of Italian foreign policy
Survey
Italy after the First World War and the Fascist rise to power
The consequences of the First World War for Italy
Fascist ideology
The March on Rome 1922 and Mussolini’s first government
Focus of Study
The Fascist consolidation of power: 1922-1929
Matteotti Crisis: 1924-25
Changes in Italian law and the Fascist Party supporting dictatorship
Lateran Accords: 1929
The limits of Mussolini’s power
Fascism in power:
Dictatorship and totalitarianism
Fascist economic policies including corporatism
Attempts at social and cultural transformation including dopolavoro and policies towards religion, women, youth and minorities
Fascist political control including the use of violence and terror, confino and the extent of support and resistance
Italian foreign policy, 1919-1939
Role of Fascist ideology shaping Italian foreign policy, 1919-1939
Aims and achievements of Italian foreign policy, 1919-1939
Possible HSC exam questions
One immediate concern with adding any new topic to a course that is heavily dependent on an external examination is whether reasonable questions could be asked of students for a 45-minute response. For Italy, 1919-1939 I think the answer is ‘yes’. Some examples based on the rough draft provided above might be:
Account for the Fascist consolidation of power in Italy in the 1920s.
How successful were the Fascist’s attempts at social and cultural transformation in Italy to 1939?
Assess the achievements of Italian foreign policy in the period 1919 to 1939.
To what extent had a totalitarian regime emerged in Italy by 1939?
There are plenty of others too but I think these examples demonstrate the point well enough.
Some possible objections
What would be the arguments against including an Italian topic in the National Study section be?
First: it is already included in the current Modern History Core topic, Power and Authority in the Modern World. So are inter-war Russia and inter-war Japan so it would seem odd to preclude Italy on that basis.
Second: there are already enough options in the National Study Section and if we add more here, why not add more in other sections? The ultimate concern might be that the syllabus becomes even longer and more overwhelming for newer teachers.
I see some logic to the second possible objection. I don’t think it’s wise to continually add more and more content to syllabuses. But, I think Italy’s absence is quite stark in that the regime was extremely prominent in the inter-war period and played a crucial role in major events. As a curriculum topic, it also offers some very logical connections to other topics such as Power and Authority in the Modern World and Conflict in Europe.
Finally, I think adding one more topic to the National Study options has a low risk of blowing out the Modern History syllabus. It is after all one addition to a list of eight and the ‘Historical Periods’ section of the HSC Ancient History syllabus currently has ten options. In other words, adding one more topic would not make the section abnormally large or unwieldy.
I am well aware that current tastes among politicians seem to be for ‘decluttering’ the curriculum (whatever that actually means) but, as I’ve argued from day one, effective and useful decluttering does not necessarily involve cutting options; it primarily involves ensuring that within each option, the content is carefully selected and logically sequenced.
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