Italy marked this year\u2019s Festa della Repubblica, or Republic Day, on June 2, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the historic referendum held on the same date in 1946.<\/p>\n
The referendum was called to decide the country\u2019s form of government after World War II. On that day, Italians chose to end the monarchy and replace it with a democratic republic.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter fascist rule and war, our people chose democracy. It is the identity of modern Italy,\u201d said Fabrizio Grasselli, honorary president of the Tokyo branch of the Societa Dante Alighieri, an Italian cultural association, when I asked him what the day signifies.<\/p>\n
Under the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), the Kingdom of Italy entered World War II as an Axis power in 1940.<\/p>\n
In 1943, however, Italy surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. Mussolini fell from power that year, only to return as the head of a German-backed puppet regime in the north. The fighting that cleaved the country in two dragged on until the spring of 1945.<\/p>\n
The postwar referendum was, in this sense, a parting not only with fascism but also with the monarchical order that had enabled it.<\/p>\n
That is why the Constitution, approved in 1947, declares that the republican form of the state may not be altered by constitutional amendment.<\/p>\n
Its guarantees of popular sovereignty, equality before the law and the repudiation of aggressive war appear among the Constitution\u2019s \u201cfundamental principles,\u201d and are regarded in constitutional doctrine as supreme principles that cannot be overturned through the normal revision process.<\/p>\n
Postwar Italian politics has been far from flawless. Regionalist movements demanding autonomy\u2014and at times even separation\u2014once rose to national prominence, while the divide between left and right remains deep.<\/p>\n
Yet, many Italians, like Grasselli, still see the republic as an essential foundation of their democracy.<\/p>\n
To mark the 80th anniversary of the republic\u2019s birth, President Sergio Mattarella appealed to his fellow citizens with the words: \u201cWe are the republic\u2014each and every one of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those words inspired an official Quirinale campaign for the anniversary, inviting citizens to make short videos explaining what the republic means to them. More than a thousand submissions poured in.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat past generations gave us\u2014something they themselves never possessed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA house whose doors are open to all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe children, the citizens yet to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014The Asahi Shimbun, June 3<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Italy marked this year\u2019s Festa della Repubblica, or Republic Day, on June 2, celebrating the 80th anniversary of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[15591,5,447,36,931,15590],"class_list":["post-21799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-asahi-shimbun","tag-italy","tag-japan","tag-news","tag-opinion","tag-vox-populi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}