Italia '61: The Commemorations for the Centenary of Unification in the First Capital of the Italian State

Abstract

This article focuses on the rituals of nation building and state formation that were staged in 1961 when the city of Turin, the first capital of the newly formed Italian state (1861–1865), was chosen as the official site of commemorations of the centenary of unification. Under the leadership of the ruling Christian Democrat party (DC) and thanks to the instrumental role of FIAT, Italy's leading automobile industry, a large historical exhibit, or Mostra Storica, was displayed in the halls of Palazzo Carignano and several new buildings were erected in an area named Italia '61, notably nineteen Padiglioni Regionali, Padiglione Unitario, Palazzo del Lavoro, Palazzo Vela, the Circarama theatre and the Alweg monorail. While the spaces of Italia '61 sought to project an image of Italy's 'rightful' position within the powers of the Free Western World that closely reflected the political and economic vision of the DC and FIAT, the commemorations ultimately could not hide the increased fragmentation of the Italian national body to the point where, by the 1970s, even the existence of the democratic republic would be put in serious danger by the rise of left- and right-wing extremist terrorist activity.