London calling Italy : BBC broadcasts between occupation and liberation (1942-45)
In September 1938 the BBC broadcast in French, German and Italian for the first time. The Second World War would break out the following year. The ambiguity of the British propaganda aimed at Italy during the Second World War is clearly reflected in the broadcasts of the BBC Italian Service as well as in the relationships between the British Foreign Office and the Italian broadcasters at the BBC. Radio Londra, as the BBC was known in Italy during the conflict, was concurrently the voice of an occupier and a liberator of Italy from the Nazi-Fascist yoke. Despite this, the station is mainly remembered as the authentic voice of anti-Fascism and Resistance. Drawing on unexplored archival material collected in Italy and the United Kingdom, this thesis aims to understand why the BBC programmes have become one of the myths of Italian cultural heritage of the Second World War. The work takes into account both British and Italian perspectives by answering three main research questions: to what extent the Italian exiles working at the BBC were allowed to operate independently from the British Foreign Office; what the programmes said during the most delicate phases of the Allied Italian campaign in order to engage with
Lo Biundo, Ester
London calling Italy : BBC broadcasts between occupation and liberation (1942-45). In September 1938 the BBC broadcast in French, German and Italian for the first time. The Second World War would break out the following year. The ambiguity of the British propaganda aimed at Italy during the Second World War is clearly reflected in the broadcasts of the BBC Italian Service as well as in the relationships between the British Foreign Office and the Italian broadcasters at the BBC. Radio Londra, as the BBC was known in Italy during the conflict, was concurrently the voice of an occupier and a liberator of Italy from the Nazi-Fascist yoke. Despite this, the station is mainly remembered as the authentic voice of anti-Fascism and Resistance. Drawing on unexplored archival material collected in Italy and the United Kingdom, this thesis aims to understand why the BBC programmes have become one of the myths of Italian cultural heritage of the Second World War. The work takes into account both British and Italian perspectives by answering three main research questions: to what extent the Italian exiles working at the BBC were allowed to operate independently from the British Foreign Office; what the programmes said during the most delicate phases of the Allied Italian campaign in order to engage with
london call italy bbc broadcast occupation liberation bbc broadcast french german italian first_time second_world_war would break following year ambiguity british propaganda aim italy second_world_war clearly reflect broadcast bbc italian service well relationships british foreign_office italian bbc radio bbc know italy conflict concurrently voice italy nazi despite station mainly remember authentic voice anti fascism resistance drawing unexplored archival_material collect italy united_kingdom aim bbc program become_one myths italian cultural_heritage second_world_war work take_account british_italian perspective answer main_question extent italian exile work bbc allow operate independently british foreign_office programme say delicate phase allied italian campaign order engage