Abstract

The essay seeks to show the variety and diversity of historical and political interpretations - often fiercely polemical - of the Italian Resistance produced during the fifty years of the Republic. The authors highlights how views on the Resistance have changed in the last ten years, and with the controversy now abating, it is possible to demonstrate the cleavages and contradictions that characterized the Italian resistance movement. The essay also analyses the impact of the 1943-45 war and the memory of the Resistance on the formation and legitimacy of the post-war political system. From this point of view, the radically political connotation assumed by the legacy of the Resistance enabled the political parties to gain unparalleled power in the new democratic state, and produced an "over-determination" of political with respect to civil society.