Abstract

Following the collapse of fascism, a wave of iconoclasm targeted symbols associated with the past regime, as well as those connected to the Savoy dynasty in the Social Republic after September 8th. There was also a lesser-known phenomenon of anti-monarchical iconoclasm in liberated Italy, which persisted throughout the peninsula after 1945. Termed «toponoclasm» due to its focus on toponymy, this phenomenon raised a problematic issue that took many years to be (partially) resolved. Analyzing this complex issue sheds light on aspects of the postwar transition in Italy that have received little attention: the interconnection between the reexamination of fascist and monarchical pasts, how this process mainly manifested through the elimination of the marks left in public spaces, and the intricacy and conflict inherent in creating a shared public memory and a republican national identity