|
|
Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918
Contents:
Show Summary
Hide Summary
Historical SummaryWith its emphasis on military preparedness and its belief in the importance of youth training, the Fascist State early provided for the organization of uniformed societies for children and youths. The name Balilla was taken from the nickname of a Genoese boy, Giovanni Battista Perasso, who in 1746 performed deeds of heroism in a campaign against the Austrians. Avanguardisti means members of the Advance Guard.
World History 150.
The Law Creating the Balilla and Avanguardisti Organizations, 1926 (Extracts)23
ARTICLE 1.
An Ente Morale [incorporated body] is founded in Rome under the name of Opera Nazionale Balilla, for the moral and physical training of the young.
This institution is placed under the control of the Head of the Government, Prime Minister.24
ARTICLE 2.
Children of either sex are entitled to assistance provided for in the present law, until the age of eighteen, save in the cases of those who, in virtue of Article 7, are entitled to assistance until the completion of their studies.
ARTICLE 3.
The institution achieves its ends through the organisations of the Balilla and Advan guar disti.
The organisation of Avanguardisti shall more especially attend to the training of the young in preparation for military service.25
ARTICLE 4.
Children from the age of eight to fourteen belong to the organisation of the Balilla, children from fourteen to eighteen to the organisation of the Avanguardisti.26
ARTICLE 5.
The organisations of the Balilla and Avanguardisti are dependent on the National Balilla Institution.
ARTICLE 6.
With regard to military service, young men who have belonged to the corps of Avanguardisti for a term of four years and have received a certificate of competence upon leaving the corps, may benefit by privileges granted by existing laws to young men who have followed courses of pre-military training, . . .
ARTICLE 7.
In order to complete the activity carried out by the corps of Balilla and Avanguardisti, the National Balilla Institution is empowered to:
1) found institutions for the assistance of youth, or promote their foundation;
2) subsidise institutions not provided with sufficient funds, if their object be similar to that of the National Balilla Institution;
3) promote the reform of the Statute and regulations of institutions empowered to award scholarships, so that examinations for the award be made compulsory and that, in cases of equal merit, preference be given to children and youths belonging to the corps of Balilla and Avanguardisti.
ARTICLE 8.
Laws already providing for government control over public and private institutions or associations, whose object is to promote instruction, moral and physical training, professional and artistic training, moral and spiritual education of the young, remain unchanged, but the National Balilla Institution may require the qualified authorities to take measures that the activity of these bodies conform to the objects of the present law.
. . . . .
ARTICLE 10.
The National Balilla Institution is governed by a Central Council composed of a president,27 a vice-president and twenty-three councillors, appointed by Royal Decree upon proposal of the Head of the Government, Prime Minister. . . .
. . . . .
ARTICLE 12.
A provincial Committee may be formed in each Province, composed of a president and ten councillors. . . .
.. . . .
ARTICLE 14.
A Communal Committee may be formed in each Commune. . . .
ARTICLE 15.
The offices of members of the Central Council, of the Executive Board, of the councils of directors, and of Provincial and Communal Committees are unpaid.
. . . . .
23 Law of April 3, 1926 (No. 2247), in B. Mussolini, Fascism, Doctrine and Institutions, Ardita, Rome, 1935, pp. 264–269; original text in Gazzetta Ufficiale del Regno d’Italia, Ministry of Grace and Justice, Rome, January 11, 1927, No. 7.
24 A law of November 14, 1929 (No. 1992), placed the institution under the control of the Minister for National Education.—Ed.
25 A royal decree of June 14, 1928 (No. 1551), created "corps of Avanguardisti and Balilla sailors."—Ed.
26 A proclamation of October 1934 created the Wolf Balilla for children from six to eight.—Ed.
27 A law of November 14, 1929 (No. 1992), made the Under Secretary of State for Physical and Moral Training of the Young ex-officio president of the National Balilla Institution,—Ed.
Contents:
Chicago: "The Law Creating the Balilla and Avanguardisti Organizations, 1926 (Extracts)," Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918 in Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918, ed. Walter Consuelo Langsam and James Michael Egan (Chicage: Lippincott, 1951), 534–537. Original Sources, accessed March 27, 2025, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=3UK5Y9S716S7RLY.
MLA: . "The Law Creating the Balilla and Avanguardisti Organizations, 1926 (Extracts)." Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918, in Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918, edited by Walter Consuelo Langsam and James Michael Egan, Chicage, Lippincott, 1951, pp. 534–537. Original Sources. 27 Mar. 2025. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=3UK5Y9S716S7RLY.
Harvard: , 'The Law Creating the Balilla and Avanguardisti Organizations, 1926 (Extracts)' in Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918. cited in 1951, Documents and Readings in the History of Europe Since 1918, ed. , Lippincott, Chicage, pp.534–537. Original Sources, retrieved 27 March 2025, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=3UK5Y9S716S7RLY.
|