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Abstract
This paper examines the geographical imaginations associated with aviation in fascist Italy, focusing on the representation of flight on the one hand, and on the other hand the role of propaganda flights organized by the regime in the 1930s. The representation and use of aviation in interwar Italy is explored in light of the concept of technological legitimation, based on an understanding of technological practice as a political and ideological instrument. Aviation, as one of the new subjects of artistic representations of the modern era, was grasped by avant-garde and modern movements in the early twentieth century. In turn, representations of aviation were used by Mussolini's regime, which considered it a key to national development and modernization, materially as well as in the representational sphere. Propaganda flights in 1930s Italy were organized by the Ministry of Aeronautics and local aero clubs, and were an expression of the politicized use of aviation, both in terms of representations of technology and the aviator, and the exploitation of flight's public potential for the construction of fascist spectacle.
Acknowledgements
The research presented here was supported by a British Academy Small Research Grant (SG-41919). The author is grateful to Eleanor Gao and two anonymous referees for comments on an earlier draft of this paper, and to staff at the Central State Archive, Rome, for their assistance during the research process. Thanks are also due to Alyson Greiner for her constructive editorial input and to Enrico Sgarbi at Piaggio Aero Industries S.p.A. for permission to use illustrative materials.
Notes
1. The concept of geographical imaginations derives from Edward Said's (1979) explorations of the construction of imaginations of the ‘East’ by the West.
2. Simonsen (Citation2005) examines the social construction of speed time and space in view of their differing interpretations and associated meanings in the works of 1910s Futurists and Le Corbusier in the 1930s.
3. The preparation of the volume, caused some creative activity, notably by Adriano Lualdi, director of the Naples Conservatory, who consulted with the author and with the Ministry of Aeronautics in order to compose a ‘Hymn to Aviation (Lualdi to Mussolini, 4 October Citation1937; Valle to Lualdi, 13 October 1937). Profits from the sale of the book (priced at 12 lire or approximately US $0.6) went to the Istituto Nazionale per i Figli degli Aviatori (National Institute for Aviators’ Children) (Report, 16 November 1937).
4. This associative tendency has not died out; witness the Saab automobile company's use of its heritage as an aviation company in advertisements for its cars (Saab USA website 2007).
5. In 1929, 173,000 people were transported by air in the whole of the United States, a country of 121 million people (Lee Citation2003; US Centennial of Flight Commission 2007). Commercial passenger aviation began in earnest in the 1930s. In 1933, passenger numbers in the USA were 576,000 (Courtwright Citation2003, p. 211), a significant increase from 1929. Even then, a technological gap was evident between the USA and European states, for by 1934, over 50% of American passengers were carried at cruising speeds above 160 miles per hour. In Europe, in the same year, only 33 out of 616 aircraft owned by airlines could achieve cruise speeds of more than 125 miles per hour (Courtwright Citation2003, p. 209).
6. One aeroplane, piloted by Giuseppe Sarti, was forced to land in Austrian territory due to mechanical failure. Sarti was made a prisoner of war. He had participated in another leaflet raid, over Ljubljana, on 24 June 1918. On this occasion, leaflets celebrating the Italian army's victory on the Piave River were dropped on the city.
7. Arturo Ferrarin had known aviation pioneers such as Bleriót and Latham during his studies in Turin (Pertino Citation2004).
8. Although charges were dropped, Bassanesi and three fellow writers were expelled from Switzerland (Butti and Genasci Citation2002).
9. On 19 April 1937, an Imperial Airways flying boat flew over the Vigna di Valle Airport and Experimental Aviation Centre at a low altitude of 250 m, en route from Bracciano to Marseilles. On 23 April, a similar plane flew over Montecelio Airport. On 29 April, the same aeroplane involved in the 19 April transgression flew into restricted airspace at Furbara.
10. On 25 June 1939, an Ala Littoria aircraft piloted by Mak Peroli flew over Villa Torlonia at an altitude of 100–150 m, at the same time that Mussolini was leaving the villa to go to the Quirinale. General Ilari asked the Directorate General to ‘severely reprimand’ the pilot and to remind him to not fly over Rome at low altitude in the future (Ilari to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Air Traffic, 3 June 1939).
11. Ansaldo was acquired by FIAT later in the decade.
12. From 1922 to 1927 the largest aeroplane manufacturer was Ansaldo, which produced over 1000 airframes. This was followed by Macchi (500), SIAI (400), Caproni (300) and FIAT (265) (Minniti Citation2004, p. 47).
13. Politica aeronautica in Italian.
14. The exact date in 1937 on which this letter was sent is unknown.
15. The exact date in 1937 on which this order was sent is unknown.
16. Nonetheless, Ilari stated that De Angelis would be accompanied by his father, who would be required to provide a written declaration clearing the Ministry of Aeronautics and its administration of any liability for the flight (Ilari to Headquarters of ‘T’ Section, F. Baracca Airport, North Centocelle, Rome, 20 March 1937).