Defence policy in the Italian republic: frames and issues

Abstract

The article focuses on the civil-military relations in Republican Italy. The new democratic model of relations between the political authorities and the military had a strong continuity in the past. Also, in the new Republic the Armed Forces enjoyed a large degree of autonomy. Different phases can be identified in the history of Italian defence policy. In the reconstruction phase (1945-48), the General Staff decided to have again a big Army, based more on quantity than quality. The membership of NATO and the hardest period of the Cold War (1949-53) greatly accelerated the transformation of Italian Armed Forces. Some scepticism against limitations that NATO posed to national autonomy were overcome by the consciousness that the Alliance provided conspicuous means and allowed to abolish the military limitations of the 1947 Peace Treaty. In the years 1954-62, the Armed Forces had to scale down previous expectations, but at the same time, modernized quickly thanks to US aid. The Army was the first beneficiary, then the Air Force and finally (in 1958) the Navy. This was for two reasons: the Navy was the service in best conditions at the end of the war, while Soviet threat in the Mediterranean was at a low level. However, the Army still relied mainly on numbers, with a low number of armoured and motorized units. In these years, Italy also inaugurated its nuclear military policy. From the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s, the Armed Forces started a “ristrutturazione” (“restructuration”) required by the new NATO strategy of flexible response, which accelerated in the years 1975-78. The end of the Cold War imposed more drastic changes. In 1997, the organization and the powers of the General Staff (inter-services) were strengthened, in 2000, women were admitted in the Armed Forces, and in 2005, conscription was totally abolished. The Armed Forces were greatly reduced in numbers, and were deployed in many long distance operations. The impression however is that the Armed Forces, due to a poor budget, suffer from overstretching and are faced with difficulties in addressing the tasks they are assigned.