The True Cause of the 'Moral Collapse': People, Fascists and Authorities under the Bombs. Naples and the Countryside, 1940-1944

The article analyzes the experience of the civilian population under the bombings: material conditions, opinions and their transformations during the war, conflicts and relationship between fascist authorities and different social groups. It focuses on the case of Naples and Campania region. This area provides an illustrative example for studying the people’s experience of bombings. Naples was the most heavily bombarded Italian city. Campania and southern Lazio were also subjected to air raids linked to the Salerno landings. By several sources the author analyzes the process by which the people leaves the fascist regime and the role of allied aerial campaigne in growing the dinamics of detachment.