Justice for the Betrayed. The Activity of the Extraordinary Provincial Tribunals during the RSI (1943-44)
Journal title ITALIA CONTEMPORANEA
Author/s Federico Ricci
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/310
Language Italian Pages 27 P. 120-146 File size 261 KB
DOI 10.3280/IC2026-310006
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Following the fall of fascism and the armistice of September 1943, the Italian Social Republic sought to rebuild a political order through extraordinary justice, using the Provincial Extraordinary Tribunals as vehicles for political purges. Established by a decree on 11 November 1943, the courts were tasked with punishing so-called “traitors”, a category whose definition was shaped by political, personal, and opportunistic considerations. The analysis of their activities reveals a system marked by deep contradictions. Although formally created to ensure justice, the Provincial Extraordinary Tribunals often functioned as tools for settling internal scores and personal rivalries. Indeed, in local contexts, the Tribunals operated amid instability and instrumentalisation, since political justice overlapped with both personal and professional conflicts. Through the study of the available archival documentation, the article analyses the role of the Provincial Extraordinary Tribunals within the RSI’s political project, highlighting how their function contributed not to the regime’s consolidation but rather to its fragmentation and its inability to establish itself as a cohesive and disciplined system.
Keywords: Italian Social Republic, Italian civil war, fascism.
Federico Ricci, La giustizia dei traditi. L’attività dei Tribunali provinciali straordinari durante la Rsi (1943-44) in "ITALIA CONTEMPORANEA" 310/2026, pp 120-146, DOI: 10.3280/IC2026-310006