The war of nerves. Le trasmissioni di Radio Londra da El Alamein all’Operazione Husky

The war of nerves. Radio London’s broadcasts from El Alamein to the Husky Operation
The Bbc radio propaganda during the Second World war played a significant role for Italy. As a matter of the fact, British broadcastings represented a source of alternative information for a country governed by a totalitarian regime and contributed to the Italian Resistance to some extent. However, the Bbc was also the medium adopted by Great Britain to communicate to the civilians of an enemy country. This double role of the radio led to a conflict of interests in which the Bbc was a morale support for Italians and the voice of the British government. The aim of this article is to discover how the programmes of London Radio towards Italy addressed the Italians from November 1942, month of the Allied victory in El Alamein, to the Husky Operation of July 1943. After the decision of landing in Sicily, taken at the Casablanca Conference of January 1943, it was indeed crucial for the Allied to prepare the Italian public opinion to their arrival. The analysis will be accompanied by an exam of the weekly directives of the Pwe, organisation in charge of propaganda on behalf of the Foreign Office, to the Bbc Italian Service. The programmes as well as the directives will show clearly how the Mediterranean strategy was pursued by the radio.
Keywords: Radio; Propaganda; Bbc; Mediterranean theatre