Carnival

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This chapter examines the carnivalesque celebrations that greeted the fall of Mussolini on the night of July 25 and continuing into the ensuing days. It focuses on acts of iconoclasm targeting Fascist symbols and images of the Duce, as well as insults and jokes wielded against the former leader; religious processions, mass demonstrations, and feasts; and patriotic celebrations of King Victor Emmanuel III and the new Head of State, Marshal Pietro Badoglio, as saviors of the nation. Through an examination of looting and other episodes of disorder, it traces popular attitudes toward the fallen dictator as well as accusations of Fascist criminality and moral critiques of the former regime.</jats:p>