Heri dicebamus ? La franc-maçonnerie entre fascisme et démocratie

This article studies the role of the Italian free masonry during the transitional period from fascism to democracy (1943-1948). It first examines the way in which the two largest masonic obediences were reconstructed: the Grand Orient of Italy and the Grand Lodge of Italy, which were disbanded in keeping with a fascist law of 1925. The article then turns to consider the political involvement of these masonic organizations, underscoring the profound differences that distinguished them. For the Grand Orient followed a clearly democratic, anticlerical and republican line and included many socialists and communists in its lodges. The various masonic groups that were the heirs to Grand Lodge of Italy, by contrast, were above all conservative, monarchist and pro-Catholic. Taken together, however, the free masonry, in contrast with what is called the liberal period, was no longer capable of influencing public opinion or structuring the political field. Despite its members’ still very lively commitment to political engagement, it suddenly appeared as an obsolete form of association in the new mass society, unable to make its voice heard or dictate the political agenda.