National Association of War Volunteers

The Associazione Nazionale Volontari di Guerra (ANVG), or National Association of War Volunteers, is an Italian combatant association founded in April 1919 in Rome. It was created to bring together in a single body all Italian war volunteers, including those who had served in the Great War, the Garibaldian legions, the Fiume enterprise, and the VCA (volunteer cyclists and motorists). The association is independent and non-partisan, and it is registered in the Libro Araldico degli Enti Morali by Royal Decree of 10 May 1934. Its legal headquarters are in Turin, at Corso Regina Margherita 16. ANVG's mission is to safeguard the memory and remembrance of war volunteerism through historical research, ceremonies, commemorations, and cultural and sporting activities. It also aims to preserve and maintain combatant culture as a fundamental element of the national community and culture, and to pursue moral and social solidarity among its members. The association is open to combatants of the regular armed forces in national wars before 1945, volunteers of foreign missions, military personnel on active duty and in reserve from the various armed forces and police, as well as sympathizers. It is listed by the Ministry of Defence as the eighth association in the order of precedence of Combatant and Arms Associations (Artt. 937-941 DPR 90/2010), to be respected in military and patriotic ceremonies, and it is part of the Permanent Council of Arms Associations (Assoarma). Throughout its history, ANVG has been involved in various military campaigns, including the reconquest of Libya in the 1920s, the Ethiopian War of 1935, and the Spanish War. It supported Adriatic irredentism and created the "Azzurri di Dalmazia" association. In the second half of the 1930s, it changed its name to "Legione Volontari d'Italia Giulio Cesare". After World War II, it was accused of supporting fascism and was effectively closed, but it later resumed activities thanks to Augusto Pescosolido. In the 2000s, it underwent a radical statute reform in 2011, opening up to younger generations and expanding its membership. Today, ANVG has branches throughout Italy and a foreign federation in Geneva, Switzerland. It also operates the I.S.V.I.G. (Historical Institute on Italian War Volunteerism), which publishes works on associative history and war volunteerism.

The Associazione Nazionale Volontari di Guerra (ANVG) was founded in Rome in April 1919, through the merger of several pre-existing associations linked to war volunteerism and veterans' movements, primarily concerning the Great War, but also Garibaldianism (participants in the Garibaldian legions of Menotti and Ricciotti Garibaldi) and the Fiume legionarism, as well as the VCA (volunteer cyclists and motorists), a sort of militarized branch of the ACI, influenced by the Futurist movement. The "Corridonian" volunteers (named after Filippo Corridoni, a syndicalist and interventionist who died heroically at the Trincea delle Frasche on 27 October 1915) also had their own qualification within the association. In the first twenty years of its existence, from the first congress on 2 June 1924 held in the Campidoglio, Eugenio Coselschi, a former collaborator of Gabriele D'Annunzio, served as president. D'Annunzio himself was named honorary president. During the following years, the association also catalyzed the volunteer spirit of more recent military campaigns: the reconquest of Libya in the 1920s, the Ethiopian War of 1935, and the Spanish War. It was a political, cultural, and organizational supporter of Adriatic irredentism, creating and supporting the "Azzurri di Dalmazia" association, and it was an incubator, through a fertile debate that developed in its press organ ("Volontà"), of the concept of "empire". Among the contributors to its newspaper were a young Indro Montanelli and an equally young Davide Lajolo. Its emblem, the wing of victory with the gladius, was registered in the Libro Araldico degli Enti Morali by Royal Decree of 10 May 1934. In 1937 it counted about one hundred thousand members. In the second half of the 1930s, it changed its name to "Legione Volontari d'Italia Giulio Cesare". With the outbreak of World War II, in the summer of 1943, overwhelmed by the events that led to the fall of Benito Mussolini, the association was in some way placed under commission, and its historical archive was dispersed. It was reconstituted in the territory of the Italian Social Republic, assuming its original name of Associazione Nazionale Volontari di Guerra. The newspaper "Volontà" resumed publication, with several articles on the reform of the Armed Forces by Urbano Rattazzi. After the war, the final events caused a sort of de facto closure of the association, accused of having supported fascism and the lost war. However, over the years, it resumed its activities also thanks to the work of Augusto Pescosolido, who had been general secretary in the late 1930s and a member of the Chamber of Fasci and Corporations, and it reorganized, developing its provincial federations again. In the 2000s, ANVG is registered in the register of Arms Associations kept by the Ministry of Defence, and it ranks eighth in the order of precedence of Combatant and Arms Associations, established by the same ministry, to be respected in military and patriotic ceremonies. Initially open only to those who had acquired the status of War Volunteers by 1945, or, if deceased in peacetime, to their relatives, and also to descendants of War Volunteers fallen or missing in war, it was recently opened not only to the experience of volunteers in international missions of the Armed Forces but also to all Italian citizens who share the associative goals and intend to work in it. The National Congress of 15 October 2011, held not by chance at Gardone Riviera at the "Vittoriale degli Italiani", sanctioned, by unanimous resolution and in the presence of the Presidents and Delegates of the existing Federations, the radical reform of the social statute, which had been essentially unchanged since 1971. The association is part of the National Permanent Council of Arms Associations, called ASSOARMA. Today, ANVG has its own offices throughout Italy, particularly in Rome, Milan, Turin, Brescia, Cremona, Vicenza, Padua, Bologna, and Florence. It is structured in provincial federations, one for each province, and currently has organized nuclei in Turin, Asti, Biella, Alessandria, Verbania, Milan, Monza, Pavia, Cremona, Brescia, Genoa, Savona, Padua, Vicenza, Bolzano, Udine, Piacenza, Parma, Bologna, Florence, Pistoia, Livorno, Macerata, Perugia, Terni, Rome, Viterbo, Naples, Bari, Taranto, Crotone, Reggio Calabria, Catania, and Ragusa. A foreign federation, the Swiss one, has also been established, with headquarters in Geneva. The main goals of the association are the safeguarding of the memory and remembrance of war volunteerism, both through historical research and through the organization of ceremonies, commemorations, and various cultural and sporting activities. In addition, the association intends to safeguard and maintain combatant culture, affirmed as a fundamental element of the community and national culture. Furthermore, the association pursues aims of moral and social solidarity among its members. Linked to the association is the I.S.V.I.G. (Historical Institute on Italian War Volunteerism), responsible for publishing editorial works related to associative history and war volunteerism in general. The new statute of 2011 opens the association to younger generations and renews its traditional and historical aims, setting rigorous rules of selection and behavior for members.

• 2011

  National Congress on 15 October at Gardone Riviera approved radical statute reform, opening association to younger generations.

• 1943

  Overwhelmed by events leading to Mussolini's fall; placed under commission and historical archive dispersed; reconstituted in the Italian Social Republic.

• 1937

  Association counted about 100,000 members.

• 1934

  Emblem (wing of victory with gladius) registered in the Libro Araldico degli Enti Morali by Royal Decree of 10 May.

• 1924

  First congress held on 2 June in the Campidoglio; Eugenio Coselschi elected president, Gabriele D'Annunzio named honorary president.

• 1919

  Founded in Rome in April through the merger of pre-existing war volunteer associations.

Independent, non-partisan combatant association dedicated to preserving the memory of Italian war volunteers and promoting combatant culture.

1. 1Associazione Nazionale Volontari di Guerra – Official Websiteanvg.it
2. 2Chi siamo – Associazione Nazionale Volontari di Guerraanvg.it
3. 3Associazione Nazionale Volontari di Guerra – Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Associazione nazionale volontari di guerra – Wikipedia (Italian)it.wikipedia.org