The **Arditi Del Popolo** (English: People's Daring Ones) was an
[anti-fascist](Anti-Fascism "wikilink")
[militia](List_of_Libertarian_Socialist_Organizations "wikilink") active
in [Italy](Kingdom_of_Italy "wikilink") to combat
[fascism](fascism "wikilink") from [1921 to
1925](Timeline_of_Libertarian_Socialism_in_Southern_Europe "wikilink").
It was the first example of a militant anti-fascist group in history.
## History
Founded by Argo Secondari in Rome in late June 1921, it built an
alliance of anarchists, communists, socialists and republicans in the
structure of a [democratic militia](Democratic_Militia "wikilink"). In a
few months they had 144 sections with over 20,000 members, and won
several gunfights with fascist gangs.
## Downfall
The downfall and failure of the Arditi Del Popolo occurred for two main
reasons.
- The fascists received large amounts of financial and material
support from the rich and police, the Arditi del Popolo did not
recieve the same kind of support from anywhere.
- The [Leninist](Authoritarian_Socialism "wikilink") Communist Party
of Italy and Italian Socialist Party withdrew support from the group
for political purposes to try and win the [class
war](Class_Struggle "wikilink") through parliamentary means as well
as achieve peace with [Mussolini](Benito_Mussolini "wikilink").
Leaving only the [Italian Anarchist
Union](Italian_Anarchist_Union "wikilink") and [Italian Syndicalist
Union](Italian_Syndicalist_Union "wikilink").\[1\]
## Legacy
Many former members of the Arditi Del Popolo fought in the International
Brigades in the [Spanish Civil War](Spanish_Civil_War "wikilink") and
during the [Italian Resistance](Italian_Resistance "wikilink") in [World
War II](World_War_II "wikilink").\[2\]
## References
1. [Mark Bray](Mark_Bray "wikilink") - [Antifa: The Antifascist
Handbook](Antifa:_The_Antifascist_Handbook "wikilink")
2. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") (Italian) -