Una storia ambientale delle Paludi pontine: Terracina dall'Unità alla bonifica integrale (1871-1928)

Abstract

The 1930s reclamation of the Pontine region (south of Rome) represented the most spectacular, and impactful, environmental transformation that was launched and implemented during Mussolini’s regime. The narrative created during, and by, the regime has affected both the public debate and historiography to the extent that the fascist integral reclamation (bonifica integrale in Italian) still stands out as the definitive moments in the modern history of the area. Biasillo’s Una storia ambientale delle Paludi pontine rejects this assumption and reconstructs the history of the municipality of Terracina, the main administrative unit of the wetland, from 1871 when it joined the Kingdom of Italy to the decision to start the reclamation project in 1928.