«The twentieth century is not a short century. In fact, it’s long».
The professor says it Piero Bevilacquaa prolific historian of the contemporary age, who spoke in recent days in Bitonto to open the national study conference “Bitonto and Puglia in the first half of the twentieth century”, organized by History and Art Research Center.
For Bevilacqua, therefore, the “duration” of the twentieth century would not be that indicated by Eric Hobsbawnwho in his best-known book had spoken of the “short century”, identifying its beginning in Great War and the end in the fall ofSoviet Unionto highlight how the most important events were contained in a period shorter than the classic one hundred years.
«It is long due to the number of radical changes that took place in the hundred years of the 20th century, not only compared to the centuries, but compared to the previous millennia. There is no other century which, in its hundred years, has contained so many other radical changes» explains Bevilacqua: «Just think of the two world wars, the changing relationship between man and the environment. In the 20th century, environmental imbalances emerged that had never occurred in the past. Not only pollution phenomena, but phenomena of serious alterations of natural balances and ecosystems. We are witnessing the phenomenon of climate change which risks compromising the survival of mankind. There are also positive phenomena, such as the Russian Revolution of 1917 which changed many balances. The first workers’ and peasants’ state in history is born, with the last ones rebelling and reaching the top of political power. A revolution which also had many positive implications, such as having helped the countries of the so-called Third World to free themselves from colonial domination, and having created communist and socialist parties which led policies to reform the welfare state. The most relevant example is that of the communist parties in Italy and France, which have made a strong contribution to modernization and given impetus to the process of renewal and modernization of Europe».
But, unfortunately, we also carry with us its negative consequences from the twentieth century: «We carry with us Europe’s attitude to war, which was born from a peace project, and the alteration of the environment which is becoming increasingly worse».
During his long speech, Bevilacqua addressed various topics, such as the difference between journalistic judgment and historians’ judgment on events: «Journalistic judgment is based on general and often generic information, that of historians on studies that sometimes last years».
«With the fall of the USSR, there was a widespread interpretation of the Soviet experience as a single mistake» is the example of the historian: «History is not evaluated like this. There is no victory or defeat like a football match. Nothing is lost in history, but everything is transformed. The Russian Revolution had worldwide effects throughout the century. Like having modernized the feudal structure of Russia. Or having induced important agrarian reforms in other states, fearing the expansion of Bolshevism».
The twentieth century is the century in which «for the first time, at least in the West, famines disappear, those periodic phenomena that decimated the population when the harvests were poor for two or three years. The age of abundance begins. At least in the West, because in the rest of the world we still suffer from hunger» continues the historian, recounting the start of the consumer society and the Italian economic success of the so-called “thirty glorious years”: «Perhaps for the first time since the unification of Italy, the gap between North and South has narrowed, because the South is also experiencing an economic miracle. Even if new forms of poverty arise».
«It is the century in which the birth of new technologies, from radio to television, up to the advent of the internet» he explains, highlighting how this real revolution in the field of communication has led to a sort of global unification of humanity: «AToday we are witnessing something that has never happened before. Something we can’t be proud of. The possibility of observing the ongoing massacre in Gaza in real time. Helpless and desperate. This didn’t exist before. We didn’t know how many massacres were happening. Today we are spectators, even of the most atrocious horrors of which humanity is capable».
«The Internet allows for the instant transfer of enormous financial assets. We are witnessing relocations, loss of industries» he continues, labeling the advent of neoliberalism «the last ideological plague of the twentieth century, after Nazism. In neoliberalism there is an exasperated exaltation of the market that exalts the strongest, condemning the weakest to succumb. Like in a war».
«I thank the organizers of the event– he concludes -, because it is an important cultural event that takes place in the South, where those who create culture have greater difficulties than in the rest of Italy. It is important because it puts history at the center of reflections about our history. And history is fundamental to understanding the present, orienting ourselves and not living our time like blind people, groping in the dark. Only history can enable us to predict the future».
The conference “Bitonto and Puglia in the first half of the twentieth century” resumes on Thursday 9 May and ends on Friday 10 May, in the “Girolamo and Rosaria Devanna” National Gallery of Puglia.
