The Fascist period in Italy saw, as did the same era in America, a huge increase in government spending in order to allay the economic effects of the Great Depression. Many public works projects were undertaken to employ people and keep the economy going. In Italy the Fascists built up their military, as did Germany, in the 20s and early 30s, but in Italy great architectural projects were also begun. Much of Italian Fascist architecture is not very attractive, but some of it is quite good. One of the things that’s interesting is trying to find the dates of building. Sometimes they’ve been eradicated because of the Fascist connotations. Here’s one that’s the most unapologetic and monumental that I’ve ever seen. It’s on the Central Post office of Naples. When Mussolini came to power he instigated a new system of the years, zeroing out the calendar in 1921-22. So for awhile dates were given in regular years and also in EF dates or ‘Era Fascista‘ dates. The same was true for buildings as well as books. This structure was built in 1936, or year 14 of the Era Fascista.