"Credere Obbedire Combattere": a school group photograph, Mirandola, 1938
Students and teachers of the Royal Liceo-Ginnasio in Mirandola pose under portraits of the King and of Mussolini and a banner reading CREDERE OBBEDIRE COMBATTERE (Believe, Obey, Fight), the motto of the Fascist youth organisation. The slogan sits above the class as a statement of what the school is for: belief and obedience are presented as virtues in themselves.
- Date
- 1938
- Period
- Interwar
- Made by
- Regio Liceo-Ginnasio, Mirandola, and the Gioventu Italiana del Littorio (GIL)
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- Fascist Italy
- Medium
- Photograph
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Fascist Italy
- Leader
- Benito Mussolini
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Elections and party politics, War and the military
- Techniques
- Identity fusionGlittering generalities
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons, retrieved September 27, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (PD-Italy simple photograph; PD-1996 in the U.S.)
Photographer unknown, Mirandola, 1938. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Text on the object
CREDERE OBBEDIRE COMBATTERE R. LICEO - GINNASIO - MIRANDOLA
BELIEVE OBEY FIGHT Royal Liceo-Ginnasio - Mirandola
'R.' abbreviates 'Regio' (Royal), the standard prefix for state schools of the period. The two framed pictures flanking the banner (apparently a mounted rider and a sporting scene) and the small portraits above the banner carry no legible text at this resolution.
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