During the Great War even schools were transformed into machines for patriotic support. Among the changes that were made, there were particular school subjects which after a careful review, proposed educational programmes that were related to the theme of conflict and discussions linked to current events. The aim was to make school children understand the meaning of such terms as the Homeland, the war for Trento and Trieste and military heroism and to make them familiar even with the most tragic aspects of war such as daily violence and death.
During Italian lessons teachers would themselves read, and would make their students read, newspaper articles about the war and about what was happening on the warfront. Great importance was given to descriptions of the many illustrations that were published in these newspapers, with the first among them being the most famous ones on the "La Domenica del Corriere".History lessons on the other hand provided detailed insights into the wars of independence, the birth of the Kingdom of Italy and a whole series of "patriotic" lectures such as "The enthusiasm of the Italian people for war," "Italian migrants return home to participate in the war" or "24th May 1915".
In 1917 the story of Pinocchio, the well-known wooden puppet who was invented by Carlo Collodi in 1881, was revisited and became somewhat famous. Collodi's grandson wrote "Il cuore di Pinocchio. Nuove avventure del celebre burattino" (Pinocchio's heart. The new adventures of the famous puppet) set between May 1915 and the death of Franz Joseph. At the centre of this narrative there was no longer the nose of Pinocchio that grew longer with each lie that he said but the wooden legs and the arms that recalled metaphorically the amputations to soldiers who were wounded during the war.
The topography of the Karst, the territories and the places along the frontline, the names of the towns that were conquered since the start of the war and the logistical problems that the army had to face were all included in the geography syllabus while in the science curriculum great prominence was given to technological innovations in the military field. As a result children learnt about weapons that were used at the front, explosives and the cruelty of poison gas and about the fascinating airplanes. There were also references to techniques used for the constructionof trenches, excavations and barbed wire fences and the organizationof zones that were away from the frontlines. Finally teachers of physical education were advised to replace the hours allocated to gymnastics and sport with visits to military hospitals, to factories that had been adapted for military production and to prisoner-of-war camps.
Teachers were also obliged to monitor and to report cases of children who showed little inclination to back the war and to support patriotic efforts. A child, for instance, wrote in his essay: "All the people who make war are poor because there are no gentlemen here on earth" (Antonio Gibelli, La Grande Guerra degli Italiani, BUR, Milan, 2009, page 235), reporting views that he had heard from his father who was admitted to hospital after having been wounded at the front. After asking the child where he had heard these words, the teacher tore the copybook and slapped him slightly on the face. Nothing must disturb the growing patriotism of children.
