This article, based on the initial findings of a three-year research project at the École française de Rome, offers a first evaluation of the fascistization of Italian schools abroad, focusing on the social and cultural aspects of daily life. Positioned at the intersection of Mussolini’s cultural diplomacy and efforts to mobilize the youth, these schools represent a relatively underexplored subject, especially concerning their concrete impact on children’s lives. Focusing on three Mediterranean regions (Marseille, Tunisia, and Egypt), the article examines the strategies adopted by the Fascist state to control schools and emigration, as well as the challenges posed by the minority status of Italians abroad and the competition from other educational systems. The cross-analysis of local archives and documents produced by Italian schools has enabled a reconsideration of the fascist regime’s capacity to extend its influence into the «nation’s peripheries» and within contexts that were, at times, hostile.
