Figure 1.--German children entered the Hitler Youth at age 10 years. The Balilla program began several years earlier. These Balilla boys marching in Roime parade look about 6 years old. Put your cursor on the image to see more of rhe group.

We are not entirely sure why these two youth movements have such different records. There were differencs in the two programs, but some of the differences would seem to favor the effectiveness of the Balilla. Balilla had some mportant advantges over the Hitler Youth. Mussolini and the Fascist seized power a decade before Hitler and the Nazis. In additio, children joined the Bailla at a younger age than the Hitler Youth which began wih 10-year olds. Some might argue that the differences were more a matter of the differences in the German and Italian character. We are inclined to believe that while that may have been a factor, the nature of the two organizations and programs were also important, if not more important. Certainly the nature of the two regimes were different. NAZI Germany was a totalitarian state without any effective centers of power to rival the NAZI Party. Fascist Italy was a dictatorship, but totalitarian in name only. There were pluralstic centers of power, especially the Church. We do note that the Baillal, unlike the Hitler Youth, did not seek to destroy the influence of the Church and family.