War of the waves: radio and resistance during World War II

What is the role of the media in coordinating and mobilizing insurgency against a foreign military occupation? We analyze this question in the context of the Nazi-fascist occupation of Italy during WWII. We study the eect of BBC radio (Radio Londra) on the intensity of internal resistance to the Nazi-fascist regime. By exploiting variations in monthly sunspot activity that aect the sky-wave propagation of BBC broadcasting towards Italy, we show that BBC radio had a strong impact on political violence. We provide further evidence to document that BBC radio played an important role in coordinating resistance activities, but had no lasting role in motivating the population against the fascist regime.