Cohesion, Political Motivation, and Military Performance in the Italian Alpini
Cohesion, Political Motivation, and Military Performance in the Italian Alpini
In some military units, high levels of primary group cohesion do not necessarily lead to high levels of motivation and combat performance. This chapter explores how cohesion, political motivation, and performance combine in a highly specialized and professional force of the Italian Army dedicated to mountain warfare, the Alpini. This case is of particular interest because of its unique combination of features: historically, the Alpini displayed exceptionally high levels of social cohesion coupled with high levels of political autonomy, low levels of political motivation and trust in political leaders and state institutions, and exceptional popularity among the public. While these elements prevented the unit from being particularly effective in conventional military operations, strong cohesion and desire for public support has made the Alpini very effective in contemporary peace and stability operations.
Keywords: Italian Army, cohesion, political motivation, performance, Alpini
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
