The Political Legacy of Nazi Annexation

Abstract We explore the legacy of foreign state repression by using the case of the de facto annexed Nazi operational zones in Italy and a spatial regression discontinuity design. We show that the operational zones experienced harsher political persecution and violence. After the war, these exhibited greater support for radical opposition at the expense of the moderate ruling party. Consistent with a mechanism of greater distrust in the government, formerly annexed areas are more likely to vote against laws suppressing dissent and report lower political trust. These results suggest that repressive annexation, even if temporary, has enduring political and social consequences.