Akademik

   Sometimes drawn from the ranks of long-term prisoners whose sentences were reduced for undertaking hazardous wartime duty, infantry assault units (shock troops) of arditi d’assalto were highly effective on the Austrian front in World War I. Their distinctive uniform consisted of a black fez on which appeared a skull and crossbones carrying a dagger between its teeth, and a black shirt bearing the slogan “Me ne frego!” (I don’t give a damn!). The mythology surrounding the Arditi appealed to the Fascists, who adopted the Arditi’s black shirt and their anthem, “Giovinezza.”

   See also Squadrismo.