The origins of the Italian Army's elite and special forces date back to World War I, when the Arditi assault troops were formed, and foreign volunteer units were raised from former prisoners of war from the national minorities of the Austrian-Hungarian empire - Czechs, Poles and Romanians. In their different ways both these types of unit provided a nucleus of elite and special forces to the Italian Army, but their unique experiences of combat were lost to the army after the end of the war. Foreign volunteer units were disbanded, mostly returning to their homelands to provide a core for their new national forces. The Arditi were also disbanded, but their veterans evolved into a kind of political movement; eventually they would provide the core of the Fascist organization, and its armed wing, the Milizia Volontaria Sicurezza Nationale (MVSN - commonly called the Camicie Nere, 'Blackshirts') claimed to continue their traditions.
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