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Italy in the postwar world
A fragmented democracy?
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Italy at war’s end:
• A battlefield, liberated in slow degrees following:– Allied invasion in 1943– The collapse of Mussolini’s regime – Italy’s withdrawal from the war– German invasion
• Liberation begins in 1943 in the south
• Completed in 1945 in north
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Reconstituting Italy
In question:
• The monarchy
• The form of government
• How to re-establish liberal democracy following 20 years of fascism
• How to bring together a deeply divided society
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Political Forces:
• Christian Democrats (DC)– Sponsored by Catholic Action and the Church
• Communists (PCI)– Rooted in resistance (partisan movements)
• Socialists (PSI)• Social Democrats• Liberals (PLI)• Monarchists• Neo-fascists• …plus others
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The constitution
• Parliamentary Republic– Following narrow defeat of monarchy in a referendum
• Compromises:– Freedom of religion– But incorporation of the 1929 Lateran Pacts,
guaranteeing special position of the Roman Catholic Church
• Positive guarantees:– Right to employment
• Regional government– But regions not established until 1970!
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The regime in practice:
• No purge of either bureaucracy or judiciary• Initial tripartite coalitions, including
Communists (through 1948)• Christian Democratic-led coalition
governments from 1945 through 1980• Coalitions with Socialists and Christian
Democrats from 1980s to 1993• Collapse of the party system and the 1rst
Republic in 1993
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Christian Democracy (DC)
• DC initially orchestrated by the Church, through Catholic action
• DC establishes independent organization in 1950s
• Mobilizes support and maintains power through– Support of the Church– Clientelism:
• Uses control of ministries to colonize the state, offer jobs and benefits to supporters
– Anti-Communism
• Governs by allying with parties to its right or left
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Communists (PCI)
• Emerge from war with 14-17% of popular vote• Slow march through institutions:
– By mid 1970s• Control of major cities• Regional governments• 1/3 of the popular vote
• Emphasis from the 1930’s, 1940s on via Italiana – an Italian route to socialism – via the ballot box– Communists have their own subculture
• A Euro-Communist party – independent of Soviet Union
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The postwar economic miracle in Italy
• Sustained but uneven growth in 1950s and 1960s• State holding companies promote growth of large scale
industries in North– Fiat– Olivetti…
• Repeated efforts to promote development of the south fail: development funds turned into patronage…
• Problems of mal-distribution– Wage remain low in 1950s, 1960s– North gets richer– South, despite government largesse remains poor…dependent
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The 1970s and beyond
• Hot autumn of 1969 – wave of strikes
• Shift in political balance: – increased support for left, PCI– Increased cooperation among party-affiliated
trade unions
• Greater prosperity
• Regional disparities continue
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Making the system work
• Deep fragmentation but:– DC strong enough to control state– Maintains position by sharing power with others
• Extreme right – neo fascists (MSI) excluded from power• PCI and left cooperate – overtly and covertly
– Revolution not an option– Aim instead for an `historic compromise
• Nevertheless:– Bloated, ineffective bureaucracy– Frequent changes of govt – some 40 cabinets between 1945-
1993 – but few all that different…– Terrorism from right and extreme left:
• Kidnapping of Premier Aldo Moro (1976)• Periodic explosions – promoted by `dark forces within the state`
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Transformation and change in the 1990s
• Governing parties, Socialists and DC continue to colonize state – Patronage system increasingly expensive
• Emergence of regional parties – Lega Nord (Northern Leagues)
• Fall of Berlin wall 1989 ends the need to vote for DC to keep PCI out
• Replacement of pre-1993 parties:
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Some similarities between Germany and Italy:
• Liberal democracy established despite legacies of Nazism and Fascism
• Both are different democracies:– Conflicts restrained
• Affluence from the 1970s onward leads to more vocal societies