Italy in the postwar world

A fragmented democracy?

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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`

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:

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