1921 Italian general election

15 May 1921

All 535 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
268 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader Giovanni Bacci Don Luigi Sturzo Giovanni Giolitti
Party PSI PPI National Bloc
Seats won 123 108 105
Seat change Decrease33 Increase8 New
Popular vote 1,631,435 1,347,305 1,260,007
Percentage 24.69% 20.39% 19.07%
Swing Decrease7.59pp Decrease0.14pp New

     PSI      PPI      BN      PLD
     PLI      DS      PDR      SeT

Prime Minister before election

Giovanni Giolitti
PLI

Elected Prime Minister

Ivanoe Bonomi
Reformist Socialist Party

General elections were held in Italy on 15 May 1921.[1] It was the first election in which the recently acquired regions of Trentino-Alto Adige, Venezia Giulia, Zara and Lagosta island elected deputies, many of whom were from the Germanic and South Slavic ethnic groups.[2][3]

Background

From 1919 to 1920, Italy was shocked by a period of intense social conflict following the First World War known as the Biennio Rosso (Red Biennium).[4] The revolutionary period was followed by the violent reaction of the Fascist Blackshirt militia and eventually by the March on Rome of Benito Mussolini in 1922.

The Biennio Rosso took place in a context of economic crisis at the end of the war, with high unemployment and political instability. It was characterized by mass strikes, worker manifestations as well as self-management experiments through land and factories occupations.[4] In Turin and Milan, workers councils were formed and many factory occupations took place under the leadership of anarcho-syndicalists. The agitations also extended to the agricultural areas of the Po Valley and were accompanied by peasant strikes, rural unrests and guerrilla conflicts between left-wing and right-wing militias.

In the general election of 1921, the Liberal governing coalition, strengthened by the joining of Fascist candidates in the National Bloc (33 of whom were elected deputies), came short of a majority. The Italian Socialist Party, weakened by the split of the Communist Party of Italy, lost many votes and seats, while the Italian People's Party was steady around 20%. The Socialists were stronger in Lombardy (41.9%), than in their historical strongholds of Piedmont (28.6%), Emilia-Romagna (33.4%) and Tuscany (31.0%), due to the presence of the Communists (11.9, 5.2 and 10.5%), while the Populars were confirmed the largest party of Veneto (36.5%) and the Liberal parties in most Southern regions.[5]

Parties and leaders

Party Ideology Leader Status before election
Italian Socialist Party (PSI) Socialism Giovanni Bacci Opposition
Italian People's Party (PPI) Christian democracy Luigi Sturzo Government
National Bloc (BN) Conservatism Giovanni Giolitti Government
Democratic Liberal Party (PLD) Liberalism Francesco Saverio Nitti Government
Italian Liberal Party (PLI) Liberalism Luigi Facta Government
Social Democracy (DS) Social liberalism Giovanni Antonio Colonna Government
Communist Party of Italy (PCdI) Communism Amedeo Bordiga Opposition
Italian Republican Party (PRI) Republicanism Eugenio Chiesa Opposition
Reformist Democratic Party (PDR) Reformism Several Opposition
Combatants' Party (PdC) Veteran interests Several Government

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Italian Socialist Party1,631,43524.69123−33
Italian People's Party1,347,30520.39108+8
National Bloc1,260,00719.07105New
Democratic Liberal Party684,85510.3668−28
Italian Liberal Party470,6057.1243+2
Social Democracy309,1914.6829−31
Italian Communist Party304,7194.6115New
Italian Republican Party124,9241.896−3
Reformist Democratic Party122,0871.8511New
Combatants' Party113,8391.7210−10
Lists of Slavs and Germans88,6481.349New
Economic Party53,3820.815−2
Independent Socialists37,8920.571±0
Dissident Populars29,7030.450New
Fasci Italiani di Combattimento29,5490.452New
Total6,608,141100.00535+27
Valid votes6,608,14198.61
Invalid/blank votes93,3551.39
Total votes6,701,496100.00
Registered voters/turnout11,477,21058.39
Source: National Institute of Statistics
Popular vote
PSI
24.69%
PPI
20.39%
BN
19.07%
PLD
10.36%
PLI
7.12%
DS
4.68%
PCdI
4.61%
PRI
1.89%
PDR
1.82%
PdC
1.72%
Others
3.77%
Seats
PSI
22.99%
PPI
20.19%
BN
19.63%
PLD
12.71%
PLI
8.04%
DS
5.42%
PCdI
2.80%
PDR
2.06%
PdC
1.87%
PRI
1.12%
Others
3.18%

Deputies elected by region

Region PSI PPI PLD DS FIC PE PSRI PLI PCdI ANI SeT PRI PSdA PdC SI
Piedmont 16 12 13 1 3 4 1 5 1
Liguria 4 5 2 1 2 1 1 1
Lombardy 27 19 1 4 5 3 1 3 1
Veneto 17 19 2 3 4 1 1 1 1
Emilia-Romagna 14 8 4 1 7 2 2 2
Tuscany 12 8 4 2 4 2 1 2 3 1
Marche 4 5 2 1 1 2 1 1
Umbria 3 1 1 2 2 1
Lazio 4 3 2 1 1 3 1
Abruzzi 3 1 6 3 2 1 1 1
CampaniaMolise 4 9 16 18 6 2 2 2
Apulia 6 2 10 4 1 3 2
Basilicata 1 4 1 1 3
Calabrie 2 3 7 5 1 3 1
Sicily 4 7 7 17 6 8 2 1
Sardinia 1 1 4 2 4
Venezia Tridentina 2 5 4
Venezia Giulia 4 1 3 2 1 5
Italy 124 108 85 65 36 27 25 17 15 11 9 6 4 2 1

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1047 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ITALY’S FRINGE OF ALIEN SUBJECTS, The New York Times, May 29, 1921
  3. Ministry of National Economy
  4. 1 2 Brunella Dalla Casa, Composizione di classe, rivendicazioni e professionalità nelle lotte del "biennio rosso" a Bologna, in: AA. VV, Bologna 1920; le origini del fascismo, a cura di Luciano Casali, Cappelli, Bologna 1982, p. 179.
  5. Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, Atlante storico-elettorale d'Italia, Zanichelli, Bologna 2009
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