1921 Italian general election

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1921 Italian general election
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg
  1919 15 May 1921 1924  

All 535 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
268 seats needed for a majority
 Majority partyMinority partyThird party
  Giovanni Bacci.jpg Don Luigi Sturzo 1919.jpg Giovanni Giolitti 1920 (cropped).png
Leader Giovanni Bacci Luigi Sturzo Giovanni Giolitti
Party PSI PPI BN
Seats won123108105
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 33Increase2.svg 8New
Popular vote1,631,4351,347,3051,260,007
Percentage24.69%20.39%19.07%
SwingDecrease2.svg 7.59pp Decrease2.svg 0.14pp New

1921 Italian general election - Map.png
     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]

Contents

The 1921 election was the last free election before Benito Mussolini's fascist coup d'état.

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

PartyIdeologyLeaderStatus 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
Italian Democratic Liberal Party (PLDI) Liberalism Antonio Salandra Government
Liberal Party (PL) Liberalism Luigi Facta Government
Social Democracy (DS) Social liberalism Giovanni Antonio Colonna Government
Communist Party of Italy (PCdI) Communism Amadeo Bordiga Opposition
Italian Republican Party (PRI) Republicanism Eugenio Chiesa Opposition
Reformist Democratic Party (PDR) Social liberalism SeveralOpposition
Combatants' Party (PdC) Veteran interests SeveralGovernment

Results

Italian Parliament 1921.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Italian Socialist Party 1,631,43524.69123−33
Italian People's Party 1,347,30520.39108+8
National Bloc [a] 1,260,00719.07105New
Italian Democratic Liberal Party 684,85510.3668−28
Liberal Party 470,6057.1243+2
Social Democracy 309,1914.6829−31
Communist Party of Italy 304,7194.6115New
Italian Republican Party 124,9241.896−3
Reformist Democratic Party 122,0871.8511New
Combatants' Party 113,8391.7210−10
Lists of Slavs and Germans 88,6481.349New
Economic Party 53,3820.815−2
Independent Socialists 37,8920.571±0
Dissident Populars 29,7030.450New
Fasci Italiani di Combattimento 29,5490.452New
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 [6]
Popular vote
PSI
24.69%
PPI
20.39%
BN
19.07%
PLDI
10.36%
PL
7.12%
DS
4.68%
PCdI
4.61%
PRI
1.89%
PDR
1.82%
PdC
1.72%
SeT
1.34%
PE
0.81%
SI
0.57%
PD
0.45%
FIC
0.45%
Seats
PSI
22.99%
PPI
20.19%
BN
19.63%
PLDI
12.71%
PL
8.04%
DS
5.42%
PCdI
2.80%
PDR
2.06%
PdC
1.87%
SeT
1.68%
PRI
1.12%
PE
0.93%
FIC
0.37%
SI
0.18%

Results by Region

RegionFirst partySecond partyThird party
Abruzzo-Molise BN PLDI PSI
Apulia BN PSI PPI
Basilicata BN PLDI PPI
Calabria BN PLDI SD
Campania PLDI BN PSI
Emilia-Romagna PSI BN PPI
Lazio PPI BN PSI
Liguria PSI BN PPI
Lombardy PSI BN PPI
Marche PPI PSI BN
Piedmont PSI BN PLDI
Sardinia BN PPI PSI
Sicily BN SD PLDI
Trentino PPI BN SeT
Tuscany PSI PPI BN
Umbria PSI PPI BN
Veneto PPI PSI BN
Venezia Giulia BN PPI SeT

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
  6. National Institute of Statistics
  1. Distribution of seats:
      PL: 58 seats
      FIC: 35 seats
      ANI: 12 seats