THE OUTCOMES OF THE REFERENDUM AND ELECTIONS 1946 Flashcards
wreck
Economy and infrastructure wrecked by war and many Italians lacked food and clean water
nearly 500,000 Italians lost lives in war
17,000 antifascist fighters
13,000 RSI soldiers
values of the resistance
Antifascist forces of Communists, Socialists, Christian Democrats, established foundations of new Italy on the ‘values of the resistance’ that fought against RSI and Germans
Problematic; those who fought with RSI felt excluded
fighting in north
Fighting predominantly in north; foundation of new state mostly ignored in south
2 June 1946
Italians voted for Constituent Assembly to draw up new Italian constitution and a referendum to decide whether Italy should be a republic
King’s support for Mussolini since 1922 and inadequate action after Mussolini was removed from power 1943 made him unpopular
King abdicated un favour of his son, Umberto II, but Italians still voted for end of monarchy and establishment of republic12.7M:10.7M
vote divided geographically; north vote for republic, south for monarchy
election results
Constituent Assembly vote, which included female voters for the first time; Christian Democrats victorious, with 207/556 seats
PCI: 104 seats
PSI: 114 seats
new constitution
New constitution established liberal democracy with civil and political freedom guaranteed
Monarchy replaced by president as head of state and rule of law under independent judiciary system
Aspects of Mussolini’s rule not forgotten; Lateran Pacts
cold war
Unity of government did not last; Cold War saw Christian Democrats under Alcide De Gaspari announce new government in 1947 that excluded PCI under Palmiro Togliatti, breaking antifascist front that existed since 1944
fascists
As late as 1960s, most of prefects, police chiefs and deputies were same people as under fascist government
Mussolini funeral
1 September 1957: massive crowds watched as Mussolini was laid to rest in his family tomb in Predappio and still attracts 80,000-100,000 visitors per year
