Popular Democratic Front (Italy)

Left-wing political coalition in Italy from 1947 to 1948

Popular Democratic Front

Fronte Democratico Popolare

Leaders| Palmiro Togliatti
Pietro Nenni
Founded| 28 December 1947 (1947-12-28)
Dissolved| 18 April 1948 (1948-04-18)
Ideology| Communism
Socialism
Political position| Left-wing
Colours|  Red

* Politics of Italy
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History

* Fasci Siciliani
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* Anarchist communism
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Principles

* Anti-clericalism
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* Class conflict
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* Euroscepticism
* Feminism
* Organic centralism
* Passive revolution
* Proletarian internationalism
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* Subalterns

Current organisations

* Anticapitalist Left
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Defunct organisations

* Armed Proletarians for Communism
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Related topics

* Anarchism in Italy
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The Popular Democratic Front (Italian: Fronte Democratico Popolare), shortened name of the Popular Democratic Front for Freedom, Peace, Labour (Italian: Fronte Democratico Popolare per la libertà, la pace, il lavoro), was a left-wing political coalition in Italy.[1][2] Formed in December 1947 by the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and the Italian Communist Party (PCI),[3][4][5] it contested the 1948 Italian general election.[6]

## History

[edit]

The coalition was formed for the 1948 general election and consisted of the PSI and PCI. Its symbol was a green star surmounted by an image of Italian unification hero Giuseppe Garibaldi.[7] The Social Christian Party (PCS) and Sardinian Action Party (PSd'Az) were not allied with the coalition and formed their own electoral lists. The right-wing of the PSI opposed the coalition, left the party, and organized a separate list as Socialist Unity; this group later became the Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI).

The election of 1948 was perhaps the most important in the history of the Italian Republic, as the choice of future alliance with the United States or with the Soviet Union was at issue. The coalition got 31.0% of the vote for Italy's Chamber of Deputies and 30.8% of the country's Senate of the Republic vote.[8]

Following the victory of Christian Democracy (DC) with 48.5%, Italy became a founding member of NATO in 1949. After the electoral defeat, while the PCI and PSI remained allies at the national level until 1956 and would govern together at the local level into the 1990s, the coalition was dissolved. Despite the loss, the PCI established itself as the main opposition to the DC and went on to become the largest Communist party in Western Europe.[9]

## Composition

[edit]

Party  | Ideology  | Leader

|
|

| Italian Communist Party (PCI)  | Communism
Marxism–Leninism | Palmiro Togliatti
| Italian Socialist Party (PSI)  | Democratic socialism
Social democracy | Pietro Nenni

## Election results

[edit]

Restored 1948 graffito in Rome's Garbatella neighbourhood calling to vote for the Popular Democratic Front Chamber of Deputies

Election year  | Votes  | %  | Seats  | +/−  | Leader
1948 | 8,136,637 (2nd)  | 31.0  |

183 / 574

Palmiro Togliatti
Pietro Nenni

Senate of the Republic

Election year  | Votes  | %  | Seats  | +/−  | Leader
1948 | 6,969,122 (2nd)  | 30.8  |

72 / 237

Palmiro Togliatti
Pietro Nenni

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Gori, Francesca; Gons, Silvio (1963). Aggiornamenti sociali (in Italian). Vol. 14\. p. 217.
2. ^ Fedele, Santi (1978). Fronte popolare. La sinistra e le elezioni del 18 aprile 1948 (in Italian). Bompiani.
3. ^ Cacciatore, Giuseppe (1979). La sinistra socialista nel dopoguerra. Meridionalismo e politica unitaria in Luigi Cacciatore (in Italian). Dedalo. pp. 214–218. ISBN 978-8-8220-0347-8.
4. ^ Gundle, Stephen (1995). I comunisti italiani tra Hollywood e Mosca. La sfida della cultura di massa 1943-1991. Giunti. p. 86\. ISBN 978-8-8092-0642-7.
5. ^ Gori, Francesca; Gons, Silvio (1998). Dagli archivi di Mosca. L'URSS, il Cominform e il PCI (1943-1951) (in Italian). Carocci. p. 83\. ISBN 9788843010929.
6. ^ Tobagi, Walter (2009). La rivoluzione impossibile. L'attentato a Togliatti, violenza politica e reazione popolare (in Italian). Il Saggiatore. p. 16\. ISBN 978-8-8565-0112-4.
7. ^ Belco, Victoria (2010). War, Massacre, and Recovery in Central Italy, 1943–1948. University of Toronto Press. p. 498. ISBN 978-0-8020-9314-1.
8. ^ Mudambi, Ram; Navarra, Pietro; Sobbrio, Giuseppe (2001). "A History of the Italian Political System – 1913 to the Present". Rules, Choice and Strategy: The Political Economy of Italian Electoral Reform. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-1-7819-5082-1.
9. ^ Silvestri, Fabio (April 2008). "Quel Fronte poco popolare". 30 Giorni (in Italian). No. 4. Retrieved 5 July 2023.

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Italian Communist Party

Leadership|

| General Secretary|

* Amadeo Bordiga (1922–1923)
* Executive Committee (1923–1924)
* Antonio Gramsci (1924–1927)
* Camilla Ravera (1927–1930)
* Palmiro Togliatti (1930–1934)
* Ruggero Grieco (1934–1938)
* Palmiro Togliatti (1938–1964)
* Luigi Longo (1964–1972)
* Enrico Berlinguer (1972–1984)
* Alessandro Natta (1984–1988)
* Achille Occhetto (1988–1991)

|

President|

* Luigi Longo (1972–1980)
* Alessandro Natta (1989–1990)
* Aldo Tortorella (1990–1991)

Leader in the Chamber of Deputies|

* Luigi Longo (1946–1947)
* Palmiro Togliatti (1947–1964)
* Pietro Ingrao (1964–1972)
* Alessandro Natta (1972–1979)
* Fernando Di Giulio (1979–1981)
* Giorgio Napolitano (1981–1986)
* Renato Zangheri (1986–1990)
* Giulio Quercini (1990–1991)

Leader in the Senate|

* Mauro Scoccimarro (1948–1958)
* Umberto Terracini (1958–1973)
* Edoardo Pema (1973–1986)
* Gerardo Chiaromonte (1983–1986)
* Ugo Pecchioli (1986–1991)

Leader in the European Parliament|

* Giorgio Amendola (1979–1980)
* Guido Fanti (1980–1984)
* Giovanni Cervetti (1984–1989)
* Luigi Alberto Colajanni (1989–1991)

Publications|

* l'Unità (1924–1991)
* Vie Nuove (1946–1978)
* Pattuglia (1948–1953)
* Rinascita (1944–1991)

Related articles|

* Italian Socialist Party
* Culturalists
* XII International Brigade (Garibaldi Battalion)
* Italian resistance movement
* National Liberation Committee
* May 1947 crises
* AvtoVAZ
* Tolyatti
* Italian Communist Youth Federation
* Marxism–Leninism
* Bordigism
* Eurocommunism
* Migliorismo

Derivatives|

* International Communist Party
* Communist Party of Italy (Marxist–Leninist) / Italian Marxist–Leninist Party
* Italian (Marxist–Leninist) Communist Party
* Democratic Party of the Left / Democrats of the Left / Democratic Party
* Communist Refoundation Party / Party of Italian Communists

Alliances|

* Popular Democratic Front (1947–1948)
* Historic Compromise (1976–1980)

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Italian Socialist Party

Secretary|

* Carlo Dell'Avalle (1892–1894)
* Filippo Turati (1895–1896)
* Enrico Ferri (1896)
* Carlo Dell'Avalle (1896–1898)
* Alfredo Bertesi (1898–1899)
* Enrico Bertini (1899–1900)
* Savino Varazzani (1900–1904)
* Enrico Ferri (1904–1906)
* Oddino Morgari (1906–1908)
* Pompeo Ciotti (1908–1912)
* Costantino Lazzari (1912–1918)
* Egidio Gennari (1918)
* Costantino Lazzari (1918–1919)
* Arturo Vella (1919)
* Nicola Bombacci (1919–1920)
* Egidio Gennari (1920–1921)
* Giovanni Bacci (1921)
* Domenico Fioritto (1921–1923)
* Tito Oro Nobili (1923–1925)
* Olindo Vernocchi (1925–1930)
* Ugo Coccia (1930–1932)
* Pietro Nenni (1933–1939)
* Giuseppe Saragat, Oddino Morgari and Angelo Tasca (1939–1942)
* Giuseppe Romita (1942–1943)
* Pietro Nenni (1943–1945)
* Sandro Pertini (1945)
* Rodolfo Morandi (1945–1946)
* Ivan Matteo Lombardo (1946–1947)
* Lelio Basso (1947–1948)
* Alberto Jacometti (1948–1949)
* Pietro Nenni (1949–1963)
* Francesco De Martino (1963–1968)
* Mario Tanassi (1966–1968)
* Mauro Ferri (1968–1969)
* Francesco De Martino (1969–1970)
* Giacomo Mancini (1970–1972)
* Francesco De Martino (1972–1976)
* Bettino Craxi (1976–1993)
* Giorgio Benvenuto (1993)
* Ottaviano Del Turco (1993–1994)
* Valdo Spini (1994)

Related articles|

* Italian Workers' Party
* Italian Revolutionary Socialist Party
* Fasci Siciliani
* Avanti!
* Critica Sociale
* Red Guards
* Marxism
* Revolutionary socialism
* Maximalists
* National syndicalism
* Reformist socialism
* Social democracy
* Democratic socialism
* Division over World War I
* National Liberation Committee
* Italian resistance movement
* Craxism
* Sigonella incident
* Banco Ambrosiano scandal
* Mani pulite

Derivatives|

* Italian Reformist Socialist Party
* Fascio d'Azione Rivoluzionaria / Fasci Italiani di Combattimento / National Fascist Party / Republican Fascist Party
* Italian Communist Party / International Communist Party
* Unitary Socialist Party
* Maximalist Italian Socialist Party
* Socialist Unity
* Italian Democratic Socialist Party
* Italian Socialists / Italian Democratic Socialists / Socialist League
* Labour Federation
* Reformist Socialist Party
* Socialist Party / New Italian Socialist Party
* Italian Socialist Party (2007)
* Forza Italia (social-democrats faction)
* Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (social-democrats faction)

Alliances|

* Popular Democratic Front (1947-1948)
* Organic centre-left (1962-1976)
* Unified Socialist Party (1966-1971)
* Pentapartito (1981-1993)
* Alliance of Progressives (1994)

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Historical political parties in Italy

Communist|

* Proletarian Unity Party (1972–1984)
* Italian Communist Party (1921–1991)
* Proletarian Democracy (1978–1991)
* Party of Italian Communists (1998–2014)

Democratic socialist|

* Italian Revolutionary Socialist Party (1881–1893)
* Italian Workers' Party (1882–1892)
* Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity (1964–1972)
* Democratic Party of the Left (1991–1998)
* Democratic Left (2007–2010)
* Left Ecology Freedom (2010-2016)

Green|

* Rainbow Greens (1989–1990)
* Federation of Green Lists (1986–1990)
* Federation of the Greens (1990–2021)

Social-democratic and liberal-socialist|

* Italian Reformist Socialist Party (1912–1926)
* Unitary Socialist Party (1922–1930)
* Action Party (1929–1947)
* Labour Democratic Party (1943–1948)
* Union of Socialists (1948–1949)
* Unitary Socialist Party (1949–1951)
* Unified Socialist Party (1966–1969)
* Italian Socialist Party (1892–1994)
* Italian Democratic Socialist Party (1947–1998)
* Labour Federation (1994–1998)
* Democrats of the Left (1998–2007)
* Italian Democratic Socialists (1998–2007)
* Article One (2017–2023)

Radical and social-liberal|

* Action Party (1853–1867)
* Italian Radical Party (1904–1922)
* Democratic Party (1913–1919)
* Social Democracy (1922–1926)
* Republican Democratic Concentration (1946)
* Radical Party (1955–1989)
* Democratic Alliance (1993–1997)
* The Network (1991–1999)

Centrist and centrist liberal|

* Constitutional Democratic Party (1913–1919)
* Italian Democratic Liberal Party (1919–1926)
* Democratic Union for the Republic (1998–1999)
* Union for the Republic
* Italian Renewal (1996–2002)
* The Democrats (1999–2002)
* Segni Pact (1993–2003)
* Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (2002–2007)
* Civic Choice (2013–2019)
* Liberal Popular Alliance (2015–2018)

Regionalist and federalist|

* Movement for the Independence of Sicily (1943–1951)
* Federalists and Liberal Democrats (1994–1996)
* Federalist Italian League (1995–1996)
* Great South (2011–2013)

Christian-democratic|

* Italian Catholic Electoral Union (1906–1919)
* Conservative Catholics (1913–1919)
* Italian People's Party (1919–1926)
* Christian Democracy (1943–1994)
* Italian People's Party (1994–2002)
* Christian Democrats for the Republic (1998)
* Christian Democratic Centre (1994–2002)
* United Christian Democrats (1995–2002)
* European Democracy (2001–2002)
* Christian Democracy for Autonomies (2005–2009)
* Union of Democrats for Europe (1999–2013)

Conservative-liberal|

* Liberal Union (1913–1922)
* Italian Liberal Party (1922–1994)
* National Democratic Alliance (1953–1954)
* Union of the Centre

Liberal-conservative|

* Economic Party (1919–1924)
* Forza Italia (1994–2009)
* The People of Freedom (2009–2013)
* Future and Freedom (2010–2014)
* New Centre-Right (2013–2017)
* Conservatives and Reformists (2015–2017)
* Direction Italy (2017–2019)
* Cambiamo! (2019–2022)

National-conservative|

* Common Man's Front (1946–1949)
* Monarchist National Party (1946–1959)
* People's Monarchist Party (1954–1959)
* Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity (1959–1972)
* National Democracy (1977–1979)
* National Alliance (1995–2009)

Nationalist|

* Italian Nationalist Association (1910–1923)
* Combatants' Party (1919–1923)
* National Fascist Party (1921–1943)
* Republican Fascist Party (1943–1945)
* Italian Social Movement (1946–1995)

* List of political parties in Italy
* 19th-century Italian political groups
* Early 20th-century Italian political parties
* 1950s–1990s Italian political parties
* Current Italian political parties

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International|

* VIAF

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* United States

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