1919 Italian general election

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All 508 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
255 seats needed for a majority
Turnout 56.58%
  Majority party Minority party Third party
  130x130px 130x130px 130x130px
Leader Nicola Bombacci Don Luigi Sturzo Vittorio Emanuele Orlando
Party Socialist Party People's Party Liberals, Democrats and Radicals
Seats won 156 101 91
Seat change Increase104 new party New
Popular vote 1,834,792 1,167,354 904,195
Percentage 32.28% 20.53% 15.91%

300px

Prime Minister before election

Francesco Saverio Nitti
Radical Party

Elected Prime Minister

Francesco Saverio Nitti
Radical Party

General elections were held in Italy on 16 November 1919.[1] The fragmented Liberal governing coalition lost the absolute majority in the Chamber of Deputies, due to the success of the Italian Socialist Party and the Italian People's Party.

Background

The elections took place in the middle of Biennio Rosso ("Red Biennium") a two-year period, between 1919 and 1920, of intense social conflict in Italy, following the First World War.[2] The revolutionary period was followed by the violent reaction of the Fascist blackshirts 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.[2] 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 Padan plain and were accompanied by peasant strikes, rural unrests and guerrilla conflicts between left-wing and right-wing militias.

Electoral system

The old system of using single-member constituencies with two-round majority voting was abolished and replaced with proportional representation in 58 constituencies with between 5 and 20 members.[3]

Parties and leaders

Party Ideology Leader Status before election
Italian Socialist Party (PSI) Socialism Nicola Bombacci Opposition
Italian People's Party (PPI) Christian democracy Luigi Sturzo Government
Liberals, Democrats and Radicals (LDR) Liberalism Vittorio Emanuele Orlando Government
Social Democracy (DS) Social liberalism Giovanni Antonio Colonna Government
Liberal Union (UL) Liberalism Giovanni Giolitti Government
Combatants' Party (PdC) Veteran interests Several Opposition
Radical Party (PR) Radicalism Francesco Saverio Nitti Government
Economic Party (PE) Conservatism Ferdinando Bocca Opposition
Reformist Socialist Party (PSRI) Social democracy Leonida Bissolati Government
Italian Republican Party (PRI) Republicanism Salvatore Barzilai Opposition

Voter turnout

Region Turnout
Abruzzi e Molise 51.3%
Apulia 54.2%
Basilicata 50.9%
Calabria 47.9%
Campania 49.9
Emilia 71.5%
Lazio 47.5%
Liguria 60.5%
Lombardy 67.4%
Marche 47.6%
Piedmont 63.0%
Sardinia 55.5%
Sicily 44.5%
Tuscany 61.3%
Umbria 56.2%
Veneto 51.5%
Total 56.6%
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Results

The fragmented Liberal governing coalition lost the absolute majority in the Chamber of Deputies, due to the success of the Italian Socialist Party and the Italian People's Party. The Socialists of Nicola Bombacci received the most votes in almost every region and especially in Emilia-Romagna (60.0%), Piedmont (49.7%), Lombardy (45.9%), Tuscany (41.7%) and Umbria (46.5%), while the People's Party were the largest party in Veneto (42.6%) and came second in Lombardy (30.1%) and the Liberal lists were stronger in Southern Italy (over 50% in Abruzzo, Campania, Basilicata, Apulia, Calabria and Sicily).[4]

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Popular vote
PSI
  
32.28%
PPI
  
20.53%
LDR
  
15.91%
DS
  
10.95%
UL
  
8.63%
PdC
  
4.10%
PR
  
1.95%
PE
  
1.54%
PSRI
  
1.45%
Others
  
2.68%
Seats
PSI
  
30.71%
PPI
  
19.69%
LDR
  
18.90%
DS
  
11.81%
UL
  
8.07%
PdC
  
3.94%
PR
  
2.36%
PE
  
1.38%
PSRI
  
1.18%
Others
  
1.97%

Leading parties by region

Region First party Second party Third party
Abruzzo-Molise LDRUL PSI PPI
Apulia LDRUL PSI PPI
Basilicata LDRUL PSI PPI
Calabria LDRUL PPI PSI
Campania LDRUL PPI PSI
Emilia-Romagna PSI LDRUL PPI
Lazio LDRUL PPI PSI
Liguria LDRUL PSI PPI
Lombardy PSI PPI LDRUL
Marche PSI LDRUL PPI
Piedmont PSI LDRUL PPI
Sardinia LDRUL PPI PSI
Sicily LDRUL PPI PSI
Tuscany PSI LDRUL PPI
Umbria PSI LDRUL PPI
Veneto PPI PSI LDRUL

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1047 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. 2.0 2.1 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.
  3. Nohlen & Stöver, p1032
  4. Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, Atlante storico-elettorale d'Italia, Zanichelli, Bologna 2009