1921 Italian general election

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1921 Italian general election

← 1919 15 May 1921 1924 →

All 535 seats to the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy
  Majority party Minority party Third party
  160x160px 160x160px style="text-align:center;border-bottom: 6px solid Template:National Blocs/meta/color"| 160x160px
Leader Giovanni Bacci Don Luigi Sturzo Giovanni Giolitti
Party Socialist Party People's Party [[National Blocs|Template:National Blocs/meta/shortname]]
Seats won 123 108 105
Seat change Decrease33 Increase8 new party
Popular vote 1,631,435 1,347,305 1,260,007
Percentage 24.7% 20.4% 19.1%
Swing Decrease7.6% Decrease0.1% new party

300px
     PSI      PPI      BN      PLD
     PLI      PDSI      PDR      SeT

Prime Minister before election

Giovanni Giolitti
Liberal Party

Elected Prime Minister

Ivanoe Bonomi
Italian 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 from Germanic and South Slav ethnicity.[2]

Historical background

From 1919 to 1920 Italy was shocked by a period of intense social conflict following the First World War; this period was named Biennio Rosso (Red Biennium).[3] 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.[3] 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.

In the general election of 1921, the Liberal governing coalition, strengthened by the joining of Fascist candidates in the National Blocs (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.[4]

Parties and leaders

Party Ideology Leader
Italian Socialist Party (PSI) Socialism, Revolutionary socialism Giovanni Bacci
Italian People's Party (PPI) Christian democracy, Popularism Luigi Sturzo
bgcolor="Template:National Blocs/meta/color" | National Blocs (BN) Italian nationalism, Anti-socialism Giovanni Giolitti
Democratic Liberal Party (PLD) Liberalism, Radicalism Francesco Saverio Nitti
Italian Liberal Party (PLI) Liberalism, Centrism Luigi Facta
Social Democratic Party (PDSI) Social liberalism, Radicalism Giovanni Antonio Colonna
Communist Party of Italy (PCdI) Communism Amedeo Bordiga
Italian Republican Party (PRI) Republicanism, Radicalism Eugenio Chiesa
Reformist Democratic Party (PDR) Reformism, Social democracy several
Combatants' Party (PdC) Italian nationalism, Veteran interests several

Coalitions

Coalition Parties
Majority
Italian People's Party (PPI)
bgcolor="Template:National Blocs/meta/color" | National Blocs (BN)
Democratic Liberal Party (PLD)
Italian Liberal Party (PLI)
Social Democratic Party (PDSI)
Combatants' Party (PdC)
Opposition
Italian Socialist Party (PSI)
Communist Party of Italy (PCdI)
Italian Republican Party (PRI)
Reformist Democratic Party (PDR)

Results

Summary of the 15 May 1921 Chamber of Deputies election results
Italian Parliament 1921.svg
Party Votes % Seats +/−
Italian Socialist Party 1,631,435 24.7 123 −33
Italian People's Party 1,347,305 20.4 108 +8
style="background-color:Template:National Blocs/meta/color"| National Blocs 1,260,007 19.1 105 New[5]
Democratic Liberal Party 684,855 10.4 68 −28
Italian Liberal Party 470,605 7.1 43 +2
Italian Social Democratic Party 309,191 4.7 29 −31
Communist Party of Italy 304,719 4.6 15 New
Italian Republican Party 124,924 1.9 6 −3
Reformist Democratic Party 122,087 1.8 11 New
Combatants' Party 113,839 1.7 10 −10
Lists of Slavs and Germans 88,648 1.3 9 New
Economic Party 53,382 0.8 5 −2
Independent Socialists 37,892 0.6 1 ±0
Dissident Populars 29,703 0.4 0 New
Italian Fasces of Combat 29,549 0.4 2 New
Invalid/blank votes 93,355
Total 6,701,496 100 535 +27
Registered voters/turnout 11,477,210 58.4
Source: Ministry of National Economy Archived 2017-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
Popular vote
PSI
  
24.69%
PPI
  
20.39%
BN
  
19.07%
PLD
  
10.36%
PLI
  
7.12%
PDSI
  
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%
PDSI
  
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 PDS FIC PE PSRI PLI PCd'I ANI SeT PRI PSdA PdC SI
bgcolor="Template:Sardinian Action Party/meta/color" |
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. 3.0 3.1 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.
  4. Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, Atlante storico-elettorale d'Italia, Zanichelli, Bologna 2009
  5. https://uca.edu/politicalscience/dadm-project/europerussiacentral-asia-region/italy-1919-1990/