Italy

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5

Christian Democratic Governments

In 1955 the government of new premier Antonio Segni played an active role in the negotiations leading to the signing of the European Common Market treaty. But by early 1957 the Segni government was hampered by the same characteristics of immobilismo (“do-nothingism”) that had become characteristic of Italian governments. The elections held in 1958 confirmed a slight but steady drift toward the Socialist left, reflecting a widespread desire for social and economic reform. The Socialists and the Christian Democrats were the main gainers, and the parties of the extreme right the chief losers.

In the 1960s the hopes of the Christian Democrats and Socialists to make gains at the expense of the Communists were disappointed. Although a government measure nationalizing the electrical industry pleased the left, differences between Christian Democrats and Socialists over the creation of new regional governments led to government crises. The moderate Socialists, however, entered the coalition government late in 1963. It was the first time the Socialists had agreed to enter a center-left coalition since 1947. Christian Democrat Aldo Moro became prime minister.

The Vatican strongly urged the Christian Democrats to put their house in order and, in addition, cracked down on left-wing Catholics interested in carrying on a “dialogue” with the Communists. Meanwhile, the Communists were shaken by the Socialist Party’s entrance into the government.

During 1964 the conservative and left-wing elements in the government persistently and fundamentally disagreed. The situation was rendered more serious by signs that a six-year economic boom would be ending because the factions were unable to agree on a policy to counter the threatened downturn. In 1965, however, the four parties in the coalition government agreed to set aside their political differences in order to take unified action against the economic slump. Throughout 1965 and 1966 the government headed by Moro maintained the confidence of the coalition parties. By 1966 the various factions of the Christian Democratic Party began to pull together under pressure from the church.

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6

Social Upheavals

By the late 1960s the continued postponement of major reforms gave rise to widespread protests by labor unions demanding better wages, better housing, and welfare provisions. In 1968 students demanding educational reforms joined the workers. The student and labor protests that year led to violent clashes with the police in many cities, and workers called general strikes to urge an overhaul of the social security system. The demands for reform indicated profound changes within Italian culture and a widespread revolt, particularly among younger people, against the conservative and authoritarian climate of the 1950s and 1960s and against the power exercised by the Catholic Church over censorship, family law, and reproductive issues. The protests forced the government to hold referendums that resulted in the legalization of divorce in 1973 and abortion in 1978.

An international economic depression, triggered by the rise in petroleum prices in 1973, added to Italy’s tensions, causing severe inflation, unemployment, and currency outflows. Government deficits rose rapidly, and massive international loans were needed to avert bankruptcy. As Italy’s economic problems worsened, public confidence in the government declined. For a short period in 1974 the country was without a government altogether. Support for the Communist Party, led by Enrico Berlinguer, increased.

In 1975 regional elections the Communists won 33 percent of the vote and pressed the government to support a long-term alliance between the Communists and the Christian Democrats. In parliamentary elections in 1976 the Communists made more gains, winning 35 percent of the vote; the Christian Democrats won 39 percent. The Christian Democrat leader Giulio Andreotti formed a new government with Communist support. Although barred from cabinet positions, the Communists stopped abstaining and began voting with the government. The eventual loss of Communist support led to Andreotti’s resignation in early 1979.

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7

Urban Terrorism

Starting in 1969 and continuing through the 1970s extremist political violence became a feature of Italian life. The first random bombings were carried out by neo-Fascist terrorists, whose aim was to destabilize the democratic process and open the way for an authoritarian coup. In response, left-wing extremists organized paramilitary terrorist cells and began to target public and labor union officials in the hope of encouraging a mass popular insurrection. At first these actions had widespread support, and the decision of Communist leader Berlinguer to support the Christian Democrat government in efforts to restore public order infuriated many on the left. The violence of the opposing terrorist organizations began to spiral out of control as politicians, police, journalists, and businessmen became terrorist targets.

The wave of political assassinations culminated in March 1978 when former prime minister Aldo Moro was kidnapped by a fanatical left-wing group, the Red Brigades, which made Moro’s release contingent on the freeing of other terrorists from Italian jails. The government refused to deal with Moro’s captors, and he was subsequently found murdered. But revulsion at Moro’s assassination deprived the terrorists of the popular support they had enjoyed earlier in the decade, and their organizations quickly unraveled.

Later inquiries revealed that the extreme right had been the first to resort to terrorist action, although their attacks were often deliberately disguised as the work of the left. Indiscriminate right-wing terrorist acts culminated in a bombing at the Bologna train station in August 1980 that killed 84 people. Through the 1980s evidence mounted of close ties between the extreme right and elements within Italy’s secret services.

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8

Shifting Alignments

During the 1970s and 1980s Italy’s Christian Democratic establishment was shaken by a series of scandals. In 1978 President Giovanni Leone resigned after he was accused of involvement in a bribery scandal. Other scandals brought down the government of prime minister Arnaldo Forlani in 1981. Afterward, Giovanni Spadolini, leader of the small Republican Party, became the first prime minister since 1945 who was not a Christian Democrat.

In 1983 Bettino Craxi became Italy’s first Socialist prime minister since the war. A flamboyant and effective political leader, Craxi dominated the politics of the 1980s. He served until March 1987, the longest tenure of any postwar leader, and reorganized the Socialist Party. The Craxi era was one of economic recovery and the rapid expansion of the consumer economy. In particular, Italy became the principal exporter of a wide range of consumer goods noted for their design. Family-based concerns such as Benetton played a major role. The Craxi era was followed by a period of short-lived coalition governments.

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9

Organized Crime

An uncontrolled expansion of organized crime, especially in the South, marked the 1980s in Italy. In 1982 the police chief who had masterminded the operations against the Red Brigades was sent to Sicily to bring to an end a wave of mafia killings. Six months later he and his wife were gunned down by mafia killers in downtown Palermo. In response, the government established a massive judicial investigation that resulted in the arrest and mass trials of hundreds suspected of links with the Mafia. Many Mafiosi testified for the prosecution, but their families were vulnerable to reprisals, and many of the convictions were overturned on appeal. In 1992 the Mafia carried out its most flagrant defiance of the government, killing the two judges who were leading the anti-Mafia investigations. In Naples, the Camorra was the equivalent of the Mafia in Sicily, and it became extremely powerful in the 1980s. Like the Mafia it owed its rise to political favors that gave access to lucrative public contracts.

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