Italian general election, 1921

Italian general election, 1921

15 May 1921
All 535 seats to the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Giovanni Bacci Don Luigi Sturzo Giovanni Giolitti Party Socialist Party People's Party National Blocs Seats won 123 108 105 Seat change 33 8 new party Popular vote 1,631,435 1,347,305 1,260,007 Percentage 24.7% 20.4% 19.1% Swing 7.6% 0.1% new party
Prime Minister before election Giovanni Giolitti Liberal Party Elected Prime Minister Ivanoe Bonomi Reform 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

Coalitions

Results

← Summary of the 15 May 1921 Chamber of Deputies election results →

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/−
	Italian Socialist Party	1,631,435	24.7	123	−33
	Italian People's Party	1,347,305	20.4	108	+8
	National Blocs	1,260,007	19.1	105	New
	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 People's Party	29,703	0.4	0	±0
	Italian Fasci 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	–	–

Results by Region

References