1919 Italian general election

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.

1919 Italian general election

16 November 1919
All 508 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
Turnout	56.6%
Majority party Minority party Third party   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 104 new party new party Popular vote 1,834,792 1,167,354 904,195 Percentage 32.3% 20.5% 15.9% Swing 14.7% new party new party
Prime Minister before election Francesco Saverio Nitti Radical Party Elected Prime Minister Francesco Saverio Nitti Radical Party

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.[2]

Historical background

The election 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.[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, 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]

Parties and leaders

Party		Ideology	Leader
	Italian Socialist Party (PSI)	Socialism, Revolutionary socialism	Nicola Bombacci
	Italian People's Party (PPI)	Christian democracy, Popularism	Luigi Sturzo
	Liberals, Democrats and Radicals (LDR)	Liberalism, Radicalism	Vittorio Emanuele Orlando
	Democratic Party (PD)	Social liberalism, Radicalism	Giovanni Antonio Colonna
	Liberal Union (UL)	Liberalism, Centrism	Giovanni Giolitti
	Combatants' Party (PdC)	Italian nationalism, Veteran interests	several
	Radical Party (PR)	Radicalism, Republicanism	Francesco Saverio Nitti
	Economic Party (PE)	Conservatism, Liberism	Ferdinando Bocca
	Reformist Socialist Party (PSRI)	Social democracy, Reformism	Leonida Bissolati
	Italian Republican Party (PRI)	Republicanism, Radicalism	Salvatore Barzilai

Coalitions

Coalition		Parties
	Majority		Italian People's Party (PPI)
			Liberals, Democrats and Radicals (LDR)
			Democratic Party (PD)
			Liberal Union (UL)
			Radical Party (PR)
			Italian Reformist Socialist Party (PSRI)
	Opposition		Italian Socialist Party (PSI)
			Combatants' Party (PdC)
			Economic Party (PE)
			Italian Republican Party (PRI)

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

← Summary of the 16 November 1919 Chamber of Deputies election results →

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/−
	Italian Socialist Party	1,834,792	32.3	156	+104
	Italian People's Party	1,167,354	20.5	100	New
	Liberals, Democrats and Radicals	904,195	15.9	96	New
	Italian Social Democratic Party	622,310	10.9	60	New
	Liberal Union	490,384	8.6	41	−229
	Combatants' Party	232,923	4.1	20	New
	Radical Party	110,697	1.9	12	−50
	Economic Party	87,450	1.5	7	New
	Italian Reformist Socialist Party	82,157	1.4	6	−13
	Radicals, Republicans, Socialists and Combatants	65,421	1.2	5	New
	Italian Republican Party	53,197	0.9	4	-4
	Independent Socialists	33,938	0.6	1	−7
Invalid/blank votes		108,674	–	–	–
Total		5,793,492	100	508	±0
Registered voters/turnout		10,239,326	56.6	–	–

Popular vote PSI   32.28% PPI   20.53% LDR   15.91% PD   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% PD   11.81% UL   8.07% PdC   3.94% PR   2.36% PE   1.38% PSRI   1.18% Others   1.97%

First party by Region

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

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1047 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p1032
3. 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