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 Filippo Turati Don Luigi Sturzo Enrico Corradini 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 1919, 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

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
	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

Elections and referendums in Italy
General elections	1861 1865 1867 1870 1874 1876 1880 1882 1886 1890 1892 1895 1897 1900 1904 1909 1913 1919 1921 1924 1929 1934 1946 1948 1953 1958 1963 1968 1972 1976 1979 1983 1987 1992 1994 1996 2001 2006 2008 2013 next
European elections	1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014
Regional elections	1947 1949 1951 1953 1954 1955 1957 1959 1961 1963 1964 1965 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1974 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1981 1983 1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1990 1991 1993 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Local elections	1946 1951 1956 1960 1964 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Referendums	1946 1974 1978 1981 1985 1987 1989 1990 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2000 2001 2003 2005 2006 2009 2011 2016 (Apr) 2016 (Dec)
See also: Elections in Abruzzo Aosta Valley Apulia Basilicata Calabria Campania Emilia-Romagna Friuli-Venezia Giulia Lazio Liguria Lombardy Marche Molise Piedmont Sardinia Sicily Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Tuscany Umbria Veneto