Historical Left
Historical Left Sinistra storica | |
---|---|
Leaders | |
Founded | 1849 |
Dissolved | 1913 |
Merged into | Liberal Union |
Ideology | Liberalism[1][2] Social liberalism[3] Reformism[4] Italian nationalism[5][6] Democratization[7][8][9] |
Political position | Centre[10] to centre-left[11] |
The Left group (
Different to its
History
Formation and consolidation
The Left originated from a parliamentary group inside the Sardinian Parliament as the opposition to the right-wing government of the Marquess of Azeglio. It was not a structured party, but simply an opposition divided in two tendencies:
- The Moderates (majority) led by Italian unification and favourable to cooperate with the Right dissident Count of Cavour.[12]
- The Radicals (minority) led by Giuseppe Garibaldi[13] supported a strong nationalism, democracy and tendency to republicanism.
The cooperation between Rattazzi and Cavour grew strong and the two plotted to oust D'Azeglio from office. After the 1851
The Sardinian intervention in the
During the 1860s after the Italian unification, the Left was in opposition, but the turmoils of that age were also reflected inside the group, which was now divided into three main factions:[1]
- The Third Party, led by Rattazzi,[18] was characterized by liberalism and a tempered progressivism.
- The Great Centre, led by Agostino Depretis,[19] and Agostino Bertani[20] was ambivalent toward the Right and supporting constitutionalism and modernization, but was still in favor of retaining the monarchy.
- The Intransigents, led by Action Party, supporting a left-populistnear-republicanism.
Depretis and Cairoli
After the death of Rattazzi in 1873, Depretis took over the leadership of the Left. In 1862, Depretis was briefly
We cannot allow that majorities must remain unchangeable [...]. Ideas grow up with actions, and like science advance and the world moves, so parties are transforming. They also undergo the law of motion, the occurrence of transformations.
This statement was the basis of the phenomenon of
The decline of Cairoli opened the door to Depretis, who was chosen to form a new government. During this long term from 1881 to 1887, the Left led by Depretis achieved a series of success, like the
Crispi, Giolitti and dissolution
In 1887, the longtime Depretis died in office and Zanardelli and Crispi were favoured for the succession. King Umberto I finally chose the radical Crispi because he was more favourable to an alliance with Germany rather than progressive Zanardelli.[35] Internally, Crispi reformed justice, supporting a law against administrative abuses and introducing the Zanardelli Code (named after the now Justice Minister),[36] expanded the suffrage for the communal voters, obtained more executive powers for the government, established undersecretaries in the several ministries and created the Health Superior Council.[37] Despite Crispi being more leftist than Depretis, he was also a strong nationalist and rapidly became near to German chancellor Otto von Bismarck and the Germanophile King Umberto II.[38] Crispi wanted reunite all the Italian-speaking territories in one nation, revealing to the German general Alfred von Waldersee his desire to annex the Austrian Trentino and French Nice.[39] Despite his successes, Crispi lost the parliamentary confidence in 1891 after a failed attempt to reduce state expensens and prefecture against the interests of many politicians.[40]
During the momentary isolation of Crispi, the former Treasury Minister
After that short parenthesis, Crispi was re-nominated Prime Minister despite the critics for his involvement in the Banca Romana scandal. One of the first act of the government was the reduction of state expenses together with income, land, salt and treasury bill taxes to face the economic crisis. Despite the initial Left tendencies, Crispi got worried about the Italian Socialist Party[44] and after the suppression of the labour movement of the Fasci Siciliani the executive changed the electoral law, permitting the vote only to the literate citizens, excluding 800,000 voters.[45] At the same time, Crispi tried to re-obtain popular support prosecuting a colonialist policy in Africa, consolidating the acquisition of Somaliland and Eritrea and starting the First Abyssinian War in 1894. Despite the initial successes, the Italian campaign resulted disastrous, with ruinous defeats at Amba Alagi in 1895 and Adwa in 1896. The last confirmed the end of the Crispi's political rule, who resigned from office.[46] The Crispi's resignation and the impairment of many members of the majority after the Banca Romana scandal, confirmed the end of the Left. The Left's remnants now constituted the Ministerial bloc inside the Parliament led by Giolitti, who finally realized the fusion between Right and Left in the Liberal Union in 1913.[47]
Electoral results
Chamber of Deputies | |||||
Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Leader |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1861 | 48,875 (2nd) | 20.4 | 62 / 443
|
–
|
|
1865 | 98,708 (2nd) | 35.2 | 156 / 443
|
94
|
|
1867 | 126,202 (1st) | 43.0 | 225 / 493
|
69
|
|
1870 | 92,499 (2nd) | 28.8 | 195 / 493
|
30
|
|
1874 | 150,119 (2nd) | 46.4 | 232 / 508
|
37
|
|
1876 | 243,319 (1st) | 70.2 | 424 / 508
|
182
|
|
1880 | 146,096 (1st) | 40.7 | 218 / 508
|
196
|
|
1882 | 695,147 (1st) | 56.8 | 289 / 508
|
71
|
|
1886 | 804,187 (1st) | 57.5 | 292 / 508
|
3
|
|
1890 | 1,165,489 (1st) | 78.9 | 401 / 508
|
109
|
|
1892 | 1,075,244 (1st) | 63.5 | 323 / 508
|
78
|
|
1895 | 713,812 (1st) | 58.6 | 334 / 508
|
11
|
|
1897 | 799,517 (1st) | 64.3 | 327 / 508
|
7
|
|
1900 | 663,418 (1st) | 52.3 | 296 / 508
|
31
|
|
1904 | 777,345 (1st) | 50.9 | 339 / 508
|
43
|
|
1909 | 995,290 (1st) | 54.4 | 336 / 508
|
3
|
Bibliography
- Cammarano, Fulvio (2011). Laterza (ed.). Storia dell'Italia liberale. ISBN 9788842095996.
- Giordano, Giancarlo (2008). Aracne (ed.). Cilindri e feluche. La politica estera dell'Italia dopo l'Unità. ISBN 9788854817333.
- Duggan, Christopher (2000). Laterza (ed.). Creare la nazione. Vita di Francesco Crispi. ISBN 9788842062196.
- Giolitti, Giovanni (1952). Einaudi (ed.). Discorsi extraparlamentari: saggio introduttivo di Nino Valeri.
- Gori, Annarita (2014). Franco Angeli (ed.). Tra patria e campanile. Ritualità civili e culture politiche a Firenze in età giolittiana. ISBN 9788891707505.
- Baranski, Zygmunt G.; West, Rebecca J. (2001). CUP (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Modern Italian Culture. ISBN 9780521550345.
References
- ^ a b Di Mauro, Luca. "Agostino Depretis e il trasformismo della Sinistra storica". Oilproject. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
- ISBN 9780816074747.
- ^ Wörsdörfer, Rolf (2015). "Koloniale Latecomers und Antikriegspolitik: SPD und PSI von den „Hottentottenwahlen" bis zum Parteitag in Reggio Emilia (1907-1912)" (PDF). Hundert Jahre Basler Friedenskongress (1912-2012). Die erhoffte „Verbrüderung der Völker“. p. 133.
- ^ "La politica interna della sinistra". Istituto Luigi Sturzo.
- ^ La politica di conquista coloniale di Crispi, Istituto Luigi Sturzo
- ^ Nation-building in 19th-century Italy: the case of Francesco Crispi, Christopher Duggan, History Today, February 1, 2002
- ^ "Sinistra storica italiana". Dizionario di Storia. 2011.
- ^ Mascilli Migliorini, Luigi (1979). Guida (ed.). La sinistra storica al potere: sviluppo della democrazia e direzione dello Stato, 1876-1878.
- ISBN 9788889142615.
- ISBN 9788849803358.
- ^ Giovanni Carasotti (24 November 2006). "I governi della Sinistra storica".
- ISBN 9788842074915.
- ^ Monsagrati, Giuseppe (1999). "Giuseppe Garibaldi". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Vol. 52.
- ^ Hearder, Harry (1994). Cavour. Un europeo piemontese. Laterza. p. 74.
- ^ "Discorsi parlamentari del conte Camillo di Cavour, raccolti e pubblicati per ordine della Camera dei Deputati". Vol. 4. Chamber of Deputies of Italy. 1865. p. 355.
- ^ Spadolini, Giovanni (1993). Longanesi (ed.). Gli uomini che fecero l'Italia. p. 359.
- ISBN 9788849292640.
- ^ Malandrino, Corrado (2016). "Urbano Rattazzi". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Vol. 86.
- ^ Romanelli, Raffaele (1993). "Agostino Depretis". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Vol. 39.
- ^ Di Porto, Bruno (1967). "Agostino Bertani". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Vol. 9.
- ^ Fonzi, Fausto (1984). "Francesco Crispi". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Vol. 30.
- ^ Cammarano (2011), p. 91.
- ISBN 9788879893459.
- ^ Giordano (2008), pp. 190–191.
- ^ Cammarano (2011), p. 77.
- ^ Pinto, Paolo (2002). Piemme (ed.). Il Savoia che non voleva essere re. p. 108.
- ^ Cammarano (2011), pp. 215–216.
- ^ Cammarano (2011), p. 101.
- ^ Giordano (2008), pp. 260–261.
- ^ Rogger, Hans (1965). UC Press (ed.). The European Right: an Historical Profile. University of California Press. p. 214.
- ^ Cammarano (2011), pp. 88–89.
- ^ Cammarano (2011), p. 94.
- ^ Giordano (2008), p. 270.
- ^ Cammarano (2011), p. 98.
- ^ Duggan (2000), pp. 593–595.
- ^ Duggan (2000), p. 615.
- ^ Duggan (2000), pp. 612–616.
- ^ Duggan (2000), pp. 606–607.
- ^ Duggan (2000), pp. 673–674.
- ^ Duggan (2000), pp. 727–730.
- ^ Baranski & West (2001), p. 44.
- ^ Giolitti (1952), p. 101.
- ^ "Italy Has Her Scandal; Ex-Premier Crispi Said To Be Involved" (PDF). The New York Times. 27 January 1893.
- ISBN 9788858640371.
- ^ Duggan (2000), pp. 789–792.
- ^ Duggan (2000), pp. 852–854.
- ^ Gori (2014), pp. 105–107.