Италия тарихы: 20 және 21 ғасырлар

20th and 21st century history of Italy

The history of the Italian Republic concerns the events relating to the history of Italy that have occurred since 1946, when Italy became a republic after the 1946 Italian institutional referendum. The Italian republican history is generally divided into two phases, the First and Second Republic. After the fall of the Fascist regime in Italy and the end of World War II, Italian politics and society were dominated by Christian Democracy (DC), a broad based Christian political party, from 1946 to 1994. From the late 1940s until 1991, the opposition was led by the Italian Communist Party (PCI). Christian Democracy governed uninterrupted during this period, dominating every cabinet and providing nearly every Prime Minister. It governed primarily with the support of an array of minor parties from the centre left to the centre right, including the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI), Italian Republican Party (PRI), and Italian Liberal Party (PLI), and even far right parties like the Italian Social Movement (MSI). The Communist Party was excluded entirely from government, with the partial exception of the short lived Historic Compromise, in which the PCI provided external support to a DC minority government from 1976 to 1979. The political situation was radically transformed in the early 1990s due to two major shocks: the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the wide reaching Tangentopoli corruption scandal from 1992 to 1994. The former caused the dissolution and split of the PCI and splintering of the opposition, while the latter led to the collapse of nearly every established political party in Italy, including Christian Democracy, the PSI, PSDI, PRI, PLI, and others. Anti establishment sentiment resulted in a 1993 referendum enabling the reform of the electoral system from pure proportional representation to a majoritarian leaning mixed system. Media magnate Silvio Berlusconi entered politics with his conservative Forza Italia party and won the 1994 general election, forming the short lived Berlusconi I Cabinet. He went on to become one of Italy's most important figures over the next two decades, serving as Prime Minister again from 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. The rise of the new conservative right saw the old centre and left consolidate into the Olive Tree coalition, comprising the post Communist Democrats of the Left and Christian democratic The Daisy, which together founded the Democratic Party (PD) in 2007. They competed against Berlusconi's centre right coalition, comprising Forza Italia, the right wing National Alliance, and northern Italian regionalist Northern League. The collapse of Berlusconi's fourth cabinet in 2011 resulted in the formation of the technocratic Monti Cabinet until 2013. Enduring dissatisfaction saw the rise of the populist Five Star Movement (M5S) and the Northern League (rebranded League, Lega). After the Italian general elections of 2013 and 2018, grand coalition governments were formed, this time with the participation of populist parties. The COVID 19 pandemic and its associated economic issues brought about a government of national unity led by Mario Draghi, the former president of the European Central Bank.

The 1994 elections marks the beginning of the Second Republic. They were the first elections to use the new Mattarellum majoritarian voting system, adopted in 1993 to replace the proportional representation system that had been in use since 1946. The transition from the first to the second Republic represented a change within the political system, rather than an overhaul of the constitution, as happened in France, as the republican constitution and most of the institutions but the voting system remained the same in force since 1948. The term is commonly used, at a journalistic but also a scientific level, to emphasize the comparison of the Italian institutional political structure before and after the period 1992–1994, but also its reflection on important economic aspects.

The 1994 elections also swept media magnate Silvio Berlusconi (leader of the Pole of Freedoms coalition, which included Forza Italia, the regionalist far right Lega Nord party and the far right National Alliance), into office as Prime Minister; however, Berlusconi was forced to step down in December 1994 when Lega Nord withdrew support because they disagreed on the pension reform. The Berlusconi government was succeeded by a technical government headed by Lamberto Dini, who left office in early 1996.

On 12 November 2011, Mario Monti was invited by President Giorgio Napolitano to form a new technocratic government following Berlusconi's resignation. Monti's government was made up of non political figures but received very wide support in Parliament, both on the centre right and on the centre left; the Northern League was in opposition. Monti proceeded to implement structural reforms and to cut government expenses.

After the general election held on 24 and 25 February 2013, the centre left alliance Italy Common Good led by the Democratic Party obtained a clear majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies, thanks to a majority bonus that has effectively trebled the number of seats assigned to the winning force, while in the popular vote it narrowly defeated the centre right alliance of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Close behind, the new anti establishment Five Star Movement of comedian Beppe Grillo became the third force, clearly ahead of the centrist coalition of outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti. In the Senate, no political group or party won an outright majority, resulting in a hung parliament. On 22 April 2013, the President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, after his re election and consultations with the political forces, gave to the vice secretary of the Democratic Party, Enrico Letta, the task of forming a government, because Pier Luigi Bersani, leader of the winning centre left coalition Italy Common Good, could not form a government because it did not have a majority in the Senate. thumb|Asylum seekers arrive in Sicily, 2015. The Arab Spring and the Syrian War caused a migrant crisis that saw hundred of thousands of boat people seeking refuge in Italy and other Mediterranean countries. In the European migrant crisis of the 2010s, Italy was the entry point and leading destination for most asylum seekers entering the EU. From 2013 to 2018, the country took in over 700,000 migrants and refugees, mainly from sub Saharan Africa, which caused strain on the public purse and a surge in the support for far right or Eurosceptic political parties. Letta's cabinet lasted until 22 February 2014, as the government fell apart after the Democratic Party retired its support of Letta in favour of Matteo Renzi, the mayor of Florence and nicknamed il Rottamatore ("The Scrapper", or "The Wrecker"). Renzi succeeded Letta as Prime Minister at the head of a new grand coalition government with Democratic Party, New Centre Right, Civic Choice, and a number of minor parties. The Renzi Cabinet is the youngest government of Italy up to date, with an average age of 47. In addition, it is also the first in which the number of female ministers is equal to the number of male ministers. On 31 January 2015 Sergio Mattarella, judge of the Constitutional Court, former DC minister and former member of the PD, was elected President of the Italian Republic at the fourth ballot with 665 votes out of 1,009, with support from the government parties, Left Ecology Freedom, and non party independents. Mattarella was officially endorsed by the Democratic Party, after his name was put forward by the Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Mattarella replaced Giorgio Napolitano, who had served for nine years, the longest presidency in the history of the Italian Republic. The Renzi cabinet had several new laws passed: labour was reformed (Jobs act), same sex unions were recognized, and a new electoral system was approved (labelled Italicum). The latter, however, was eventually abolished by the Constitutional Court. The government also tried to amend the Constitution to reform the composition and powers of the Parliament: however, when the voters were called to confirm or reject the reform through referendum, the majority (59%) voted against it. thumb|left|Exhausted nurse takes a break in an Italian hospital during the COVID 19 emergency. Renzi and his government resigned and President Mattarella appointed new Prime Minister, Renzi's minister of Foreign Affairs Paolo Gentiloni, who led Italy until the 2018 Italian general election, where the first party of Parliament become the anti establishment Five Star Movement. Through an alliance with Matteo Salvini's eurosceptical Lega Nord, Five Star Movement proposed to President Mattarella the appointment of Giuseppe Conte as new Prime Minister of a coalition government. After a failed attempt, caused by the veto of President Mattarella to the appointment of Paolo Savona as Minister of Finance, Conte formed the new government (Conte I Cabinet). However, in August 2019, after the 2019 European Parliament election where Lega Nord exceeded the Five Star Movement, and the increase of the tension between the political parties, Lega Nord proposed a no confidence vote versus Conte, so the Prime Minister resigned. After new consultations, President Mattarella reappointed Conte as Prime Minister in a coalition government between the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party, led by the new Secretary Nicola Zingaretti (Conte II Cabinet). In 2020, Italy was hit by the COVID 19 pandemic, along with several other countries. The Italian government implemented restrictive measures of social distancing and lockdown with the aim to slow down contagion. In January 2021, after some week of tension, the Conte II government lost the support of Italia Viva, the political party of former Prime Minister Renzi, so Conte, after some attempts to remain at the head of government, has to resign.