Popular Democratic Front (Italy)

Popular Democratic Front
Fronte Democratico Popolare
Leaders Palmiro Togliatti
Pietro Nenni
Founded 28 December 1947
Dissolved 18 April 1948
Ideology Socialism
Communism
Revolutionary socialism
Marxism-Leninism
Anti-fascism
Anti-Atlanticism
Political position Left-wing
Colors      Red
Politics of Italy
Political parties
Elections

The Popular Democratic Front (Italian: Fronte Democratico Popolare per la libertà, la pace, il lavoro) was a coalition (popular front) of Italian political parties for the Parliamentary election of 1948. It consisted of:

Its symbol was the picture of Italian Unification hero Giuseppe Garibaldi within a star. The Christian Social Party (PCS, Partito Cristiano Sociale) and the Sardinian Action Party (Partito Sardo d'Azione) were not allied with the coalition, and formed their own lists. The right wing of PSI opposed the Front, left the party, and funded the alternatite democratic list of Socialist Unity, which later became the Italian Democratic Socialist Party.

The elections of 1948 was maybe the most important one in Italian republican history, future alliance with United States or with Soviet Union being in game. The Popular Front managed to obtain 31.0% of the vote for the Chamber of Deputies and 30.9% of the vote for the Senate: the Christian Democracy party proved to be too strong in both cases. Following the defeat of the Front, Italy became a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949.


Election results

Chamber of Deputies
Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Leader
1948 8,136,637 (#2) 31.0
183 / 574
–
Palmiro Togliatti
Senate of the Republic
Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Leader
1948 6,969,122 (#2) 30.8
72 / 237
–
Palmiro Togliatti