Historical Left
Historical Left Sinistra storica | |
|---|---|
| Historical leaders |
Urbano Rattazzi Agostino Depretis Benedetto Cairoli Francesco Crispi Giovanni Giolitti Vittorio Emanuele Orlando |
| Founded | 1849 |
| Dissolved | 1913 |
| Preceded by | Moderate Party |
| Merged into | Liberal Union |
| Headquarters | Rome |
| Ideology |
Liberalism[1] Democratic liberalism[2][3] Constitutionalism[4] |
| Political position | Centre[5] |
The Historical Left (Italian: Sinistra storica), officially known as The Left (Italian: La Sinistra), was a liberal and reformist parliamentary group in Italy during the second half of the 19th century. The members of The Left were also known as Democrats. It was founded in 1849 as opposition to the right-wing government of Massimo d'Azeglio; it was not a structured party, but simply an opposition formed both by radical politicians and moderate supporters of the existing constitutional monarchy, with no relevant differences with the ruling Historical Right.[6]
History
From 1849 to 1876, the Historical Left remained the parliamentary opposition, even during the short cabinets of Leftist Urbano Rattazzi which were supported only by Independent politicians.
In 1876, the Left leader Agostino Depretis was appointed Prime Minister with the support of some Rightist MPs who changed sides, forcing Prime Minister Marco Minghetti to resign. Depretis won the ensuing election with a large majority. The overthrown of Minghetti's government was called the "Parliamentary Revolution". However, Depretis immediately began to look for support among Rightist MPs, who readily changed their positions, in a context of widespread corruption. This phenomenon, known in Italian as Trasformismo (roughly translatable in English as "transformism"—in a satirical newspaper, the PM was depicted as a chameleon), effectively removed political differences in Parliament, which was dominated by an undistinguished liberal bloc with a landslide majority until after World War I.
Benedetto Cairoli and Francesco Crispi succeeded Depretis as Prime Minister. The Left supported protectionism and, in foreign relations, left the alliance with France joining the Triple Alliance with Germany and former archrival Austria.[7]
In 1892, the new leader of the Left, Giovanni Giolitti, won the election and he was nominated Prime Minister; Giolitti ruled at times up to 1921 with the support of both the coalitions, in a situation of huge parliamentary corruption. Giolitti has been the second-longest-serving Prime Minister of Italy. In the early 20th century, the Left and the Right merged in a single centrist and Liberal coalition which largely dominated the Italian Parliament against two smaller opposition: Conservative Catholics, composed by some Vatican-oriented politicians, and the Historical Far-Left, formed by the socialist faction which represented a real left in a present-day concept.
Platform and trends
The Left was the expression of urban bourgeoisie, small businessmen, journalists and academics. Despite his Right counterpart, the Left was the result of coalition who represented Northern and Southern middle class.[8] It also supported a right to vote and the public school for all children. Moreover, the party was against the high taxation's policies promoted by The Right and also launched authoritarian tendencies, with the prohibition of strikes and protests. Since 1890s, It promoted a colonial policy which saw the annexation of Eritrea, Somaliland and Libya.
In foreign relations, The Left was lesser nationalist and more pragmatic than Right,[9] and became progressively more "Germanophile" on diplomacy, supporting the Triplice Alliance of 1882 with Germany and Austria-Hungary.[10]
Electoral results
| Chamber of Deputies | ||||||
| Election year | # of overall votes |
% of overall vote |
# of overall seats won |
+/– | Leader | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1861 | unknown (#2) | 20.4 | 62 / 443 |
|
| |
| 1865 | unknown (#2) | 35.2 | 156 / 443 |
 94 |
| |
| 1867 | 126,202 (#1) | 43.0 | 225 / 493 |
69 |
| |
| 1870 | 92,499 (#2) | 28.8 | 195 / 493 |
 30 |
| |
| 1874 | 150,119 (#2) | 46.4 | 232 / 508 |
37 |
| |
| 1876 | 243,319 (#1) | 70.2 | 424 / 508 |
182 |
| |
| 1880 | 146,096 (#1) | 40.7 | 218 / 508 |
196 |
| |
| 1882 | unknown (#1) | 56.8 | 289 / 508 |
71 |
| |
| 1886 | unknown (#1) | 57.5 | 292 / 508 |
3 |
| |
| 1890 | unknown (#1) | 78.9 | 401 / 508 |
109 |
| |
| 1892 | unknown (#1) | 63.5 | 323 / 508 |
78 |
| |
| 1895 | 713,812 (#1) | 58.6 | 334 / 508 |
11 |
| |
| 1897 | unknown (#1) | 64.3 | 327 / 508 |
7 |
| |
| 1900 | 663,418 (#1) | 52.3 | 296 / 508 |
31 |
| |
| 1904 | 777,345 (#1) | 50.9 | 339 / 508 |
43 |
| |
| 1909 | 995,290 (#1) | 54.4 | 329 / 508 |
10 |
| |
References
- ↑ Il Trasformismo e la Sinistra Storica
- ↑ "Destra Storica Italiana". Treccani.
- ↑ "La politica interna della sinistra". Istituto Luigi Sturzo.
- ↑ Giovanni Carasotti (24 November 2006). "I governi della Sinistra storica".
- ↑ Luca Di Mauro. "Agostino Depretis e il trasformismo della Sinistra storica". Oilproject.
- ↑ La Stampa, 1876
- ↑ The European Right: an Historical Profile
- ↑ "Sinistra storica". Treccani. 2011.
- ↑ May, p. 393
- ↑ Giordano, pp. 219, 222, 225
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