The Italian Democratic Liberal Party (, PLDI) was a liberal and radical political party in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

during the earlier decades of the 20th century. Initially, the party was an alliance between progressive liberals, called Liberals, Democrats, and Radicals.

History

The

Liberals, Democrats and Radicals The Agreed Lists of Liberals, Democrats and Radicals () were a liberal and radical political alliance in Italy in the first decades of the 20th century. History It was formed for the 1919 Italian general election, arriving third after the Itali ...

' alliance was formed for the

1919 Italian general election General elections were held in Italy on 16 November 1919.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1047 The fragmented Liberal governing coalition lost the absolute majority in the Chamber of Deputies, due ...

. It came third after the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...

and the Italian People's Party, with 15.9% and 96 seats, doing particularly well in

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

and

Southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

, especially in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, the home region of party's leader and former Prime Minister Vittorio Emanuele Orlando. The party was formed for the

1921 Italian general election General elections were held in Italy on 15 May 1921.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1047 It was the first election in which the recently acquired regions of Trentino-Alto Adige, Venezia Giulia, ...

by the union of individual politicians, most of whom had taken part in the joint electoral lists between the Italian Radical Party and the Italian Liberal Party in many single-seat constituencies of the country in 1919, gaining 16.0% of the vote and 96 seats in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

. In 1921, it gained 10.5% of the vote and 68 seats, doing particularly well in

and

. The party suffered a strong setback in the 1924 Italian general election, which was held under strong intimidation from the fascist

Blackshirts The Voluntary Militia for National Security (, MVSN), commonly called the Blackshirts (, CCNN, singular: ) or (singular: ), was originally the paramilitary wing of the National Fascist Party, known as the Squadrismo, and after 1923 an all-vo ...

, and saw its share of votes decrease to 2.2%, electing 14 seats. The party was banned by the

Italian fascist Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...

regime on 6 November 1926, when the

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party (, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian fascism and as a reorganisation of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The party ruled the Kingdom of It ...

was proclaimed to be the only legal party in Italy. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, former Radicals and Democrats led by

Francesco Saverio Nitti Francesco Saverio Vincenzo de Paola Nitti (; 19 July 1868 – 20 February 1953) was an Italian economist and statesman. A member of the Italian Radical Party, Nitti served as Prime Minister of Italy between 1919 and 1920. An opponent of the ...

joined the National Democratic Union alongside Liberals and other elements of the old Liberal elite that governed Italy from the years of

Giovanni Giolitti Giovanni Giolitti (; 27 October 1842 – 17 July 1928) was an Italian statesman. He was the prime minister of Italy five times between 1892 and 1921. He is the longest-serving democratically elected prime minister in Italian history, and the sec ...

until the rise of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

and the instauration of the Fascist regime.

Ideology

The party was the expression of

liberalism and radicalism in Italy Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. Liberals espouse various and often mu ...

and the

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

, including cities'

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...

, small business owners, and

artisan An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...

s among its supporters. There was also a main group of Radicals, who supported

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

and universal public schooling for all children.

Electoral results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Democratic Liberal Party (Italy) Defunct political parties in Italy Defunct liberal political parties Liberal parties in Italy 1921 establishments in Italy Political parties established in 1921 1926 disestablishments in Italy Political parties disestablished in 1926 Banned political parties in Italy Radical parties in Italy