The Italian Unionist Movement () was a short-lived Italian

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

and federalist movement affiliated with the

World Federalist Movement World federalism or global federalism is a political ideology advocating a democratic, federal world government. A world federation would have authority on issues of global reach, while the members of such a federation would retain authority ove ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

that advocated for

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 ...

to become part of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The party was founded on 12 October (

Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. He went ashore at ...

) 1944 by sociologist

Ugo Damiani Ugo Damiani (13 March 1899 – 14 June 1992) was an Italian civil servant and politician. He was the sole representative of the Italian Unionist Movement in the Constituent Assembly of Italy. Biography Ugo Damiani was born in Accumoli, Ital ...

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

n activist

Santi Paladino Santi Paladino (1902 – 1981) was an Italian journalist, politician and writer, who is best known for his theory that Michelangelo Florio was the real author of the works of Shakespeare, a view he propounded in several publications from 1927 on. ...

and

ISTAT The Italian National Institute of Statistics (; Istat) is the primary source of official statistics in Italy. The institute conducts a variety of activities, including the census of population, economic censuses, and numerous social, economic, a ...

researcher

Corrado Gini Corrado Gini (23 May 1884 – 13 March 1965) was an Italian statistician, demographer and sociologist who developed the Gini coefficient, a measure of the income inequality in a society. Gini was a proponent of organicism and applied it to nat ...

. The party emblem featured a globe with the

American flag The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...

and

Italian flag The flag of Italy (, ), often referred to as The Tricolour (, ), is a flag featuring three equally sized vertical pales of green, white and red, with the green at the hoist side, as defined by Article 12 of the Constitution of the Italian Repub ...

and the words "Peace and work" () and "United States of the World" (). According to the three men, the

government of the United States The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...

should annex all free and democratic nations worldwide, beginning with Italy, thereby transforming itself into a

federal world government World government is the concept of a single political authority governing all of Earth and humanity. It is conceived in a variety of forms, from tyrannical to democratic, which reflects its wide array of proponents and detractors. There has ...

, and allowing

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

to maintain Earth in a perpetual condition of peace. Paladino stated, "With a federation of the United States, Italy and some other nations, and a lot of atomic bombs, there would be no wars. This would solve all of Italy's problems." Paladino argued that a closer union with the United States was necessary to counter the advance of

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

under

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. In January 1946, the party established a youth section known as the "Italian Unionist Youth" (). According to Noel Rawnsley—Chairman of The Federalists at the time—the Italian Unionist Movement was regarded as "the largest federalist organization in the world". The youth section was intended to "awaken in the minds of the young a lively sense of the brotherhood of man", advocating for federalist principles, democracy, and international collaboration. It was also resolved "to remain outside of all political competition, determined to adhere strictly to the principles of true democracy and in open opposition to every form of dictatorship". By focusing on youth engagement, the party sought to advance its vision of Italian alignment with the United States and a broader global federation. After some success in local elections in

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 ...

in 1946, the party ran in the

1946 Italian general election General elections were held in Italy on Sunday 2 and also on Monday 3 June (but until noon) 1946.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1047 They were the first after World War II and elected 556 deput ...

, the first general elections held in Italy after the fall of

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

. The party's results were very poor, receiving only 0.3% of votes, with only Ugo Damiani being elected as a

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

in the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

. As MP, Damiani supported federalistic ideas, but the main goal of the party was evidently impossible to reach. As the American government did not support the party or its project, the movement was disbanded in 1948.

Italian Parliament

References

External links

Ugo Damiani's Deputy Profile (in Italian)Ugo Damiani's profile on the Assemblea Costituente section of Camera.it (in Italian)North Milan News Article (in Italian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Italian Unionist Movement 1944 establishments in Italy 1948 disestablishments in Italy Conservative parties in Italy Defunct conservative parties Defunct liberal political parties Defunct political parties in Italy Federalist parties in Italy Italy–United States relations Liberal conservative parties Liberal parties in Italy Political parties disestablished in 1948 Political parties established in 1944 Proposed states and territories of the United States World federalist parties