{{Infobox Political Party , name = Sammarinese Democratic Union , native_name = Unione Democratica Sammarinese , logo = , colorcode = blue , leader = Manlio Gozi , foundation = 1920 , dissolved = 1925 , merged = , ideology =

Conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

Liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

Conservative liberalism Conservative liberalism or right-liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or simply representing the right-wing of the liberal movement. M. Gallagher, M. Laver and P. Mair, ''Repre ...

, affiliation1_title = Italian counterpart , affiliation1 =

Italian Liberal Party The Italian Liberal Party ( it, Partito Liberale Italiano, PLI) was a liberal and conservative political party in Italy. The PLI, which is the heir of the liberal currents of both the Historical Right and the Historical Left, was a minor party ...

, position =

Centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

, international = , colours = Blue , native_name_lang = it , headquarters = , newspaper = , country = San Marino The Sammarinese Democratic Union was a conservative political movement in

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

and a counterpart of the liberal coalition which ruled

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

before the fascist era.

History

During the early 20th century, the Sammarinese Democrats were a free group of liberal politicians which supported the democratic reforms introduced by the Meeting of 1906, and that were the moderate alternative to the

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

Sammarinese Socialist Party The Sammarinese Socialist Party ( it, Partito Socialista Sammarinese, PSS) was a socialist and, later, social-democratic political party in San Marino. Its Italian counterpart was the Italian Socialist Party and its international affiliation was w ...

. The

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

political wind blowing in the small republic, and the

plurality-at-large Plurality block voting, also known as plurality-at-large voting, block vote or block voting (BV) is a non- proportional voting system for electing representatives in multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of sea ...

electoral system An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and Referendum, referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political ...

, banned any type of consistent

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

activism in the Sammarinese political life for quite a dozen of years. The situation heavily changed due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Even if the country was officially neutral, many volunteers supported the Italian struggle alongside the democratic world, and the

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

striking the

Italian lira The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

hugely touched the Sammarinese economy, and finally the social and political life. Strikes and violence exacerbated the political situation, with the landowners taking strength in a match of respective extremisms. The Democratic Union was founded in the summer of 1920. It was not a political party, but a

political movement A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...

effectively claiming the return to the pre-1906 institutional asset. Despite the Union's third-place finish in the now- proportional elections of 1920 behind the

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

Sammarinese People's Party The Sammarinese People's Party (PPS) was a Christian democratic political party in San Marino, forerunner of the current Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party, and counterpart of the Italian People's Party (1919), Italian People's Party. Histor ...

and the Socialists, it began to be heavily helped by its

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

counterpart and, later, directly by some

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

squads led by

Italo Balbo Italo Balbo (6 June 1896 – 28 June 1940) was an Italian fascist politician and Blackshirts' leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force, Governor-General of Libya and Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa. Due to his young a ...

, and by a

Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

called by the Sammaninese government after the murder of Fascist activist Bosi on May 21, 1921.www.psd.sm (it.)
/ref> A Union member,

Giuliano Gozi Giuliano Gozi (7 August 1894 – 18 January 1955) was Secretary for Foreign Affairs and de facto Fascist leader of San Marino from 1918 until 1943. He also held the role of Captain-Regent of San Marino 5 times between 1923 and 1942. Early lif ...

, founded the

Sammarinese Fascist Party The Sammarinese Fascist Party ( it, Partito Fascista Sammarinese) or PFS was a fascist political party that ruled San Marino from 1923 to 1943. History The party was founded on 10 August 1922 and led by Giuliano Gozi, a Sammarinese World War I ...

as a Union spin-off on August 26, 1922. The Socialists were banned from the elections of 1923, during which the Union joined the Fascist-led ''Patriotic Bloc'' with all other

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

forces.

became an authoritarian, fascist state, and the Union disbanded itself in 1925.

References

Political parties established in 1920 Political parties disestablished in 1925 Liberal parties in San Marino Classical liberal parties Conservative liberal parties 1920 establishments in San Marino 1925 disestablishments in San Marino