The Republic, Parliamentary Elections

Meanwhile, the Constituent Assembly had drafted a constitution for Italy. Approved on December 22, 1947, by a vote of 453 to 62, the document became effective on January 1, 1948. The ensuing national election campaign was one of the most bitter and dramatic in Italian history. Coinciding with an intensification of the Cold War, the contest brought Italy to the verge of civil war. Displays of force became a central feature in the strategy of many parties. The Communist-led coalition, operating through the General Confederation of Labor, frequently used strikes as a political weapon. In reprisals against the Left, the government confiscated arms and ammunition and conducted intimidatory military demonstrations in various urban areas. Pope Pius XII sanctioned anti-Communist activity by the Italian clergy.

In the elections on April 18 and 19 the Christian Democratic Party won overwhelmingly. It received nearly 49 percent of the vote, giving it 307 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 151 in the Senate. The Popular Front, the coalition of Communists and left-wing Socialists, won 182 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 31 in the Senate. The right-wing Socialists elected 33 deputies; the remaining 52 seats went to minor parties.