The Republic, Social Upheavals

Since the late 1960s Italy has experienced dramatic social, economic, political, and religious developments. In 1968 students demanding educational reforms clashed with police on university campuses in Rome and other cities, and workers called general strikes to urge an overhaul of the social security system. Feminist issues became more important as a divorce law was adopted in 1973 and abortion was legalized in 1978. Problems of inflation, unemployment, and currency outflows increased with the 1974 recession and Italy’s huge oil import bills. Government deficits rose rapidly; massive international loans were needed to avert bankruptcy.

Throughout this period, Italy’s political system struggled to cope with the pace of change. The late 1960s and early 1970s were characterized by a series of short-lived, mainly coalition governments, led by the Christian Democrats. For a short period in 1974 the country was without a government altogether. As Italy’s economic problems worsened and a wave of extortive kidnappings and political violence swept the country, public confidence in the government declined, and support for the Communist Party, led by Enrico Berlinguer, increased.

In the June 1975 regional elections the Communists won 33 percent of the vote and pressed the government to support a long-term alliance between Communism and Roman Catholicism. In parliamentary elections in June 1976 the Communists made more gains, winning 35 percent of the vote; the Christian Democrats won 39 percent. The Christian Democrat leader Giulio Andreotti formed a new government with Communist support; by July 1977 the Communists were permitted a voice in policy making. The Andreotti government fell in January 1978 when the Communists insisted that the country’s economic crisis required emergency rule, with Communists holding cabinet positions. Finally, in March, Andreotti formed a new Christian Democrat government with formal support from the Communists. The eventual loss of Communist support led to Andreotti’s resignation in January 1979.