By Jacob Braun

Giorgia Meloni and the center-right coalition at the Quirinal Palace, Quirinale, via WikiMedia Commons 

On October 22, 2022, Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Fratelli D’Italia party, became Prime Minister of the Italian Republic. Based on a platform of anti-establishment rhetoric and populist nativism, Meloni’s coalition would take 44% of the vote— a resounding majority compared to her leftist opponents. As of yet, it is too early to determine Italy’s future under the new PM, but it will certainly be a blast to the past. As the phase of full populist transition ends, the battle for a new Italian identity begins.

FdI ORIGINS

Fratelli D’Italia (or Brothers of Italy) emerged primarily from two neo-fascist Italian political parties: the Movimento Sociale Italiano and the Alleanza Nazionale. The party itself is relatively new having been founded in 2012, touted by Meloni as a “new party for old tradition. Built on the populist pillars of sovereignty, national unity and traditional values, the Fratelli D’Italia aimed to capture voters dissatisfied with the status quo of Italian politics (especially after Covid-19 and a sustained migrant crisis). Though the Fratelli D’Italia have roots in Italy’s fascist past, that did not seem to hinder their victory.

BRINGING FASCISM TO THE MAINSTREAM

The Fratelli D’Italia seem to be on a fine line of being considered fascist, or just part of the far-right wing. The party has gone through a significant amount of rebranding to make ties to its past more palatable, but it still attracts many who would hope to see a Mussolini-like restoration. Heck, the party’s slogan is still “God, family, fatherland,” which evokes the fascist past. Now in the mainstream of Italian politics, the Fratelli D’Italia have seemingly swung even further right— following the likes of Viktor Orban with an emphasis being placed on having children and making families, as well as an ardently anti-immigrant stance. 

Giorgia Meloni at CPAC 2022, VOX Spain, via WikiMedia Commons Public Domain 

WHAT COULD THIS MEAN?

As we come to the end of the transition period in this blog, a new phase of creation is evidently beginning in Italian politics. In my opinion, I believe the new government will focus on forging a new “Italian identity” within Europe— which could foreseeably have consequences which affect the EU or even NATO. As of yet, I think it’s too early to tell concretely what might happen. Until next time, ciao!

By Jacob Braun

Italian Customs boat enters port in southern Italy with Syrian Refugees, UNHCR/F.Noy, Copyright

Spurred on by widespread unrest within the Arab world caused by the 2011 Arab Spring protests, the Syrian Arab Republic was flung into a brutal civil war in early March of the same year. Until the breakout of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the Syrian Civil War would be the source of the largest refugee crisis in human history since the Second World War. With large amounts of majority Arabic, Muslim immigrants crossing the Mediterranean into Italy and Greece, a chain of events would unfold leading to an explosion in populist rhetoric within the EU.

A DECADE OF CRISIS

On entering the new millennium, the geopolitical landscape of the Mediterranean would change dramatically. Dictatorial regimes like Ben Ali’s in Tunisia and Qaddafi’s in Libya would be overthrown with the Arab Spring— with Al Assad’s regime seemingly up next on the chopping block. Through the ensuing civil wars and political upheavals, thousands of migrants would cross the Mediterranean to seek the safe shores of Italy or Greece as access points deeper into Europe.

POLITICIZING MIGRANTS

In the years following 2015, Populist parties in opposition to the Renzi and Gentiloni governments capitalized on their failures to revitalize the Italian economy as a result of a “migrant invasion.” Support for movements like the 5 Star Movement led by Beppe Grillo experienced a surge in recognition, popularizing anti-immigrant and anti-EU rhetoric within the Italian parliament. For instance, the former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini was notorious for his hardline stance on refugees coming from across the Mediterranean, having held aspirations to deport 500,000 immigrants as well as having declared Tunisia a country that exports convicts to Italy. 

LEAD-UP TO MELONI

Years of sustained populist rhetoric in the Italian parliament as a result of capitalizing on the Syrian Refugee crisis significantly shifted the political landscape much more in favor of the Italian right-wing. Because of this, I’d argue it was almost predictable that when another “political outsider” similar to Berlusconi entered the political arena campaigning “for the people,” they would be a ballot-box-office hit. This moment would arrive with Giorgia Meloni and her Fratelli d’Italia, who ring quite similar to the Trumpist Republicans of the United States. 

By Jacob Braun

Silvio Berlusconi, Italian House of Representatives 1994, via WikiMedia Commons Public Domain

Coming out of the major scandals that rocked the Christian Democrats and Italian Socialists, an unlikely political outsider takes the reins of Italy in the 1994 election: Silvio Berlusconi. Poised on bringing populist politics into the spotlight, Berlusconi and his centre-right coalition Forza Italia would prime the Second Republic to be a conservative European stronghold. Along with the official formation of the European Union in 1993, Berlusconi’s populism would prove to be beneficial to fellow conservatives later down the line…

POST-FASCISTS BACK IN FASHION

Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party was the main point of a three-party alliance which also included Lega Nord and the Alleanza Nazionale. These radical right-wing parties were strongly associated with the new Prime Minister’s anti-elitist and anti-corruption platform. Most notably, Alleanza Nazionale is the direct successor of the old postwar neofascist Movimento Sociale Italiano (Italian Social Movement)— which marks a distinct turning point in Italian politics. With the election of Berlusconi, parties which were once shunned as fascist and extremist were able to re-enter the spotlight because of their reinvention over the course of the 20th century.

POPULIST TRANSFORMATION

Italy would change wildly in its attitudes to its role in the European Union during the new millennium. Especially after the fears of 9/11 and the Global Recession of 2008, the Berlusconi government made its issues with EU “interference” very public. This culture of blaming Brussels for domestic political reasons became entrenched in Italy going into the 2010s, practically catapulting euroscepticism in the country into the mainstream. With the help of Berlusconi the Second Republic was kickstarted as one governed by populism, whose pillars would only be reinforced in the aftermath of the refugee crisis caused by the Syrian Civil War.

Asylum Applicants in Europe between 1 Jan. and 30 Jun. 2015, Maximilian Dörrbecker, via WikiMedia Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

By Jacob Braun

Former Italian Prime Minister Benedetto Craxi, Unknown Author, via WikiMedia Commons Public Domain

For the first time since the Second World War, a Socialist Party in Italy came to power with Benedetto “Bettino” Craxi as its Prime Minister in 1983. With promises of reform and continued efforts to improve the economy from a devastating recession, the situation in Italy seemed to be getting better as the Years of Lead came to a close. Corruption and scandal would rock the Craxi government, putting an end to the First Republic and giving rise to a new, populist type of politician.

DOWNWARD SPIRAL

Under the Craxi government, Italian inflation rates would drastically be reduced in tandem with the reduction of the indexation of wages. However, the growth of the economy spurred on by this change would incur unsustainable fiscal deficits, plunging Italy into a long-lasting cycle of debt repayment. All the while, Prime Minister Craxi lived an opulent lifestyle at the hotel Raphael while regular Italians struggled to make ends meet with an increasingly weakening Lira.

Benedetto Craxi being greeted by a salvo of coins, Robin Alves, via WikiMedia Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

DEATH OF THE REPUBLIC

In 1987, the Christian Democrat party withdrew their support of the Craxi government resulting in Benedetto Craxi’s resignation as Prime Minister. In 1992 a nationwide corruption scandal would be uncovered, implicating many DC and PSI politicians. The political landscape would be changed forever, seeing the disappearance of the Christian Democrat and Socialist parties, among others implicated in the scandal. The Italian First Republic was decidedly dead— but a new type of politician was looking to pick up the pieces and build back a better Second Republic.

THE RIGHT-WING RE-EMERGES

A media tycoon and coincidentally a friend of Benedetto Craxi, Silvio Berlusconi would become Prime Minister of Italy in 1994. The centre-right in a coalition with the Northern League and the National Alliance would take power on a platform of anti-corruption, guaranteed freedoms and small government. Populism took its hold on Italian politics with Berlusconi, paving the way for a wider populist movement within the European Union moving into the 21st century. The Second Republic would begin out of disdain for the First— was populism thus destined to take root in Italy?

By Jacob Braun

A Photo of the Aftermath of the Bologna Massacre, Beppe Briguglio, via WikiMedia Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

The Years of Lead (Anni di Piombo) began with the Hot Autumn strikes of 1969, where massive amounts of workers joined students protesting for social reforms in a similar fashion to the May 1968 demonstrations in France. Violence from both left- and right-wing sources would emerge, and for 15 terrible years the internal cohesion of the Italian First Republic was truly put to the test. This blog post looks to answer: is its failure what set us in motion to where we are now in 2022?

HISTORIC COMPROMISE AND SIFAR

In efforts to avoid an economic collapse following the Hot Autumn, the Christian Democratic Party reached out in a historical compromise (compromesso storico) with the Communist Party. With the tensions of the ongoing Cold War and fears of a Communist takeover within NATO, the conservative anti-communist governments of the time weren’t too thrilled. Thus, General Giovanni de Lorenzo prepared an emergency plan to be undertaken by the Carabinieri Arma (Solo Plan) to take over the government in the case of such an eventuality. This affair would be found out in 1964 and the SIFAR would be disbanded, but that didn’t stop the Italian government from undertaking a different strategy towards the violence in the decades to come.

STRATEGY OF TENSION

The Italian government in its quest for stability ostensibly collaborated with far right-wing groups in blaming attacks during the Years of Lead on far left-wing groups to popularize authoritarian policies amongst the people. This would essentially cement right-wing dominance in Italian politics to this day, morphing Italy into a stronghold of conservative politics.

Elections in Italy since 1946, Nick Mon, via WikiMedia Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

THE FIRST REPUBLIC ON ITS LAST LEGS

The political violence, scandals and corruption of the Years of Lead (we’ll go into the corruption in my next post!) almost irreparably destabilized Italy. It has certainly left its mark, seeing as about 53 years later Italians are still haunted by it. A transition period would be set in motion by the Years of Lead, paving the way for populist rhetoric to decisively entrench itself in the echelons of Italian government. I aim to post about the development of this populist rhetoric across the transition period from the Years of Lead to now, so hopefully this will all make sense once I’ve posted the rest of this “timeline.”

Ciao, until next time!