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1921 Italian general election
All 535 seats in the Chamber of Deputies; 268 seats needed for a majority
	PSI PPI BN PLD; PLI DS PDR SeT
Prime Minister before election; Giovanni Giolitti; PLI	Elected Prime Minister ; Ivanoe Bonomi; Reformist Socialist Party

General elections were held in Italy on 15 May 1921.^[1] It was the first election in which the recently acquired regions of Trentino-Alto Adige, Venezia Giulia, Zara and Lagosta island elected deputies, many of whom were from the Germanic and South Slavic ethnic groups.^[2]^[3]

Background

From 1919 to 1920, Italy was shocked by a period of intense social conflict following the First World War known as the Biennio Rosso (Red Biennium).^[4] The revolutionary period was followed by the violent reaction of the Fascist Blackshirt militia and eventually by the March on Rome of Benito Mussolini in 1922.

The Biennio Rosso took place in a context of economic crisis at the end of the war, with high unemployment and political instability. It was characterized by mass strikes, worker manifestations as well as self-management experiments through land and factories occupations.^[4] In Turin and Milan, workers councils were formed and many factory occupations took place under the leadership of anarcho-syndicalists. The agitations also extended to the agricultural areas of the Po Valley and were accompanied by peasant strikes, rural unrests and guerrilla conflicts between left-wing and right-wing militias.

In the general election of 1921, the Liberal governing coalition, strengthened by the joining of Fascist candidates in the National Bloc (33 of whom were elected deputies), came short of a majority. The Italian Socialist Party, weakened by the split of the Communist Party of Italy, lost many votes and seats, while the Italian People's Party was steady around 20%. The Socialists were stronger in Lombardy (41.9%), than in their historical strongholds of Piedmont (28.6%), Emilia-Romagna (33.4%) and Tuscany (31.0%), due to the presence of the Communists (11.9, 5.2 and 10.5%), while the Populars were confirmed the largest party of Veneto (36.5%) and the Liberal parties in most Southern regions.^[5]

Parties and leaders

	Ideology	Leader	Status before election
Italian Socialist Party (PSI)	Socialism	Giovanni Bacci	Opposition
Italian People's Party (PPI)	Christian democracy	Luigi Sturzo	Government
National Bloc (BN)	Conservatism	Giovanni Giolitti	Government
Democratic Liberal Party (PLD)	Liberalism	Francesco Saverio Nitti	Government
Liberal Party (PL)	Liberalism	Luigi Facta	Government
Social Democracy (DS)	Social liberalism	Giovanni Antonio Colonna	Government
Communist Party of Italy (PCdI)	Communism	Amedeo Bordiga	Opposition
Italian Republican Party (PRI)	Republicanism	Eugenio Chiesa	Opposition
Reformist Democratic Party (PDR)	Social liberalism	Several	Opposition
Combatants' Party (PdC)	Veteran interests	Several	Government

Results



Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Italian Socialist Party	1,631,435	24.69	123	−33
	Italian People's Party	1,347,305	20.39	108	+8
	National Bloc	1,260,007	19.07	105	New
	Democratic Liberal Party	684,855	10.36	68	−28
	Liberal Party	470,605	7.12	43	+2
	Social Democracy	309,191	4.68	29	−31
	Communist Party of Italy	304,719	4.61	15	New
	Italian Republican Party	124,924	1.89	6	−3
	Reformist Democratic Party	122,087	1.85	11	New
	Combatants' Party	113,839	1.72	10	−10
	Lists of Slavs and Germans	88,648	1.34	9	New
	Economic Party	53,382	0.81	5	−2
	Independent Socialists	37,892	0.57	1	±0
	Dissident Populars	29,703	0.45	0	New
	Fasci Italiani di Combattimento	29,549	0.45	2	New
Total		6,608,141	100.00	535	+27

Valid votes		6,608,141	98.61
Invalid/blank votes		93,355	1.39
Total votes		6,701,496	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		11,477,210	58.39
Source: National Institute of Statistics

Popular vote

PSI			24.69%
PPI			20.39%
BN			19.07%
PLD			10.36%
PL			7.12%
DS			4.68%
PCdI			4.61%
PRI			1.89%
PDR			1.82%
PdC			1.72%
Others			3.77%

Seats

PSI			22.99%
PPI			20.19%
BN			19.63%
PLD			12.71%
PL			8.04%
DS			5.42%
PCdI			2.80%
PDR			2.06%
PdC			1.87%
PRI			1.12%
Others			3.18%

Deputies elected by region

Region	PSI	PPI	PLD	DS	FIC	PE	PSRI	PL	PCdI	ANI	SeT	PRI	PSdA	PdC	SI
Region
Piedmont	16	12	13	1	3	4	–	1	5	1	–	–	–	–	–
Liguria	4	5	2	1	2	–	–	–	1	1	–	–	–	–	1
Lombardy	27	19	1	4	5	3	1	3	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
Veneto	17	19	2	3	4	1	1	1	–	–	–	1	–	–	–
Emilia-Romagna	14	8	4	1	7	2	–	–	2	–	–	2	–	–	–
Tuscany	12	8	4	2	4	2	1	2	3	–	–	1	–	–	–
Marche	4	5	2	1	1	2	–	–	1	–	–	1	–	–	–
Umbria	3	1	1	2	2	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Lazio	4	3	2	–	1	1	–	–	–	3	–	1	–	–	–
Abruzzi	3	1	6	3	2	–	1	1	–	1	–	–	–	–	–
Campania–Molise	4	9	16	18	–	–	6	2	–	2	–	–	–	2	–
Apulia	6	2	10	4	1	3	–	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Basilicata	1	–	4	1	–	1	3	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Calabrie	2	3	7	5	–	1	3	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–
Sicily	4	7	7	17	–	6	8	2	–	1	–	–	–	–	–
Sardinia	1	1	4	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4	–	–
Venezia Tridentina	2	5	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4	–	–	–	–
Venezia Giulia	–	–	–	–	4	–	1	3	2	1	5	–	–	–	–
Italy	124	108	85	65	36	27	25	17	15	11	9	6	4	2	1

References

^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1047 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
^ ITALY’S FRINGE OF ALIEN SUBJECTS, The New York Times, May 29, 1921
^ Ministry of National Economy
^ ^a ^b Brunella Dalla Casa, Composizione di classe, rivendicazioni e professionalità nelle lotte del "biennio rosso" a Bologna, in: AA. VV, Bologna 1920; le origini del fascismo, a cura di Luciano Casali, Cappelli, Bologna 1982, p. 179.
^ Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, Atlante storico-elettorale d'Italia, Zanichelli, Bologna 2009