Christian Democracy
Democrazia Cristiana
Former Italian National Party
Political ideology	Centrism, Christian Democracy
Official Newspaper	Il Popolo
Website	N/A
See also	Politics of Italy Political parties in Italy Elections in Italy Image File history File links Scudocrociato. ... In politics, centrism usually refers to the political ideal of promoting moderate policies which land in the middle ground between different political extremes. ... Christian Democracy is a heterogeneous political ideology. ... Politics of Italy takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Italy is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. ... Political parties in Italy are organized into two dominant political coalitions. ... Elections in Italy gives information on election and election results in Italy. ...

Christian Democracy, (Democrazia Cristiana), the Christian democratic party of Italy, commonly called the democristiani or "DC", dominated government for nearly half a century until its demise amid a welter of corruption allegations in 1992-94. Christian Democracy is a heterogeneous political ideology. ...

History

Early years

The party was in part a revival of the Italian People's Party (Italian: Partito Popolare Italiano) created in 1919 by the priest Don Luigi Sturzo but declared illegal by the Fascist regime in 1925 despite the presence of some members in Benito Mussolini's first government. 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Don Luigi Sturzo (Caltagirone, Italy, 26. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (July 29, 1883 – April 28, 1945) led Italy from 1922 to 1943. ...

As Fascism's ruin approached in the latter years of World War II, the Christian Democrats started organising post-Fascist Italy in certain competition but also for a time in coalition with the parties of the center and left. Breaking decisively with its former Communist coalition partners in May 1947, the party went on to win its greatest election victory in April 1948 with the support of the Church and the United States. Combatants Allies: Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France/Free France, United States, Canada, China, India, Australia, Poland, New Zealand, South Africa, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Burma Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian...

Forty-four years in power

From 1948 until the 1992, DC was the largest party in parliament, governing in successive coalitions with the smaller Liberal, Republican and Social Democratic parties and, after the 1963, with the Socialist party. Basing its electoral majority largely on the Catholic countryside, the party moved over time from its reformist origins to a more conservative role. A short-lived DC government led by Fernando Tambroni (1960), relying on parliamentary support from the Italian Social Movement, Fascism's ideological heir, was disowned by the party following widespread opposition. Later in the sixties, the increased political influence of the left-wing factions, led by Amintore Fanfani, moved the party to a center-left strategy based on the coalition with the Socialist Party. 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Rural areas are sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities and towns. ... Fernando Tambroni [Fernando Tambroni Armaroli] (Ascoli Piceno 1901 – Roma 1963) was an Italian politician of the Christian Democratic Party. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... The Italian Social Movement (Movimento sociale italiano ) (MSI) was a neo-Fascist party formed 1946 in the post-World War II period by supporters of the executed dictator Benito Mussolini under the lead of Giorgio Almirante. ... Amintore Fanfani (6 February 1908 - 20 November 1999) was an Italian politician and Prime Minister. ...

Factionalism

Party life came to be characterised according to adherence to respective correnti or factions, each identified with individual leaders. Among the leaders who built DC, notable names include those of Alcide De Gasperi, Antonio Segni, Amintore Fanfani, Giulio Andreotti, Aldo Moro and Francesco Cossiga. Many DC members were attacked in the 1970s, and in some cases murdered, by terrorists. Alcide De Gasperi Alcide De Gasperi (3 April 1881 - 19 August 1954) was an Italian statesman and politician. ... Antonio Segni (February 2, 1891, Sassari - December 1, 1972) was twice Prime Minister of Italy (1955-1957, and again 1959-1960). ... Amintore Fanfani (6 February 1908 - 20 November 1999) was an Italian politician and Prime Minister. ... Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti (born in Rome, 14 January 1919) is an Italian political figure, among the most powerful in post-war Italy. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Francesco Cossiga (born July 26, 1928) is an Italian politician and former President of the Italian Republic. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... Terrorism refers to a strategy of using violence, social threats, or coordinated attacks, in order to generate fear, cause disruption, and ultimately, bring about compliance with specified political, religious, or ideological demands. ...

Aldo Moro's murder

The abduction and murder of Aldo Moro in 1978 removed one of the party's most highly-regarded leaders. Aldo Moro was the leader that was trying to replicate the inclusion of the socialist party with the communist one, a highly contested manoeuvre in conservative circles. This policy became known as parallel convergences, or the historic compromise. However, this policy was no longer considered after Moro's murder, as the Red Brigades that kidnapped him claimed to be communist, although they did not support the communist party. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... The Partito Comunista Italiano (PCI) or Italian Communist Party emerged as Partito Comunista dItalia or Communist Party of Italy from a secession by the Leninist comunisti puri tendency from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) during that bodys congress on 21 January 1921 at Livorno. ... The term Historic Compromise (Italian:compromesso storico) most commonly refers to the accommodation between the Italian Christian Democrats (DC) and the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in the 1970s, after the latter embraced eurocommunism. ... The Red Brigades (Brigate Rosse) are a militant leftist group located in Italy. ...

Many conspiracy theories flourished about Moro's murder, and an account satisfactory for all parties involved may never be found. The main issues were: A conspiracy theory attempts to explain the ultimate cause of an event (usually a political, social, or historical event) as a secret, and often deceptive, plot by a covert alliance of powerful people or organizations rather than as an overt activity or as natural occurrence. ...

• When Moro was abducted, the government immediately took a hardline position: the "State must not bend" on terrorist requests. This was a much different position than the one kept in the kidnapping of Ciro Cirillo, a minor political figure for which the government negotiated with terrorists. It has been suggested that some politicians, especially Giulio Andreotti, took the chance of getting rid of a political competitor by letting the terrorists execute him.
• It has been claimed that the hideout of the Red Brigades in Rome where Moro was kept prisoner contained material received from Italian and/or NATO secret services. Also, more than one member of the BR commando would have been an undercover agent of some government agency, but these claims are inherently difficult to substantiate.
• Moro wrote a series of letters^[1] during his time as a captive, at times very critical of Andreotti. These letters were kept secret for decades, and published only in the early nineties.

After the recovery of Moro's body in a road midway between the headquarters of the Christian Democracy and the Communist party in Rome (with a clear symbolism), the Minister of the Interior Francesco Cossiga resigned, gaining trust from the Communist party, which would later make him the first President of the Republic to be elected at the first ballot. Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti (born in Rome, 14 January 1919) is an Italian political figure, among the most powerful in post-war Italy. ... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for collective security established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC, on 4 April 1949. ... This is a list of Italian Ministers of the Interior since 1861. ... Francesco Cossiga (born July 26, 1928) is an Italian politician and former President of the Italian Republic. ... This is the list of Presidents of the Italian Republic with the title since 1948. ...

Corruption and relations to the Mafia

Having ruled the nation for over 40 years with no alternative other than the Communist party, DC members had ample opportunity to abuse their power, and undoubtedly some did.

In the 1960s an MP was indirectly involved in the so-called Montesi scandal (a girl killed after a drug party), and president of Italy Giovanni Leone himself was forced to resign after a scandal involving Lockheed aeroplanes. The outrageously crowded Woodstock festival epitomized the popular antiwar movement of the 60s. ... Recreational drug use is the use of psychoactive drugs for recreational purposes rather than for work, medical or spiritual purposes, although the distinction is not always clear. ... Giovanni Leone Giovanni Leone (Naples, November 3, 1908 - November 9, 2001) was Prime Minister of Italy from June 21, 1963 to November 5, 1963 and again from June 24, 1968 to November 19, 1968. ... The Lockheed SR-71, remarkably advanced for its time and unsurpassed in many areas of performance The Lockheed U-2 first flew in 1955 providing much needed intelligence on Soviet bloc countries Lockheed Corporation was an aerospace company founded in 1912 which merged with Martin Marietta in 1995 to form...

The scandal regarding the secret society P2 forced the premier Arnaldo Forlani to resign, because he had delayed the publication of the member list (among which many high-ranking bureaucrats, enterpreneurs, army generals and also Silvio Berlusconi). P2 is the common name for the Italian pseudo-Freemasonic lodge Propaganda Due (Italian: Propaganda Two). ... Arnaldo Forlani (born Pesaro, Marche December 8, 1925) was Prime Minister of Italy from October 18, 1980 through May 26, 1981. ... Army (from French armée) can, in some countries, refer to any armed force. ... A General is an officer of high military rank. ... (born 29 September 1936) is an Italian politician, entrepreneur, and media proprietor. ...

Minister of Public Health Carlo Donat-Cattin was supposedly helped by the minister of Internal Affairs, Francesco Cossiga, to let his son Marco escape from the police while wanted as a terrorist of Prima Linea.

In 1992 an investigation was started in Milan, dubbed Mani Pulite. It uncovered endemic corruption practices at the highest levels, causing many spectacular (and sometimes controversial) arrests and resignations. After two years of mounting scandal and divisions, the party disbanded in 1994. Party treasurer Severino Citaristi became the recordman of investigations, with an impressive 72 investigations on him. 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese: Milán) is the main city of northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed region in Italy. ... Mani pulite (Italian for clean hands) was a nationwide Italian police investigation into political corruption held in the 1990s, following the scandal of Banco Ambrosiano in 1982, which implicated mafia, Vatican Bank and P2. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal. // Events January Bill Clinton January 1 : North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect. ...

Being the party's stronghold in the Italian south, it was likely that the Mafia and dishonest politicians may try to collaborate. Of all government parties, DC was the most associated with Mafia in the popular opinion. Leaders as Antonio Gava, Vito Ciancimino, Ciriaco De Mita and especially Giulio Andreotti were perceived by many to belong to a gray zone between simple corruption and mafia business. The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... Antonio Gava (born July 30, 1930 in Castellammare di Stabia) is an Italian politician and member of Christian Democracy. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Ciriaco Luigi de Mita (born February 2, 1928) is an Italian politician. ... Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti (born in Rome, 14 January 1919) is an Italian political figure, among the most powerful in post-war Italy. ...

In the 80s, the "Pentapartito" (five-party coalition) made up of Christian Democracy, Italian Socialist Party, Italian Socialist Democratic Party, Italian Republican Party and Italian Liberal Party was started as a government alliance. Its main aim was to keep the Italian Communist Party away from power. However, after a disappointing result in the elections of 1983 (just 34.8%), DC was forced to give away the premiership to the powerful secretary of the Italian Socialist Party, Bettino Craxi. Craxi stayed in office for 4 years, allowing DC representatives as ministers of internal and foreign affairs. The 4-year-long absence from the premiership only made things worse for DC; Craxi and his PSI became popular, and were seen as the real reforming party. However, after polling in 1987 the same electoral result of 1983, it still had the right to return to Palazzo Chigi. The following 5 years saw 3 prime ministers and a detoriating economic policy which nearly bought Italy to a financial disaster. Centuries: 1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century Decades: 30s - 40s - 50s - 60s - 70s - 80s - 90s - 100s - 110s - 120s - 130s 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 Note: Sometimes 80s is used as shorthand for the 1980s, the 1880s, or other such decades in different centuries. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Italian Social Democratic Party (Italian: Partito Socialista Democratico Italiano, often shortened to , PSDI) was founded in 1952 by the union of two parties: the Unitarian Socialist Party and the Workers Socialist Party. ... The Italian Republican Party (Partito Repubblicano Italiano) is an old left liberal party in Italy, with roots to Giuseppe Mazzini. ... The Italian Liberal Party (Italian: Partito Liberale Italiano, PLI) was an Italian free market liberal party. ... The Partito Comunista Italiano (PCI) or Italian Communist Party emerged as Partito Comunista dItalia or Communist Party of Italy from a secession by the Leninist comunisti puri tendency from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) during that bodys congress on 21 January 1921 at Livorno. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bettino Craxi Bettino Craxi (born Benedetto Craxi in Milan, Italy on February 24, 1934, died in Hammamet on January 19, 2000) was an Italian politician. ... Reform can refer to: Reform (think tank) Reform, Alabama Reform Judaism Reform movement Reform of an individual, from conditions stemming from crime, drugs, or physical maladies. ...

In the nineties, some of these politicians were acquitted, and their supporters claim this vindicates them. However, skeptics point out that many times these acquittals are based on the trial exceeding, sometimes narrowly, the statutory time limit, as it was the case for Andreotti. In some cases, though not in Andreotti's, this type of expiration was actively sought by employing delaying tactics. A statute of limitations is a statute in a common law legal system setting forth the maximum period of time, after certain events, that legal proceedings based on those events may begin. ...

After 1994

In January 1994 the last DC secretary Mino Martinazzoli decided to change the name of the party, which had suffered many defeats in 1993 local elections, into Italian People's Party. The Italian Peoples Party (PPI) was that party that succeded in January 1994 to the Christian Democracy. ...

Pierferdinando Casini and Clemente Mastella, representing the centre-right faction of the party (previously led by Arnaldo Forlani) decided to launch a new party called Christian Democratic Centre and to make an alliance with the new party of Silvio Berlusconi, Forza Italia. A leftish faction founded the Social Christians, which decided to enter in coalition with the Democratic Party of the Left. Pierferdinando (or Pier Ferdinando) Casini (born on 3 December 1955 in Bologna, Italy) is a Italian politician, President of the Chamber of Deputies, and member of the Democrats Centre Union (UDC) party. ... Mario Clemente Mastella (born 5 February 1947 in Ceppaloni, Benevento) is an Italian politician. ... Arnaldo Forlani (born Pesaro, Marche December 8, 1925) was Prime Minister of Italy from October 18, 1980 through May 26, 1981. ... The Christian Democratic Center was a political party born from a split from Italy Peoples Party (direct heir of the Christian Democracy) in 1994. ... (born 29 September 1936) is an Italian politician, entrepreneur, and media proprietor. ... Forza Italia is an Italian political party. ... Social Christians (Italian: Cristiano Sociali) is a social democratic party of the Christian Left founded in 1993. ... The Democratic Party of the Left (Italian: Partito democratico della Sinistra, or PdS) was the evolution in a social-democratic direction of the Italian Communist Party, or PCI. It was founded by Achille Occhetto, last secretary of the PCI and first of the PdS. The logo of the PdS consisted...

In any case many Christian Democrats decided to join directly Forza Italia, and in the years to come Forza Italia would have become the party with more ex-members of DC in absolute terms. Forza Italia is an Italian political party. ... Forza Italia is an Italian political party. ...

Ideology

The party's ideological sources are principally to be found in democratic and social Catholic doctrines of the 19th century (see Christian democracy), developed in France by Buchez, Lamennais and Le Play, and in Italy by Giuseppe Toniolo and Romolo Murri; in addition, the movement gained limited elements from liberal and social-democratic influences. Christian Democracy is a heterogeneous political ideology. ... Hughes Felicité Robert de Lamennais (June 19, 1782 - February 27, 1854), was a French priest, and philosophical and political writer. ...

Of particular influence were the two Papal encyclicals, Rerum novarum (1891) of Pope Leo XIII, and Quadragesimo anno (1931) of Pope Pius XI, which were offered a basis for social and political doctrine; in economy, DC opposed the concept of cooperation to competition, and rejected Marxism's idea of conflict among social classes. The Pope is the Catholic Bishop and patriarch of Rome, and head of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. ... In the ancient Church, an encyclical was a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area. ... Rerum Novarum is an encyclical issued by Roman Catholic Pope Leo XIII on May 15, 1891. ... 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Pope Leo XIII, born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci (March 2, 1810 – July 20, 1903), was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, having succeeded Pope Pius IX (1846–78) on February 20, 1878 and reigning until his death in 1903. ... Quadragesimo Anno is an encyclical by Pope Pius XI, issued 15 May 1931, 40 years after Rerum Novarum (thus the name, Latin for the fortieth year). Written as a response to the Great Depression, it calls for the establishment of a social order based on the principle of subsidiarity. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Pius XI (Latin: ), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (May 31, 1857 – February 10, 1939), reigned as Pope from February 6, 1922 and sovereign of Vatican City from 1929 until his death on February 10, 1939. ... Co-operation refers to the practice of people or greater entities working in common with commonly agreed-upon goals and possibly methods, instead of working separately in competition. ... Competition is the act of striving against another force for the purpose of achieving dominance or attaining a reward or goal, or out of a biological imperative such as survival. ... Marxism is the philosophy, social theory and political practice based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century German socialist philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary. ... Class struggle is class conflict looked at from a Marxist, libertarian socialist, or anarchist perspective. ...

The so-called "leftist wing" of DC, originating with Dossetti, Giorgio La Pira, and Lazzati (represented by the magazine Cronache Sociali), advocated dialogue with leftist parties and gave birth to the concept of center-left, proposing governments with minority socialist participation.

See also

• Secretaries of Democrazia Cristiana

This is a list of national secretaries of the Italian Christian Democracy Categories: ...

References

1. ^ Aldo Moro's letters from the "People's prison" (Italian).

External links

• Archive of DC posters
• Archive of DC posters, part 2

Political parties of Italy

	The Union	House of Freedoms
Represented in Parliament	Federation of the Olive Tree (Democrats of the Left, Daisy—Democracy is Freedom, European Republican Movement) | Communist Refoundation Party | Rose in the Fist (Italian Democratic Socialists, Italian Radicals) | Party of Italian Communists | Italy of Values | Federation of the Greens | Popular-UDEUR | South Tyrolese People's Party | Autonomy Liberty Democracy	Forza Italia | National Alliance | Union of Christian and Centre Democrats | LN/MpA (Northern League, Movement for Autonomy) | New DC/NPSI (Christian Democracy for the Autonomies, Socialist Party New PSI) | For Italy in the World with Tremaglia
Minor	Pensioners' Party | The Socialists | Italian Democratic Socialist Party | Left-Wing Radicals | Federation of Italian Liberals | Federation of Liberal Democrats | United Democratic Christians | Consumers' List | New Party of Action | United Consumers | Party of Christian Democracy | Republicans for the Union (Democratic Republicans, Republican Democracy) | League for Autonomy-Lombard Alliance | Project Sardinia | Veneto Front League	Social Alternative (Social Action, New Force, National Social Front) | Social Movement Tricolour Flame | Italian Liberal Party | Liberal Reformers | No Euro Movement | Italian Republican Party | Secular Italy | United Pensioners | Christian Extended Pact | CD - Shield with the Cross - Libertas | Environmental List-Ecological Democrats | Federalist Greens | S.O.S. Italy | New Sicily | Pact for Sicily | Unitalia
Regional	Aosta Valley Live | Die Freiheitlichen | Valdotanian Union | Ladins | Sardinian Action Party | Independence-Republic of Sardinia | Sardinia Nation | Union for South Tyrol | Sicilian Alliance
Others	Fascism and Freedom Movement | For the South | Green Greens | Humanist Party | Internationalist Communist Party | Italian Association in South America | Italian Marxist-Leninist Party | Liberal Socialist Action Party | Marxist-Leninist Italian Communist Party | Moderate Italy | Monarchist Alliance | National Democratic Party | National New Order | National Right-New ISM | North-East Project | Pact of Liberal Democrats | Social Idea Movement | Southern League
Historical	Christian Democracy | Italian Communist Party | Italian Socialist Party | Italian Social Movement | Democratic Party of the Left | Proletarian Democracy | Proletarian Unity Party | Democratic Alliance | National Fascist Party