# 1921 Italian general election

General elections were held in Italy on 15 May 1921. 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.
The 1921 election was the last free election before Benito Mussolini's fascist coup d'état.

## 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). 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. 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.

## Parties and leaders

| Party | 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 Union (UL) | Liberalism | Luigi Facta | Government |
| Social Democracy (DS) | Social liberalism | Giovanni Antonio Colonna | Government |
| Communist Party of Italy (PCdI) | Communism | Amadeo 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

| | 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 Union | 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 | Total | 6,608,141 | 100.00 | 535 | +27 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 6,608,141 | 98.61 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 93,355 | 1.39 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 6,701,496 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | 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%
UL
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%
UL
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 |
| 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 |