page_title: Amintore Fanfani
section_title: General election in 1958 and second government
hierarchical_section_title: Amintore Fanfani / Leader of the party and Prime Minister / General election in 1958 and second government
caption_attribution_description: English: Amintore Fanfani
context_page_description: Amintore Fanfani was an Italian politician and statesman, who served as 32nd Prime Minister of Italy for five separate terms. He was one of the best-known Italian politicians after the Second World War, and a historical figure of the left-wing faction of Christian Democracy. He is also considered as one of the founders of modern Italian centre-left.
  Beginning as a protégé of Alcide De Gasperi, Fanfani achieved cabinet rank at a young age and occupied all the major offices of state over the course of a forty-year political career. In foreign policy, he was one of the most vocal supporters of European integration and established closer relations with the Arab world. In domestic policy, he was known for his cooperation with the Italian Socialist Party, which bring to an alliance which radically renewed the country, thanks to numerous reforms, including the nationalization of Enel, the extension of compulsory education and the introduction of a more progressive tax system.
  Fanfani served in numerous ministerial positions, including Minister of the Interior, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Labour, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Budget and Economic Planning.
context_section_description: In the 1958 general election, Fanfani run as secretary of the Christian Democrats and main candidate to become the next Prime Minister. The electoral result was similar to the one of five years before. The Christian Democracy gained 42.4% of votes, nearly doubling Palmiro Togliatti's Communist Party, which arrived second. However, the poor results of the other small centrist and secular parties kept the same problems of political instability within the centrist coalition, which characterised the previous legislature.
  The Christian Democracy resulted even more polarized between Fanfani's leftist faction and the opposite one which urged for a rightist policy; Fanfani relaunched his reformist agenda, advocating for a dialogue with the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), which had stopped its ties with the communists after the Hungarian Revolution. However, a government between DC and PSI was probably too premature due to the strong opposition of DC's right-wing, so, on 1 July 1958, Fanfani sworn in as new Prime Minister at the head of a coalition government with the Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI), and a case-by-case support of the Italian Republican Party (PRI).
  He then decided not to resign immediately as secretary of the DC, wanting to bring the party behind him, at least until a new congress. He started an active foreign policy, along the lines of the so-called "neo-atlantism", implementing a more autonomous foreign policy from the United States, presenting Italy as the main regional power of the Mediterranean Basin, trying to avoid the increase of Soviet Union's sphere of influence over the Arab countries. However, he failed to leave a mark in domestic politics, despite his ambitious proposal of a 10-year plan for the development of public school, which was approved by the Parliament but not implemented. His economic policy was characterized by an increasing public spending.
  The unprecedented concentration of power that he had achieved was also the main reason of his second government's decline. The outrageous conservative opposition resulted in a progressive breakdown of the internal majority faction, "Democratic Initiative". In January 1959, a conspicuous group of Christian Democrats started voting against their own government, forcing Fanfani to resign on 26 January 1959, after only six months in power. On 16 February, Antonio Segni sworn in as new Prime Minister. In March 1959, Fanfani resigned as party's secretary too, and Aldo Moro became the new leader. After few weeks, he founded a new faction, known as "Nuove Cronache" ("New Chronicles").
  In party's congress in October 1959, Moro was slightly confirmed secretary, after a thought battle with Fanfani, who was defeated thanks to the decisive vote of the right-wing faction of Mario Scelba and Giulio Andreotti.
  When the Italian Liberal Party (PLI) withdrew its support to Segni's government, Fanfani cooperated with Moro, attempting to establish a new centre-left government, with a case-by-case socialist support. However, this pact was strongly opposed by ecclesiastical hierarchies as well as the usual opposition of the DC's right-wing. After Fanfani's failure, Fernando Tambroni was appointed new Prime Minister. Tambroni, a right-wing conservative, received a decisive vote of confidence by the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI). The MSI had been banned by any type of political power since its birth under the theory of the "Constitutional Arch", which stated that any government or party which had voted the Italian Constitution, had to refuse any relationship with fascist and monarchist forces, seen as anti-constitutional groups. Strikes and revolts causing some casualties erupted through the country, and Tambroni had to resign within few months. On 26 July 1960, Fanfani returned to the premiership, this time with an openly centre-left program supported by the PSI abstention.
caption: Fanfani, as member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1963
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