Misplaced Pages

#200799

142-478: Aldo Moro ( Italian: [ˈaldo ˈmɔːro] ; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and prominent member of Christian Democracy (DC) and its centre-left wing. He served as prime minister of Italy in five terms from December 1963 to June 1968 and from November 1974 to July 1976. Moro served as Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs from May 1969 to July 1972 and again from July 1973 to November 1974. During his ministry, he implemented

284-472: A basic uniform pension largely financed by the state, known as the social pension. A law, which was approved on 22 July 1966, extended social security insurance to small traders, while the law of 22 July 1966 extended health insurance to retired traders. Another important reform was implemented with a bill that was approved on 29 May 1967. It extended compulsory health insurance to retired farmers, tenant farmers, and sharecroppers, and extended health insurance to

426-498: A document planning of economic policy drawn up by members of the Italian Catholic forces. It served as inspiration and guideline for economic policy of the future Christian democrats . In 1945, he married Eleonora Chiavarelli (1915–2010), with whom he had four children: Maria Fida (born 1946), Anna (born 1949), Agnese (born 1952), and Giovanni (born 1958). In 1963, Moro was transferred to La Sapienza University of Rome as

568-472: A false statement attributed to the Red Brigades that Moro was already dead. This was intended to communicate to the kidnappers that further negotiations would be useless since the government had written Moro off. As a Christian democrat with social-democratic tendencies, Moro is widely considered one of the ideological fathers of modern Italian centre-left , having led the first centre-left government in

710-508: A file on beatification for Moro; this is the first step to becoming a saint in the Catholic Church . In April 2015, it was reported that the process of beatification might be suspended or closed following the recent controversies. The postulator stated that the process would continue when the discrepancies were cleared up. The halting of proceedings was due to Mennini, the priest who heard his last confession, being allowed to provide

852-416: A large-scale manhunt, which was unsuccessful. On 7 May 1978, Moro sent a farewell letter to his wife. He wrote: "They have told me that they are going to kill me in a little while, I kiss you for the last time." On 9 May 1978, after 55 days of captivity, the terrorists placed Moro in a car and told him to cover himself with a blanket, saying that they were going to transport him to another location. After Moro

994-649: A leftist politician at the Quirinal Palace. On the twenty-first round of voting, the leader of the PSDI and former president of the Constituent Assembly, Giuseppe Saragat , was elected with 646 votes out of 963. Saragat was the first left-wing politician to become president of Italy. Despite the opposition by Segni and other prominent rightist members of the DC, the centre-left coalition, the first one for

1136-557: A member of the first parliamentary commission and in his book L'affaire Moro . In 2005, Sergio Flamigni , a leftist politician and writer who had served on a parliamentary inquiry on the Moro case, suggested the involvement of the Operation Gladio network directed by NATO . He asserted that Gladio had manipulated Moretti as a way to take over the Red Brigades to effect a strategy of tension aimed at creating popular demand for

1278-611: A new party called Christian Democratic Centre and form an alliance with Silvio Berlusconi 's new party, Forza Italia (FI). The left-wing factions stayed within the new PPI, though a minority would form the Social Christians in 1993 and would join forces with the post-communist Democratic Party of the Left (DPS). Some right-wingers, feeling Casini was still too moderate, joined the National Alliance . In 1995,

1420-565: A new phase to strengthen the Italian democratic system. In 1976, the PSI secretary Francesco De Martino withdrew the external support to the government and Moro was forced to resign. After the 1976 Italian general election , the PCI gained a historic 34% votes and Moro became a vocal supporter of the necessity of starting a dialogue between DC and PCI. Moro's main aim was to widen the democratic base of

1562-410: A new, right-wing law-and-order regime. In 2006, Steve Pieczenik was interviewed by Emmanuel Amara in his documentary film Les derniers jours d'Aldo Moro ("The Last Days of Aldo Moro"). In the interview, Pieczenik, an expert on international terrorism and negotiating strategies who had been brought to Italy as a consultant to Cossiga's Crisis Committee, stated: "We had to sacrifice Aldo Moro to maintain

SECTION 10

#1732779995201

1704-407: A pro- Arab policy. Moreover, he was appointed Italy's Minister of Justice and of Public Education during the 1950s. From March 1959 until January 1964, he served as secretary of the DC. On 16 March 1978, the kidnapping of Moro by the far-left armed group Red Brigades took place; he was killed after 55 days of captivity. Moro was one of Italy's longest-serving post-war prime ministers, leading

1846-621: A professor of the institutions of law and criminal procedure. Moro developed his interest in politics between 1943 and 1945. Initially, he seemed to be very interested in the social-democratic component of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) but then started cooperating with other Christian-democratic politicians in opposition to the Italian fascist regime. During these years, he met Alcide De Gasperi , Mario Scelba , Giovanni Gronchi , and Amintore Fanfani . On 19 March 1943,

1988-407: A progressive, led the party and Andreotti the government. This custom, in clear contrast with the principles of a Westminster system , deeply weakened DC-led governments, so that even with broad majorities they were unable to resolve differences between the several factions of the party, and ultimately turning the Italian political system into a de facto particracy ( partitocrazia ). From the 1980s

2130-417: A ransom in order to save Moro. When it became clear that the government would continue to refuse to negotiate, the Red Brigades held a summary trial, known as "the people's trial", in which Moro was found guilty and sentenced to death. They then sent a last demand to the Italian authorities, stating that if 16 Red Brigades prisoners were not released, Moro would be killed. The Italian authorities responded with

2272-547: A short-lived government led by Fernando Tambroni relying on parliamentary support from the Italian Social Movement (MSI), the post-fascist party. In 1963 the party, under Prime Minister Aldo Moro , formed a coalition with the PSI, which returned to ministerial roles after 16 years, the PSDI and the PRI. Similar " Organic Centre-left " governments became usual through the 1960s and the 1970s. From 1976 to 1979

2414-546: A sizeable Italian minority population. Some nationalist politicians called for the prosecution of Moro and Rumor, his long-time friend who was the then foreign affairs minister, for the crime of treason , as stated in Article 241 of the Italian Criminal Code, which mandated a life sentence for anybody found guilty of aiding and abetting a foreign power to exert its sovereignty on the national territory. Despite

2556-503: A statement to a tribunal in regards to Moro's kidnapping and confession. Following this, the beatification process was resumed. In January 2022, a note claiming responsibility for the abduction of Moro was auctioned despite widespread condemnation. A number of films have portrayed the events of Moro's kidnapping and murder with varying degrees of fictionalization. They include the following: Christian Democracy (Italy) Christian Democracy ( Italian : Democrazia Cristiana , DC )

2698-705: Is only a means through which the administration acknowledges the students' level of preparation. Students that do not pass the test can still enroll in their chosen degree courses but have to pass an additional exam during their first year. Sapienza University can boast several illustrious professors and alumni from the past and the present. From Nicolaus Copernicus to Maria Montessori , from Luigi Pirandello to Tullio De Mauro , from Sergio Mattarella to Mario Draghi . Numerous Nobel Prize winners have been professors or have graduated from Sapienza: Guglielmo Marconi , Enrico Fermi , Daniel Bovet , Emilio Segrè , Giulio Natta , Carlo Rubbia , Franco Modigliani . Among

2840-509: The 1948 Italian general election , he was elected with 63,000 votes to the newly formed Chamber of Deputies , and was appointed Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs in the fifth De Gasperi government from 23 May 1948 to 27 January 1950. After Dossetti's retirement in 1952, Moro founded, along with Antonio Segni , Emilio Colombo , and Mariano Rumor , the Democratic Initiative faction, which was led by his old friend Fanfani. In

2982-776: The 1948 general election the party had its best result ever (48.5%) and an absolute majority in the Italian Parliament . The party won 66.8% in eastern Lombardy (73.6% in the Province of Bergamo ), 60.5% in Veneto (71.9% in the Province of Vicenza ), 69.6% in Trentino and 57.8% in Friuli-Venezia Giulia , that is to say where the late Italian People's Party had its strongholds. In the Centre-South

SECTION 20

#1732779995201

3124-468: The 1953 Italian general election , Moro was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies, where he held the position of chairman of the DC parliamentary group. In 1955, was appointed as Italian Minister of Grace and Justice in the first Segni government led by Segni as Prime Minister of Italy . In 1956, he was among the most popular candidates, receiving the most votes during the party's congress. In May 1957,

3266-439: The 1971 Italian presidential election , Fanfani was proposed as the DC candidate for the office. His candidacy was weakened by the divisions within his own party and the candidacy of the PSI member Francesco De Martino , who received votes from PCI, PSI, and some PSDI members. Fanfani retired after several unsuccessful ballots and Moro was then proposed as a candidate by the left-wing faction. The right-wing strongly opposed him and

3408-773: The 2001 election . DL would be formed as an official political party in 2002, succeeding the PPI and its three allies. In 2007, DL would merge with the Democrats of the Left , the successor of the DPS, to form the Democratic Party , which is today the largest centre-left political party in Italy. The party's ideology drew on the Christian democratic doctrines developed from the 19th century referred to as Catholic social teaching ,

3550-799: The Christian Democratic Centre (CCD), while others directly joined Forza Italia . A split from the PPI, the United Christian Democrats (CDU), joined Forza Italia and the CCD in the centre-right Pole of Freedoms coalition (later becoming the Pole for Freedoms ), while the PPI was a founding member of The Olive Tree centre-left coalition in 1996. In its early years, the party was stronger in Northern Italy (especially in eastern Lombardy and Veneto ), due to

3692-711: The Italian Communist Party was the largest opposition party. From 1946 until 1994, the DC was the largest party in the Italian Parliament , governing in successive coalitions, including the Pentapartito system. It originally supported liberal-conservative governments, along with the moderate Italian Democratic Socialist Party , the Italian Liberal Party , and the Italian Republican Party , before moving towards

3834-549: The Italian Communist Party , DC members had ample opportunity to abuse their power, and some did. In the 1960s, scandals involved frauds such as huge illegal profits in the administration of banana import quotas and preferential allocation of purposely misprinted and therefore rare postage stamps. Giovanni Leone was forced to resign as President of the Italian Republic in 1978 after the Lockheed bribery scandals . He

3976-540: The Italian Parliament , De Gasperi continued to govern at the head of the centrist coalition, which was successively abandoned by the Liberals, who hoped for more right-wing policies, in 1950 and the Democratic Socialists, who hoped for more leftist policies, in 1951. Under De Gasperi, major land reforms were carried out in the poorer rural regions in the early postwar years, with farms appropriated from

4118-485: The Italian Republican Party (PRI). Moro was confirmed as the head of Italian education and remained in office until February 1959. During his tenure, he introduced the study of civic education in schools. In March 1959, after Fanfani's resignation as prime minister, a new congress was called. The leaders of the Democratic Initiative faction reunited themselves in the Convent of Dorothea of Caesarea, where they abandoned

4260-520: The Kingdom of Italy in 1870, La Sapienza rapidly expanded as the chosen main university of the capital of the newly unified state. In 1935 the new university campus, planned by Marcello Piacentini , was completed. Sapienza teaches and conducts research in all pure and applied sciences and humanities. It is often considered the best in the world for classics and ancient history . Sapienza houses 50 libraries with over 2.7 million books, most notably

4402-706: The Lazio region. To cope with the ever-increasing number of applicants, the Rector also approved a new plan to expand the Città Universitaria , reallocate offices and enlarge faculties, as well as create new campuses for hosting local and foreign students. The Alessandrina University Library ( Biblioteca Universitaria Alessandrina ), built in 1667 by Pope Alexander VII , is the main library housing 1.5 million volumes; it has some important collections including collezione ciceroniana and Fondo Festa . Since

Aldo Moro - Misplaced Pages Continue

4544-533: The Marxist idea of class struggle . The party thus advocated collaboration between social classes and was basically a catch-all party which aimed to represent both right-wing and left-wing Italian Catholics under the principle of the "political unity of Catholics" against socialism , communism and anarchism . It ultimately represented the majority of Italians who were opposed to the Italian Communist Party . The party was, however, originally equidistant between

4686-601: The Organic Centre-left involving the Italian Socialist Party . The party was succeeded by a string of smaller parties, including the Italian People's Party , the Christian Democratic Centre , the United Christian Democrats , and the still active Union of the Centre . Former DC members are also spread among other parties, including the centre-right Forza Italia and the centre-left Democratic Party . It

4828-466: The Segni Pact , and contemporary polling suggested heavy losses for the DC in the upcoming 1994 general election . In hopes of changing the party's image, the DC's last secretary, Mino Martinazzoli decided to change the name of the party into the Italian People's Party (PPI). Pier Ferdinando Casini , representing the right-wing faction of the party (previously led by Forlani) decided to launch

4970-514: The Soviet Union . Some rightist electors abandoned the DC for the Italian Liberal Party (PLI), which was asking for a centre-right government and received votes also from the quarrelsome monarchist area. Moro refused the office of prime minister, preferring to provisionally maintain his more influential post at the head of the party. Initially, the DC decided to replace Fanfani with a provisional administration led by an impartial president of

5112-598: The University of Bari and graduated in 1939. After graduation, he became a professor of philosophy of law and colonial policy (1941) and of criminal law (1942) at the University of Bari. In 1935, Moro joined the Italian Catholic Federation of University Students (FUCI) of Bari. In 1939, under the approval of Giovanni Battista Montini , the future Pope Paul VI, whom he had befriended, Moro

5254-477: The history of the Italian Republic , the Organic centre-left . He was the leading figure of the left wing of the DC, which he steered towards the left as the party's secretary-general from 1959 to 1964. While he was prime minister, a land reform was implemented in 1964; it has been described as the first steps towards abolishing sharecropping . Landless tenants were given cheap credit in order to allow them to own

5396-405: The 10th. The subject Physics & Astronomy of Sapienza is ranked 36th, Arts and Humanities is ranked 39th, and Psychology is ranked 70th. To cope with the large demand for admission to the university courses, some faculties hold a series of entrance examinations. The entrance test often decides which candidates will have access to the undergraduate course. For some faculties, the entrance test

5538-513: The 13,000 police officers mobilized, 40,000 house searches, and 72,000 road blocks, the police did not carry out any arrests. The event has been compared to the assassination of John F. Kennedy , and referred to as Italy's 9/11 . Although Italy was not the sole European country to experience terrorism, the list including France, Germany, Ireland, and Spain, the murder of Moro was the apogee of Italy's Years of Lead . Many details of Moro's kidnapping remain heavily disputed and unknown. This has led to

5680-508: The 1980s, the Italian economy was being undermined by a constant devaluation of the Italian lira and the issuing of large amounts of high-interest treasury bonds, so that, between 1982 and 1992, the excessive budget deficit built a significant proportion of the debt that would plague the country well into the 21st century. In 1992 the Mani pulite investigation was started in Milan , uncovering

5822-489: The 2011 reform, Sapienza University of Rome has eleven faculties and 65 departments. Today Sapienza, with 140,000 students and 8,000 among academic and technical and administrative staff, is the largest university in Italy. The university has significant research programmes in the fields of engineering, natural sciences , biomedical sciences and humanities . It offers 10 Masters Programmes taught entirely in English. As of

Aldo Moro - Misplaced Pages Continue

5964-677: The 2016 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Sapienza is positioned within the 151–200 group of universities and among the top 3% of universities in the world. In 2016, the Center for World University Rankings ranked the Sapienza University of Rome as the 90th in the world and the top in Italy in its World University Rankings . According to the QS Graduate Employability Ranking 2020, Sapienza places first amongst Italian universities for

6106-623: The Alessandrina University Library, built in 1667 by Pope Alexander VII , housing 1.5 million volumes. In addition it has 19 museums, a botanical garden, and three university hospitals. Sapienzas alumni includes 10 Nobel laureates , Italian prime ministers , one pope , Presidents of the European Parliament and European Commissioners , as well as several notable religious figures, supreme court judges, and astronauts. The Sapienza University of Rome

6248-519: The BR to life imprisonment for their role in the kidnapping and murder of Moro, among other crimes. Many elements and facts have never been fully cleared up, despite a series of trials, and this led to a number of other alternative theories about the events to become popularized. In 1993, historian Giuseppe Tamburrano  [ it ] expressed doubts about what was said by the Mafia pentiti in relation to

6390-404: The Chamber of Deputies , Giovanni Leone . When the congress of the PSI in autumn authorized a full engagement of the party into the government, Leone resigned and Moro became the new prime minister. Moro's first government was unevenly supported by the DC but also by the PCI, along with the PSDI and the Italian Republican Party (PRI). The coalition, which replaced the previous Centrism system,

6532-546: The Communists and the hard right represented by the Italian Social Movement . As a catch-all party, the DC differed from other European Christian Democratic parties, such as the Christian Democratic Union of Germany , that were mainly conservative political groupings. The DC, which included conservative as well as social-democratic and liberal elements was characterised by factionalism and by

6674-524: The DC gained more than 50% of the vote in Lazio (51.9%), Abruzzo (53.7%) and Campania (50.5%). From the late 1950s, the DC's support started to move South and by the 1980s it was stronger in the South than in the North, with the exception of Veneto, which remained one of the party's strongholds. In the 1983 general election the party suffered a dramatic decrease in term of votes and its electoral geography

6816-622: The DC governed with the external support of the PCI, through the Historic Compromise . Moro, who was the party main leader and who had inspired the Compromise, was abducted and murdered by the Red Brigades . The event was a shock for the party. When Moro was abducted, the government, at the time led by Giulio Andreotti , immediately took a hardline position stating that the "State must not bend" on terrorist demands. This

6958-513: The DC leaders and to Pope Paul VI. Some of those letters, including one that was very critical of Andreotti, were kept secret for more than a decade and published only in the early 1990s. In his letters, Moro said that the state's primary focus should be saving lives and that the government should comply with his kidnappers' demands. Most of the DC's leaders argued that the letters did not express Moro's genuine wishes, arguing they were written under duress, and thus refused all negotiations. This position

7100-513: The DC played a dominant role in the politics of Italy for fifty years, and had been part of the government from soon after its inception until its final demise on 16 January 1994 amid the Tangentopoli scandals. Christian Democrats led the Italian government continuously from 1946 until 1981. The party was nicknamed the "White Whale" ( Italian : Balena bianca ) due to its huge organisation and official colour. During its time in government,

7242-696: The DC, Moro was elected in the 1946 Italian general election a member of the Constituent Assembly of Italy , where he took part in the work to redact the Italian Constitution . It was during this period that his relations with the Italian Socialist Democratic Party (PSDI) and Italian social-democrats began. In 1946, Moro ran for the Bari–Foggia constituency , where he received nearly 28,000 votes. In

SECTION 50

#1732779995201

7384-473: The Italian post-war political life, stayed in power for nearly five years until the 1968 Italian general election , which was characterized by a defeat for DC's centre-left allies. The PSI and PSDI ran in a joint list named Unified Socialist Party (PSU), which lost many votes compared to the previous election, while the PCI gained ground, achieving 30% of votes in the Senate. The PSI and PSDI decided to exit from

7526-422: The Italian secret service. The agreement was defined and since then we have always respected it; we were allowed to organize small transits, passages, and purely Palestinian operations, without involving Italians. After the deal, every time I came to Rome, two cars were waiting for me to protect myself. For our part, we also guaranteed to avoid embarrassment to your country, that is attacks which started directly from

7668-475: The Italian soil." This version was confirmed by former president Francesco Cossiga , who stated that Moro was the real and only creator of the pact. Moro also had to cope with the difficult situation which erupted following the coup by Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, a very important country for Italian interests not only for colonial ties but also for its energy resources and the presence of about 20,000 Italians. In

7810-405: The Moro affair because, comparing the two memorials (the amputee of 1978 and the complete of 1990), he said that Moro's allegations addressed to Andreotti were the same, so Andreotti had no interest to order the murder of Carmine Pecorelli , who could not threaten him to publish things already known and publicly available. Andreotti underwent a trial for his role in the assassination of Pecorelli. He

7952-524: The PCI was strongly opposed by both superpowers of the Cold War era. The United States feared that the cooperation between PCI and DC might have allowed the PCI to gain information on strategic NATO military plans and installations. Moreover, the participation in the government of communists in a Western country would have represented a cultural failure for the United States. On the other hand,

8094-484: The PPI would ally with the DPS and several smaller centre-left parties to form The Olive Tree . The alliance, whose primary components were two legal successors to the two major political forces of pre-1990s Italy, won the election. Romano Prodi , an independent former PPI member, led the list and became prime minister. Faced with flagging poll numbers, the PPI formed Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (DL) after allying three other smaller, social liberal parties to contest

8236-412: The PSDI withdrew its support to the government and Segni resigned on 6 May 1957. On 20 May 1957, Adone Zoli was sworn in as the new head of government and Moro was appointed Italian Minister of Education . After the 1958 Italian general election , Zoli resigned. On 1 July 1958, Fanfani was sworn in as the new prime minister at the head of a coalition government with the PSDI and case-by-case support by

8378-527: The Soviet Union , implementing, together with the Spanish and French Communist parties, a new political theory and strategy known as Eurocommunism . Such a move made eventual cooperation more acceptable for DC voters, and the two parties began an intense parliamentary debate in a moment of deep social crises. In 1977, Moro was personally involved in international disputes. He strongly defended Rumor during

8520-562: The Soviets considered the potential participation by the PCI in a cabinet as a form of emancipation from Moscow and rapprochement to the Americans. On 16 March 1978, on via Fani, in Rome, a unit of the militant far-left organization known as Red Brigades (BR) blocked the two-car convoy that was carrying Moro and kidnapped him, murdering his five bodyguards. On the day of his kidnapping, Moro

8662-543: The University Fascist Groups. In 1943, along with other Catholic students, he founded the periodical La Rassegna , which was published until 1945. In July 1943, Moro contributed, along with Andreotti, Mario Ferrari Aggradi, Paolo Emilio Taviani , Guido Gonella, Giuseppe Capogrossi , Ferruccio Pergolesi, Vittore Branca , Giorgio La Pira , and Giuseppe Medici , to the creation of the Code of Camaldoli ,

SECTION 60

#1732779995201

8804-581: The actions of the church against Galileo in 1633. Sapienza University has many campuses in Rome, but its main campus is the Città Universitaria (University city), which covers 44 ha (110 acres) near the Roma Tiburtina Station . The university has satellite campuses outside Rome, the main one of which is in Latina . In 2011 a project was launched to build a campus with residence halls near Pietralata station , in collaboration with

8946-501: The beginning of the 1980s, the DC had lost part of its support among Italian voters. In 1981, Giovanni Spadolini of the PRI was the first non-Christian Democrat to lead a government since 1944, at the head of a coalition comprising the DC, the PSI, the PSDI, the PRI and the PLI, the so-called Pentapartito . In the successive 1983 general election , the DC suffered one of its largest declines in votes up to that point, receiving only 32.5% of

9088-460: The broadest possible privileges and decreed that the university should include the four schools of Law, Medicine, Philosophy and Theology. He introduced a new tax on wine to raise funds for the university; the money was used to buy a palace which later housed the Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza church. However, the university's days of splendour came to an end during the sack of Rome in 1527, when the studium

9230-423: The centre-left) and Giulio Andreotti (closer to the centre-right). Moreover, it was often the case that if the government was led by a centre-right Christian Democrat, the party was led by a left-winger and vice versa. This was what happened in the 1950s when Fanfani was party secretary and the government was led by centre-right figures such as Scelba and Segni, as well as in the late 1970s when Benigno Zaccagnini ,

9372-505: The centre-right United Christian Democrats , which were led by Rocco Buttiglione , split off from the PPI and also entered in alliance with FI. In the following years, most Christian Democrats joined FI, which became the party with the most ex-DC members in absolute terms. In December 1999, Forza Italia gained full membership in the European People's Party . The PPI would continue in a rump fashion, usually finding itself in left of centre political coalitions. In 1996 , under Franco Marini ,

9514-482: The coast of Palo Laziale, and not in Via Camillo Montalcini 8. In August 2020, about sixty individuals from the world of historical research and political inquiry signed a document denouncing the growing weight that the conspiratorial view on the kidnapping and killing of Moro has in public discourse. The Red Brigades proposed exchanging Moro's life for the freedom of several prisoners. There has been speculation that during his detention many government officials, including

9656-428: The country for more than six years. Moro implemented a series of social and economic reforms that modernized the country. Due to his accommodation with the Italian Communist Party leader Enrico Berlinguer , known as the Historic Compromise , Moro is widely considered to be one of the most prominent fathers of the modern Italian centre-left . He governed Italy through the Organic centre-left . Aldo Romeo Luigi Moro

9798-541: The double adherence of members to the party and to factions which were often identified with individual leaders. The DC's factions spanned the political spectrum from left to right and continually evolved over time. In the early years, centrists and liberal-conservatives such as Alcide De Gasperi , Giuseppe Pella , Ezio Vanoni and Mario Scelba led the party. After them, progressives led by Amintore Fanfani were in charge, though opposed by right wing led by Antonio Segni . The party's left wing, with its roots in

9940-467: The end of the long San Benedetto Val di Sambro tunnel under the Apennines . The bomb had been placed in the fifth passenger carriage and exploded at 01:23, while the train was reaching the end of the tunnel. The effects of the explosion and subsequent fire would have been even more terrible if the train had remained inside the tunnel. According to what his daughter Maria Fida stated in 2004, Moro should have been on board. A few minutes before departure, he

10082-429: The existence of an agreement between Italy and the PFLP, thanks to which the PFLP could "transport weapons and explosives, guaranteeing immunity from attacks in return". About the pact, Abu Sharif commented: "I personally followed the negotiations for the agreement. Aldo Moro was a great man, a true patriot, who wanted to save Italy some headaches, but I never met him. We discussed the details with an admiral and agents of

10224-430: The extra-parliamentary left. On 2 April 1978, Romano Prodi , Mario Baldassarri , and Alberto Clò, three professors of the University of Bologna , passed on a tip about a safe-house where the Red Brigades might be holding Moro. Prodi stated he had been given the tip by the DC founders from beyond the grave in a séance through the use of a Ouija board, which gave the names of Viterbo , Bolsena , and Gradoli . During

10366-446: The fact that DC's share of the vote was always between 38 and 43% from 1953 to 1979 , the party was more and more fractured. As a result, Prime Ministers changed more frequently. From 1954 the DC was led by progressive Christian Democrats, such as Amintore Fanfani , Aldo Moro and Benigno Zaccagnini , supported by the influential left-wing factions. In the 1950s the party formed centrist or moderately centre-left coalitions, and even

10508-462: The following days, trade unions called for a general strike , while security forces made hundreds of raids in Rome, Milan, Turin , and other cities searching for Moro's location, as places linked to Moro and the kidnapping became centres of minor pilgrimage. An estimate 16 million Italians took part in the mass public demonstrations. After a few days, even Pope Paul VI , a close friend of Moro's, intervened, offering himself in exchange for Moro. Despite

10650-522: The formation of a new cabinet, Segni, the then moderate DC member and president of Italy , asked the PSI leader Pietro Nenni to exit from the government majority. On 16 July 1964, Segni sent the Carabinieri general Giovanni de Lorenzo to a meeting of representatives of DC, in order to deliver a message in case the negotiations around the formation of a new centre-left government would fail. According to some historians, De Lorenzo reported that Segni

10792-404: The free-standing universities of Bologna and Padua . In 1431 Pope Eugene IV completely reorganized the studium and decreed that the university should expand to include the four schools of Law, Medicine, Philosophy, in addition to the existing Theology. In the 1650s the university became known as Sapienza , meaning "wisdom", a title it still retains. After the capture of Rome by the forces of

10934-433: The geological instability of Monte Toc on the southern side of the basin and other early warning signs reported prior to the disaster. Immediately after the disaster, government and local authorities insisted on attributing the tragedy to an unexpected and unavoidable natural event. Numerous warnings, signs of danger, and negative appraisals had been disregarded in the previous months and the eventual attempt to safely control

11076-444: The government and Saragat appointed Leone at the head of the new cabinet composed only by DC members. In the 1968 DC congress, Moro yielded the secretariat and passed to internal opposition. On 5 August 1969, he was appointed Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs by the then prime minister Mariano Rumor , a position that he also held under the premierships of Emilio Colombo and Giulio Andreotti . During his ministry, Moro continued

11218-500: The government had to control the rise of inflation , the reforms continued. The legal minimum wage was raised, all then current pensions were revalued, seniority pensions were introduced (after 35 years of contributions workers could retire even before attaining pensionable age), and within the National Institute for Social Security (INPS), a social fund ( fondo sociale ) was established, ensuring to all members pensioners

11360-479: The government, including the PCI in the parliamentary majority, in which the cabinets should have been able to represent a larger number of voters and parties. According to him, the DC should have been at the centre of a coalition system based on the principles of consociative democracy . This process was known as Historic Compromise. Between 1976 and 1977, Berlinguer's PCI broke with the Communist Party of

11502-575: The group reunited in the house of Giuseppe Spataro officially formed the Christian Democracy (DC) party. In the DC, he joined the left-wing faction led by Giuseppe Dossetti , of whom he became a close ally. In 1945, he became director of the magazine Studium and president of the Graduated Movement of Catholic Action ( Azione Cattolica , AC), a widespread Catholic lay association. After being appointed vice-president of

11644-487: The head of SADE's team of lawyers, Moro acted strongly to condemn the managers of the society. He immediately dismissed the administrative officials who had supervised the construction of the dam. On 25 June 1964, the government was beaten on the budget law for the Italian Ministry of Education concerning the financing of private education. On the same day, Moro resigned. During the presidential consultations for

11786-501: The indicator on Alumni Outcomes thanks to the number of university graduates employed in large companies and in managerial positions. In 2024, Sapienza University of Rome ranked 134th in the world in QS World University Rankings . The subject Classics and Ancient history of Sapienza is ranked the 1st in the world by QS World University Rankings by subject. As the same ranking, the subject Archaeology ranks

11928-466: The investigation of Moro's kidnapping, some members of law enforcement in Italy and of the secret services advocated for the use of torture against terrorists; prominent military members and generals, such as Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa , were against this. Dalla Chiesa once stated: "Italy is a democratic country that could allow itself the luxury of losing Moro, [but] not of the introduction of torture." During his kidnapping, Moro wrote several letters to

12070-480: The judicial truth was produced on the basis of the confession of the terrorist Valerio Morucci and that other evidence which contradicted his version was downplayed. Among these, other witness testimonies indicated that more than four people fired at Moro's convoy, multiple sources report that Moro was held captive in the apartment of Via Massimi 91 in Rome (a property of IOR), and then in Villa Odescalchi on

12212-399: The land. Economically, Moro's policies are seen as a response to socialist influence. Although central planning instruments were never used, a five-year economic programme was established in 1965. During all his political life, Moro implemented numerous reforms that deeply changed Italian social life; along with his long-time friend and at the same time opponent, Amintore Fanfani , he was

12354-416: The landslide into the lake by lowering its level came when the landslide was almost imminent and was too late to prevent it. The PCI newspaper L'Unità was the first to denounce the actions of management and government. The DC accused the PCI of political profiteering from the tragedy, promising to bring justice to the people killed in the disaster. Differently from Leone, who was his predecessor and became

12496-421: The large landowners and parcelled out to the peasants. In addition, during its years in office, Christian Democrats passed a number of laws safeguarding employees from exploitation, established a national health service, and initiated low-cost housing in Italy's major cities. De Gasperi served as prime minister until 1953 and died a year later. No Christian Democrat would match his longevity in office and, despite

12638-426: The left of the late Italian People's Party ( Giovanni Gronchi , Achille Grandi and controversial Fernando Tambroni ), was reinforced by new leaders such as Giuseppe Dossetti , Giorgio La Pira , Giuseppe Lazzati and Fanfani himself. Most of them were social democrats by European standards. The party was often led by centrist figures unaffiliated to any faction such as Aldo Moro , Mariano Rumor (both closer to

12780-632: The leftist policies promoted by Fanfani and founded the Dorotei (Dorotheans) faction. In the party's national council, Moro was elected secretary of the DC and was then confirmed in the October's congress held in Florence . After the brief right-wing government led by Fernando Tambroni in 1960, supported by the decisive votes of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI), the renovated alliance between Moro as secretary and Fanfani as prime minister led

12922-526: The moderate conservative Leone was slightly preferred to him. At the twenty-third round, Leone was finally elected with a centre-right majority, with 518 votes out of 996, including those of the MSI. On 4 August 1974, a bomb exploded on the Italicus Express, killing 12 people and injuring 48. The train was travelling from Rome to Munich ; having left Florence about 45 minutes earlier, it was approaching

13064-558: The most celebrated in Europe through the labours of the Trionfetti brothers. The first complete history of the Sapienza University was written in 1803–1806 by Filippo Maria Renazzi . University students were newly animated during the 19th-century Italian revival. In 1870, La Sapienza stopped being the papal university and became the university of the capital of Italy. In 1935 the new university campus, planned by Marcello Piacentini ,

13206-545: The multiplying coefficient was raised to 2% and it was applied to average earnings of the best three years in the last ten years of work and automatic annual adjustment of minimum pensions. A law of 27 December 1975 implemented ad hoc upgradings of cash benefits for certain diseases. During his premiership, Moro signed the Osimo Treaty with the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , defining

13348-541: The negotiations, Nenni had accepted the downsizing of his reform programs. On 17 July 1964, Moro went to the Quirinal Palace , with the acceptance of the assignment and the list of ministers of his second government. In August 1964, Segni had a serious cerebral hemorrhage and resigned after a few months. In the 1964 Italian presidential election , which was held in December, Moro and his majority tried to elect

13490-532: The official partition of the Free Territory of Trieste . The port city of Trieste with a narrow coastal strip to the northwest (Zone A) was given to Italy, while a portion of the north-western part of the Istrian peninsula (Zone B) was given to Yugoslavia. The Italian government was harshly criticized for signing the treaty, particularly for the secretive way in which negotiations were carried out, skipping

13632-442: The parliamentary debate on the Lockheed scandal , and some journalists reported that Moro himself might have been involved in the bribery. The allegation, with the aim of politically destroying Moro and avoiding the risk of a DC–PCI–PSI cabinet, failed when Moro was cleared on 3 March 1978, thirteen days before his kidnapping. The early-1978 proposal by Moro of starting a cabinet composed of DC and PSI members, externally supported by

13774-547: The party was divided between the centre-right led by Arnaldo Forlani (supported also by the party's right wing) and the centre-left led by Ciriaco De Mita (whose supporters included trade unionists and the internal left), with Andreotti holding the balance. De Mita, who led the party from 1982 to 1989, tried to transform the party into a mainstream "conservative party" in line with the European People's Party to preserve party unity. He became prime minister in 1988 but

13916-449: The political thought of Romolo Murri and Luigi Sturzo , and ultimately the tradition of the defunct Italian People's Party . Two Papal encyclicals , Rerum novarum (1891) of Pope Leo XIII , and Quadragesimo anno (1931) of Pope Pius XI , offered a further basis for the DC's social and political doctrine. In economics , the DC preferred competition to cooperation , supported the model of social market economy , and rejected

14058-592: The pro-Arab policy of his predecessor Fanfani. He forced Yasser Arafat to promise not to carry out terrorist attacks in Italian territory, with a commitment that was known as the Moro pact ( lodo Moro ). The existence of this pact and its validity was confirmed by Bassam Abu Sharif , a long-time leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Interviewed by Italian newspapers, such as Corriere della Sera and La Stampa , he confirmed

14200-564: The promotion of a number of alternative theories about the events, including conspiracy theories , which remain popular in Italy, where the judicial truth, which attributes responsibility for the operation exclusively to the Red Brigades, has failed to take root in the collective memory of Italians. Alternative theories gained traction with the institution of a special inquiring committee by the Italian Parliament in 2014 that concluded its operations in 2018. The committee concluded that

14342-468: The protagonist of a long-standing political phase, which brought the DC towards more left-wing politics through a cooperation with the Italian Socialist Party first and the Italian Communist Party later. Due to his reformist stances but also for his tragic death, Moro has often been compared to John F. Kennedy and Olof Palme . According to media reports on 26 September 2012, the Holy See received

14484-513: The province of Pordenone . The landslide caused a megatsunami in the artificial lake in which 50 million cubic metres of water overtopped the dam in a wave of 250 metres (820 ft), leading to the complete destruction of several villages and towns, and 1,917 deaths. In the previous months, the Adriatic Society of Electricity (SADE) and the Italian government, which both owned the dam, dismissed evidence and concealed reports describing

14626-440: The public. Leaders such as Antonio Gava , Calogero Mannino , Vito Ciancimino , Salvo Lima and especially Giulio Andreotti were perceived by many to belong to a grey zone between simple corruption and Mafia business, even if most of them were later acquitted. La Sapienza University Sapienza was founded on 20 April 1303 by decree from Pope Boniface VIII as a Studium for ecclesiastical studies under more control than

14768-407: The so-called Tangentopoli scandals (endemic corruption practices at the highest levels), and causing numerous, often controversial, arrests and resignations. After the dismal result in the 1992 general election (29.7%), also due to the rise of Lega Nord in northern Italy and two years of mounting scandals (which included several Mafia investigations which notably touched Andreotti), the party

14910-495: The stability of Italy." Pieczenik maintained that the United States had to "instrumentalize the Red Brigades". According to him, the decision to have Moro killed was taken during the fourth week of his detention, when Moro was thought to be revealing state secrets in his letters, namely the existence of Gladio. In another interview, Cossiga revealed that the Crisis Committee had also leaked, in a form of black propaganda ,

15052-720: The strong Catholic roots of those areas, than it was in the South . There, the Liberal establishment that had governed Italy for decades before the rise of Benito Mussolini still had grip on voters, as well as the Monarchist National Party and the Common Man's Front . The DC was very weak in Emilia-Romagna and Central Italy , where the Italian Communist Party was the dominant political force. In

15194-475: The subsequent National Congress, held in Naples in 1962, to approve with a large majority a line of collaboration with the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). The 1963 Italian general election was characterized by a lack of consensus for the DC; in fact, the election was held after the launch of the centre-left formula by the DC, a coalition based upon the alliance with the PSI, which had left their alignment with

15336-588: The successor parties of the DC continued to be key political actors only in the South, where the clientelistic way of government practised by the Christian Democrats and their allies had left a mark. In the 1996 general election the League gained 7 out of 8 single-seat constituencies in the Province of Bergamo and 5 out of 6 in the Province of Vicenza, winning well over 40%, while the combined score of

15478-413: The tensions within the government's majority, the close relations between Moro and the PCI leader Enrico Berlinguer guaranteed a certain stability to Moro's governments, allowing them a capacity to act that went beyond the premises that had seen them born. The fourth Moro government , with Ugo La Malfa as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy , started the first dialogue with the PCI, with the aim of beginning

15620-401: The then interior minister Francesco Cossiga , knew where he was being held. Italian politicians were divided into two factions: one favourable to negotiation ( linea del negoziato ) and the other totally opposing the idea of a negotiated settlement ( linea della fermezza ). The government immediately took a hardline position, namely that the state must not bend to terrorist demands. This position

15762-559: The three main post-DC parties (the new PPI , the CCD and the CDU ) was highest in Campania (22.3%). In the 1996 Sicilian regional election the combined score of those parties was 26.4%. The electoral results of the DC in general (Chamber of Deputies) and European Parliament elections since 1946 are shown in the chart below. Having ruled Italy for over 40 years with no alternative other than

15904-529: The traditional diplomatic channels. Since Istria had been an ancient Italian region, dating back to Roman Italy , together with the Venetian region of the Roman Empire , as Venetia et Histria , Italian nationalists of the MSI rejected the idea of giving it up. Between World War I and the end of World War II, Istria had belonged to Italy for twenty-five years, and the west coast of Istria had long had

16046-477: The unemployed in receipt of unemployment benefits. Moreover, a law of 5 November 1968 extended family allowances to the unemployed who received unemployment benefits. During his premiership, Moro had to face the outcome of one of the most tragic events in Italian republican history, the Vajont Dam disaster. On 9 October 1963, a few weeks before his oath as prime minister, a landslide occurred on Monte Toc , in

16188-516: The vote cast (a decline of -5.8% relative to 1981). Subsequently, Bettino Craxi (leader of the rising PSI) reclaimed for himself the post of prime minister, again at the head of a Pentapartito government. DC re-gained the post of prime minister in 1987, after a modest recovery in the 1987 general election (34.2%), and the Pentapartito coalition governed Italy almost continuously until 1993. While Italy experienced steady economic progress in

16330-544: The way for a centrist coalition that included the Italian Workers' Socialist Party (PSLI), a centrist break-away from the PSI, as well as its usual allies, the PLI and the PRI. In the 1948 general election the DC went on to win a decisive victory, with the support of the Catholic Church and the United States , and obtained 48.5% of the vote, its best result ever. Despite his party's absolute majority in

16472-478: Was a Christian democratic political party in Italy . The DC was founded on 15 December 1943 in the Italian Social Republic (Nazi-occupied Italy) as the nominal successor of the Italian People's Party , which had the same symbol, a crusader shield ( scudo crociato ). As a Catholic -inspired, centrist , catch-all party comprising both centre-right and centre-left political factions,

16614-578: Was a founding member of the European People's Party in 1976. The party was founded as the revival of the Italian People's Party (PPI), a political party created in 1919 by Luigi Sturzo , a Catholic priest. The PPI won over 20% of the votes in the 1919 and 1921 general elections , but was declared illegal by the Fascist dictatorship in 1926 despite the presence of some Popolari in Benito Mussolini 's first government. As World War II

16756-541: Was a very different position from the one taken in similar cases before and after (such as the kidnapping of Ciro Cirillo , a Campanian DC member for whom a ransom was paid thanks to the local ties of the party with the Camorra ). It was however supported by all the mainstream parties, including the PCI, with the two notable exceptions of the PSI and the Radicals . In the trial for Mafia allegations against Andreotti, it

16898-443: Was acquitted in the first instance trial (1999), convicted in the second (2002), and acquitted by Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation (2003). In a 2012 interview with Ulisse Spinnato Vega of Agenzia Clorofilla, the BR co-founders Alberto Franceschini and Renato Curcio remembered Pecorelli. Franceschini stated: "Pecorelli, before dying, said that both the United States and the Soviet Union wanted Moro's death." Additionally, that Moro

17040-487: Was appointed Prime Minister of Italy . The Christian Democracy party was opposed to both Fascism and Communism. In elections Italians were voting based on a way of life, not just a political party. Christian ideals were usually paired with the idea of freedom. In the 1946 general election the DC won 35.2% of the vote. In May 1947 De Gasperi broke decisively with his Communist and Socialist coalition partners under pressure from U.S. President Harry Truman . This opened

17182-615: Was born on 23 September 1916 in Maglie , near Lecce , into a family from Ugento in the Apulia region of the Kingdom of Italy . His father, Renato Moro, was a school inspector, while his mother, Fida Sticchi, was a teacher. At the age of 4, he moved with his family to Milan ; they soon moved back to Apulia, where he gained a classical high school degree at Archita lyceum in Taranto . In 1934, his family moved to Bari . There, he studied law at

17324-497: Was chosen as president of the association. He kept the post until 1942, when he was forced to fight in the World War II and was succeeded by Giulio Andreotti , who at the time was a law student from Rome . During his university years, Italy was ruled by the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini , and Moro took part in students competitions known as Lictors of Culture and Art organized by the local fascist students' organization,

17466-459: Was closed, some of the professors were killed and others dispersed. Pope Paul III restored the university shortly after his election to the pontificate in 1534. In the 1650s the university became known as Sapienza, meaning wisdom, a title it retains. In 1703, with his private funds, Pope Clement XI purchased some land on the Janiculum , where he created a botanical garden, which soon became

17608-565: Was completed. On 15 January 2008 the Vatican cancelled a planned visit to La Sapienza University by Pope Benedict XVI who was to speak at the university ceremony launching the 2008 academic year due to protests by some students and professors. The title of the speech would have been 'The Truth Makes Us Good and Goodness is Truth'. Some students and professors protested in reaction to a 1990 speech that Pope Benedict XVI (then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) gave in which he, in their opinion, endorsed

17750-587: Was covered, they shot him ten times. According to the official reconstruction after a series of trials, the killer was Mario Moretti . Moro's body was left in the trunk of a red Renault 4 on Via Michelangelo Caetani towards the Tiber River near the Roman Ghetto . After the recovery of Moro's body, Cossiga resigned as interior minister. Pope Paul VI personally officiated at Moro's funeral mass . On 23 January 1983, an Italian court sentenced 32 members of

17892-423: Was disbanded in 1994. In the 1990s most of the politicians prosecuted during those investigations were acquitted, sometimes however on the basis of legal formalities or on the basis of statutory time limit rules. In 1992, Mario Segni led a breakaway faction called Populars for Reform (PR). The DC suffered heavy defeats in the 1993 provincial and municipal elections. Subsequently, Segni's PR would be reformed as

18034-539: Was ending, the Christian Democrats started organising post-Fascist Italy in coalition with all the other mainstream parties, including the Italian Communist Party (PCI), the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), the Italian Liberal Party (PLI), the Italian Republican Party (PRI), the Action Party (Pd'A) and the Labour Democratic Party (PDL). In December 1945 Christian Democrat Alcide De Gasperi

18176-476: Was founded in 1303 with the Papal bull In Supremae praeminentia Dignitatis , issued on 20 April 1303 by Pope Boniface VIII , as a Studium for ecclesiastical studies more under his control than the universities of Bologna and Padua , making it the first pontifical university. In 1431 Pope Eugene IV completely reorganized the studium with the bull In supremae , in which he granted masters and students alike

18318-501: Was held in stark contrast to the requests of Moro's family. In his appeal to the terrorists, Pope Paul VI asked them to release Moro "without conditions". The specified "without conditions" is controversial; according to some sources, it was added to Paul VI's letter against his will, and that the Pope wanted to negotiate with the kidnappers to secure the safety of Moro. According to Antonio Mennini , Pope Paul VI had saved ₤ 10 billion to pay

18460-476: Was joined by some officials of the ministry who made him get off to sign some important documents. According to some reconstructions, Moro would have been the real target of the Italicus Express bombing . In October 1974, Rumor resigned as prime minister after failing to come to an agreement on how to deal with rising economic inflation. In November, Leone gave Moro the task of forming a new cabinet; he

18602-421: Was known as the Organic centre-left and was characterized by consociationalist and social corporatist tendencies. During Moro's premiership, a wide range of social reforms was carried out. The 1967 Bridge Law ( Legge Ponte ) introduced urgent housing provisions as part of an envisioned reform of the entire sector, such as the introduction of minimum standards for housing and the environment. A reform, which

18744-525: Was later acquitted. Like the other parties of the Pentapartito coalition, the DC was invested in the Tangentopoli scandals and in the subsequent Mani pulite . Moreover, as Southern Italy had become the party's stronghold in the 1970s and the 1980s, it was likely that the Sicilian Mafia and dishonest politicians tried to collaborate. The DC was the party most associated with Mafia among

18886-402: Was on his way to a session of the Chamber of Deputies, where a discussion was to take place regarding a vote of confidence for a new government led by Andreotti, that would for the first time have the support of the PCI. It was to be the first implementation of Moro's strategic political vision. Additionally, he was considered to be the frontrunner for the 1978 Italian presidential election . In

19028-448: Was openly criticized by prominent DC party members, such as Amintore Fanfani and Giovanni Leone , who at the time was serving as president of Italy. All major political forces followed this hardline stance. This included the PCI, which supported democracy and was part of the Italian Parliament; the PCI was accused by the Red Brigades of being a pawn of the bourgeoisie. Exceptions were the Italian Socialist Party led by Bettino Craxi and

19170-447: Was promulgated on 14 December 1963, introduced an annual allowance for university students with income below a given level. Another law, which was promulgated on 10 March 1968, introduced voluntary public pre-elementary education for children aged three to five years. A bill approved on 21 July 1965 extended the program of social security . Despite mistrust and opposition, particularly when the Italian economic miracle came to an end and

19312-562: Was ready to give a subsequent mandate to the president of the Senate of the Republic , Cesare Merzagora , and would ask him to form a president's government composed by all the conservative forces in the Italian Parliament . This attempted coup , which came to be known as the Piano Solo , only became public in 1967 through the investigative reporting of L'Espresso . Ultimately, Moro managed to form another centre-left majority. During

19454-566: Was replaced by Forlani in 1989. Disagreements between de Mita and Forlani brought Andreotti back to the prime-ministership from 1989 to 1992. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the great Cold War ideological conflict, and ultimately the Tangentopoli scandals, the heterogeneous nature of the party led it to its collapse. The bulk of the DC's membership joined the new Italian People's Party (PPI), but immediately several centre-right elements led by Pier Ferdinando Casini joined

19596-480: Was said that he took the chance of getting rid of a dangerous political competitor by sabotaging all of the rescue options and ultimately leaving the captors with no option but killing him. During his captivity Moro wrote a series of letters, at times very critical of Andreotti. . Later the memorial written by Moro during his imprisonment was subject to several plots, including the assassination of journalist Mino Pecorelli and general Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa . At

19738-607: Was stronger precisely in the traditional Christian Democratic heartlands, the DC was reduced to 21.0% in Piedmont (with the League at 16.3%), 32.1% in western Lombardy (League at 25.2%), 31.7% in Veneto (League at 17.3%) and 28.0% in Friuli-Venezia Giulia (League at 17.0%). As the DC's role was reduced, the 1919 PPI strongholds and the DC's traditional heartlands would become the Lega Nord's power base. Meanwhile,

19880-425: Was suffering from Stockholm syndrome was questioned by the two reports of the Italian Parliament's inquiry about the Moro affair. According to this view, Moro was at the height of his faculties, he was very recognizable, and at some point it was him who was leading the negotiation for his own liberation and salvation. This position was supported by Leonardo Sciascia , who discussed it in the minority report he signed as

20022-485: Was sworn in on 23 November 1974, at the head a cabinet composed by DC and PRI, and externally supported by PSI and PSDI. During Moro's second term as prime minister, the government implemented a series of another important social reforms. A law, which was approved on 9 June 1975, increased the number of occupational diseases and extended the duration of linked insurance and benefit; while a bill, approved on 3 June 1975, introduced various improvements for pensioners. Moreover,

20164-534: Was very different from 30 or even 10 years before, as the region where it obtained the best result was Apulia (46.0%). In the 1992 general election the shift was even more evident as the party was over the 40% mark only in some Southern regions (41.1% in Campania , 44.5 in Basilicata and 41.2% in Sicily ), while it barely reached 20-25% of the vote in the North. As a result of the rise of Lega Nord , which

#200799