1946 Italian institutional referendum

An institutional referendum was held in the Kingdom of Italy on 2 June 1946. This important vote decided whether Italy would continue as a kingdom or become a republic. Until then, Italy had been ruled by the House of Savoy since the unification of Italy in 1861. However, during World War II, the country was led by Benito Mussolini and his Fascist regime in Italy, which weakened the power of the royal family.

After the war ended and Italy was freed from occupation, people were asked to vote on changing the form of government. On the same day, elections were held to choose members of the Constituent Assembly of Italy. The results showed that more people wanted a republic instead of a monarchy. The former king, Umberto II, left Italy shortly after the results were announced.

The change to a republic was officially marked when the new Constitution of the Italian Republic came into effect on 1 January 1948. Enrico De Nicola became the first person to serve as president of Italy. This event is still celebrated every year as the Festa della Repubblica.

Background

Italy has a long history of ideas about being a republic. Ancient times saw the Roman Republic, and during the Middle Ages, there were special trading cities called maritime republics. Important thinkers like Cicero and Niccolò Machiavelli helped shape ideas about how governments should work.

In the 1800s, a man named Giuseppe Mazzini brought back strong ideas about making Italy a republic. He believed in freedom, independence, and unity for all Italians. Mazzini started a group called Young Italy to help make this dream come true. Later, other leaders like Giuseppe Garibaldi helped unite Italy, but they chose to keep the king in power instead of making a republic.

Giuseppe Mazzini. His thoughts influenced many politicians of a later period, among them Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd George, Mahatma Gandhi, Golda Meir and Jawaharlal Nehru.

From 1861 to 1946, Italy was a kingdom led by kings from the House of Savoy. The government had a parliament, but not everyone could vote. Over time, new ideas and parties grew, including socialist and republican groups.

After World War I, a man named Benito Mussolini took control of Italy and started a strict rule called Fascism. This hurt many people's rights and made life very hard. During World War II, Italy was on the side of Germany, and the country faced many difficulties.

By 1943, people in Italy were working hard to fight against the Fascist rule and work toward a better future. Many began to think that Italy should become a republic instead of keeping the king. This led to big discussions about what kind of government Italy should have after the war.

Organization

On March 16, 1946, Prince Umberto decided that the people of Italy would vote to choose the country's form of government on June 2, 1946. This vote would happen at the same time as an election for a special group to help create new laws.

King Umberto II of Italy

A few months before the vote, some smaller elections were held in parts of Italy. These showed that many people supported the Christian Democrats, led by Alcide De Gasperi. This made people who wanted to keep the monarchy worried.

During the time leading up to the big vote, something important happened. Victor Emmanuel III, the king at the time, stepped down from his position. He did this so his son, Umberto, could become king as Umberto II. Victor Emmanuel III left Italy and went to Alexandria in Egypt. This change was meant to help the monarchy because Umberto was seen as less tied to the old ways than his father.

The vote was very important, and people on both sides worked hard to convince others. There were some arguments and tense moments between those who wanted a republic and those who wanted to keep the monarchy.

Results

King Umberto II at the polls to vote in the Italian institutional referendum

The vote to choose between a monarchy or a republic happened on June 2 and early June 3, 1946. The final results were announced on June 18, after some delays. About 89% of people voted. More than half, 54%, chose a republic, while 46% wanted to keep the monarchy.

Italy was almost split in two: the north voted mostly for a republic (66%), and the south mostly for the monarchy (64%). This showed deep differences in what people wanted for their country's future.

District		Provinces	Republic		Monarchy		Voters	Turnout
District		Provinces	Votes	%	Votes	%	Voters	Turnout
Aosta	Aosta	28,516	63.47	16,411	36.53	50,946	84.00
Turin	Turin • Novara • Vercelli	803,191	59.90	537,693	40.10	1,426,036	91.12
Cuneo	Cuneo • Alessandria • Asti	412,666	51.93	381,977	48.07	867,945	89.75
Genoa	Genoa • Imperia • La Spezia • Savona	633,821	69.05	284,116	30.95	960,214	85.62
Milan	Milan • Pavia	1,152,832	68.01	542,141	31.99	1,776,444	90.31
Como	Como • Sondrio • Varese	422,557	63.59	241,924	36.41	715,755	90.98
Brescia	Brescia • Bergamo	404,719	53.84	346,995	46.16	805,808	91.67
Mantua	Mantua • Cremona	304,472	67.19	148,668	32.81	486,354	93.83
Trento	Trento	192,123	85.00	33,903	15.00	238,198	91.04
Verona	Verona • Padua • Rovigo • Vicenza	648,137	56.24	504,405	43.76	1,258,804	92.22
Venice	Venice • Treviso	403,424	61.52	252,346	38.48	712,475	91.49
Udine	Udine • Belluno	339,858	63.07	199,019	36.93	592,463	88.51
Bologna	Bologna • Ferrara • Forlì • Ravenna	880,463	80.46	213,861	19.54	1,151,376	92.40
Parma	Parma • Modena • Piacenza • Reggio Emilia	646,214	72.78	241,663	27.22	955,660	92.58
Florence	Florence • Pistoia	487,039	71.58	193,414	28.42	723,028	92.08
Pisa	Pisa • Livorno • Lucca • Massa-Carrara	456,005	70.12	194,299	29.88	703,016	89.99
Siena	Siena • Arezzo • Grosseto	338,039	73.84	119,779	26.16	487,485	92.72
Ancona	Ancona • Ascoli Piceno • Macerata • Pesaro	499,566	70.12	212,925	29.88	759,011	91.65
Perugia	Perugia • Terni • Rieti	336,641	66.70	168,103	33.30	538,136	90.26
Rome	Rome • Frosinone • Latina • Viterbo	711,260	48.99	740,546	51.01	1,510,656	84.07
L'Aquila	L'Aquila • Chieti • Pescara • Teramo	286,291	46.78	325,701	53.22	648,932	87.61
Benevento	Benevento • Campobasso	103,900	30.06	241,768	69.94	369,616	88.82
Naples	Naples • Caserta	241,973	21.12	903,651	78.88	1,207,906	84.77
Salerno	Salerno • Avellino	153,978	27.09	414,521	72.91	607,530	88.05
Bari	Bari • Foggia	320,405	38.51	511,596	61.49	865,951	90.15
Lecce	Lecce • Brindisi • Taranto	147,346	24.70	449,253	75.30	630,987	90.04
Potenza	Potenza • Matera	108,289	40.61	158,345	59.39	286,575	88.70
Catanzaro	Catanzaro • Cosenza • Reggio Calabria	338,959	39.72	514,344	60.28	900,635	85.56
Catania	Catania • Enna • Messina • Ragusa • Syracuse	329,874	31.76	708,874	68.24	1,107,524	85.28
Palermo	Palermo • Agrigento • Caltanissetta • Trapani	379,871	38.98	594,686	61.02	1,032,102	85.77
Cagliari	Cagliari • Nuoro • Sassari	206,192	39.07	321,555	60.93	569,574	85.91

Italy		12,718,641	54.27	10,718,502	45.73	24,946,878	89.08
Source: Ministry of the Interior

City		Republic		Monarchy		Voters	Turnout
City		Votes	%	Votes	%	Voters	Turnout
Turin	252,001	61.41	158,138	38.59	426,563	87.44
Milan	487,125	67.77	231,711	32.23	737,440	85.65
Genoa	294,254	73.65	105,291	26.35	410,152	81.97
Venice	101,084	62.27	61,245	37.73	171,836	90.49
Bologna	137,093	67.72	65,359	32.28	209,776	90.49
Florence	148,763	63.43	85,753	36.57	242,750	88.78
Rome	353,715	46.17	412,439	53.83	783,865	80.80
Naples	87,448	20.06	348,420	79.94	451,463	80.79

Party	Percentage of votes	Seats
Christian Democracy	37.2%	207
Italian Socialist Party	20.7%	115
Italian Communist Party	18.7%	104
National Democratic Union	7.4%	41
Common Man's Front	5.4%	30
Italian Republican Party	4.1%	23
National Bloc of Freedom	2.9%	16
Action Party	1.3%	7
Others	2.3%	13

Aftermath

First results and events in Naples

On June 10, 1946, the Supreme Court of Cassation shared early results of a big vote in Italy. People were celebrating in many cities because Italy was becoming a republic instead of a kingdom. In Naples, some people who still supported the old king tried to go to important buildings, but things got noisy and some people were hurt.

Session of the Supreme Court of Cassation on 10 June 1946, which approved the results of the Italian institutional referendum

Early establishment of the republic and departure of the former king

The leaders of Italy decided that the country would become a republic right away. The king decided to leave Italy to keep things calm. He went to live in Portugal.

Changing the national flag and the national anthem

Former King Umberto II leaves Italy from Ciampino–G. B. Pastine International Airport on 13 June 1946.

When the king left, Italy changed its flag to remove the old royal symbol. They also chose a new song to be the country’s anthem instead of the old one.

Final announcement of results and first steps of the Italian Republic

On June 18, 1946, the final results were announced, and Italy officially became a republic. Enrico De Nicola became the first leader of the new Italy.

Holographic copy of 1847 of "Il Canto degli Italiani", the Italian national anthem since 1946

The symbolic photo of the birth of the Republic

A famous photo showed a young woman holding a newspaper with the headline “The Italian Republic is born.” This photo became a symbol of that important day.

Festa della Repubblica

Every year on June 2, Italy celebrates Festa della Repubblica to remember when the country became a republic. There are big ceremonies in Rome with flags, music, and parades. This day is like a big birthday for Italy, showing how proud the country is to be a republic.