Republic Forming

Italy became a republic with the referendum of June 2, 1946. Its new Constitution took effect on January 1, 1948. The first general election under it was held on April 18 of that year, and the Cold War hung over the whole campaign. The Socialists and Communists had joined forces as the Popular Democratic Front, and after the communist coup in Czechoslovakia in February, the U.S. feared the Communists would pull Italy into the Soviet sphere if they won. As a result, American agencies broadcast propaganda in Italy, and Italian Americans wrote letters urging people not to vote Communist.

The fear worked. Alcide De Gasperi and Christian Democracy won 48% of the vote, their best result ever, while the Front received only 31%. The Communist Party became the main opposition, but it never returned to government. The Church backed Christian Democracy as well – it judged that voting for the Communists was a mortal sin for a Catholic. Basically, the result settled who would run the country for decades, with Christian Democracy leading “centrist” coalitions with smaller parties.

Italy also had to settle where it stood abroad. It was a founding member of NATO in 1949, which tied it to the United States. Under the peace treaty signed in 1947, Italy had lost Istria and most of the Julian March to Yugoslavia, and between 230,000 and 350,000 ethnic Italians left those areas. It had also lost its colonies, though in 1950 Somaliland was placed under Italian administration as a UN trust territory. As you can see, the Republic’s first years were about deciding which side it was on.

Note

This page is complete: I have all of the stamps in unused condition. It may not look it at first glance, but the first one is there and not just the printed copy on the page. You’ll have to click on the image to see closely that it’s a sepia tone.

Contains 8 spots: own 8 – 8 unused, 0 used.
Page is finished.
Album or Web Page Last changed Jan 1, 2023

Stamp Details

The table below lists information about the stamps shown on this page of Lighthouse’s stamp album. For more details about a particular stamp, click on its description. That will take you to the related web page of Colnect.

spot

own

catalog

subject

description

comment

Old Republics

1.1	✓	566	Saint Andrew Cathedral Amalfi, Campania	1₤ (oct 1946) comm., sepia
2.1	✓	567	San Michele Church Lucca, Tuscany	2₤ (oct 1946) comm., blue
2.2	✓	568	Peace Fresco, Ambrogio Lorenzetti Siena, Tuscany	3₤ (oct 1946) comm., green
2.3	✓	569	Palazzo Vecchio Florence, Tuscany	4₤ (oct 1946) comm., red
3.1	✓	570	Assumption of Mary Cathedral Pisa, Tuscany	5₤ (oct 1946) comm., purple
3.2	✓	571	Republic of Genoa	10₤ (oct 1946) comm., red
3.3	✓	572	Republic of Venice	15₤ (oct 1946) comm., sky blue
4.1	✓	573	Oath of Pontida Bergamo, Italy	20₤ (oct 1946) comm., brown

Footnotes

Spot refers to the postion of the stamp on the album page (e.g., 3.2 indicates row 3, position 2).
Amt. is an abbreviation for the face amount of the stamp.
Own indicates the stamp status: ✓ for unused; ✗ for used or canceled; ⭑ signifies I ordered one; ; ✨ indicates it was bought recently; ✠ means an auction bid is pending; and ◎ is used, and it costs too much for unused.
To search by catalog number, go to the search box and enter it in the catalog number box. However, it’s a bit broken; I need to fix it.

remaining stamps & stories in sub-album

page	note	used	need

Main Page	✓
Revolutions	✓
Organizations	✓
UNESCO Etc.	✓
Tobacco Conference	✓
Regional Laborers	✓
Tuscan Stamps & Gymnastics	✓
Milan Fairs	✓
Sardegna Stamps & Verdi	✓
Bellini	✓
Armed Forces Day	✓
1000 Mile Race	✓
NATO & Tourism	✓
National Television	✓
Amerigo Vespucci	✓	1	2
Regional Laborers	✓
Saints & Famous Italians	✓
Winter Olympics & Republic	✓
Europa & U.N.	✓
Antonio Canova	✓
St. George	✓		4
Lourdes & Constitution	✓
World War I Anniversary	✓
NATO & Olympics	✓
War of Independence	✓
Refugees & Garibaldi	✓
Olympics	✓
Gronchi	✓
Unification	✓
St. Catherine & Cycling	✓
Anti-Malaria	✓
Red Cross & Hunger	✓
Carabinieri	✓
Bodoni	✓
Resistance	✓
Dante & Mont Blanc	✓
University Winter Games	✓
20th Anniversary of Republic	✓
National Parks	✓
Giro d’Italia	✓
Giordano	✓