Conflitti e mediazione nella ricostruzione. La Cgil e il «terzo tempo sociale» del centrismo tra mobilitazione, politiche espansive e riforme (1949-1950)

In the light of new archival acquisitions, this essay traces the relations between Cgil (the Italian General Confederation of Labour) led by Giuseppe Di Vittorio and the centrist governments headed by Alcide De Gasperi in the post-war reconstruction phase, focusing on the Labour Plan presented by the trade union in October 1949. This passage saw the implementation of two different but converging strategies towards reform: centrism on the one hand, intent on seeking the point of reconciliation between the containment of public order and reforms (agrarian reform and the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno − the southern Italy Fund); and Cgil on the other, committed to mobilisation but also to playing a responsible national role in the reconstruction process. A conflictual competition, it was also an encounter, destined to carry weight beyond the logic of the Cold War.