La Dc e la Coldiretti: un’alleanza politica e sociale nella costruzione della Repubblica

Between 1946 and 1954, the relationship between the Christian Democrats and Coldiretti represented one of the most significant turning points in the history of Italy’s post-war reconstruction. In a country that was still predominantly agricultural, and riven by deep social and ideological divisions, the convergence between the party that would for a long time occupy the centre of the political system and what would soon become Italy’s most representative trade union organisation contributed decisively to shaping the political and social structure of the young Republic. The alliance between these two forces did not arise as a mere agreement of convenience, but as an expression of a shared vision of society, rooted in the social doctrine of the Church and in the Catholic-populist tradition. It gave rise to a social and political bloc capable of integrating the rural world into the new democratic order, whilst at the same time providing the Christian Democrats with a stable and widespread electoral base. This essay aims to trace the development of this relationship through its historical, ideological and organisational evolution, highlighting how it contributed not only to the consolidation of De Gasperi’s centrist politics, but also to the construction of a distinctive form of participatory democracy, founded on the intermediation of social bodies, according to a model of relations of a neo-corporatist nature. The period under consideration – from 1946, the year of the Republic’s founding, to 1954, which marked the end of the last government led by De Gasperi – coincided with the phase in which this alliance reached its peak of strength and influence.