Life in Italy - 1990s

The 1990s in Italy were very different from life in the previous decade. Like in many other parts of the world the 80s were a time of fun, excess and luxury in Italy. The latter part of the 1980s topped the seemingly unlimited economical growth of the country and marked the apparent transformation of Italy from an agricultural country to one based on modern industry and service. In those years Milan affirmed itself as the social and economical capital of Italy with designers, artists and fashion gurus congregating on the city to open stores and galleries. After a famous TV spot aired the city even become known as Milano da Bere, the Italian capital of the aperitif ritual. When in the early 1990s the Mani Pulite ("Clean Hands") operation started uncovering a web of corruption centered in Milan it was a shock for the entire country. The moral crisis the ensued, coupled with the beginning of an impending economic one, made the 90s a largely depressing decade for many Italians.

The early distraction of the World Cup, played in Italy's major cities in the summer of 1990, was an intense, but short burst of positivity. The country that had won the championship in the previous decade only made it to third place. Another huge change to Italy during the 1990s was the proliferation of internet connections and computers. As with the rest of the world, the introduction of the internet to the daily life of Italians shifted everything and many began creating an economic system based on web businesses. As Italy found itself moving away from the domestic terrorist attacks that dominated the 1970s and 1980s it found itself facing new challenges including the Second Republic and the Mani Pulite investigations.

Antonio Di Pietro

Mani Pulite

From 1992 up until 1997 Italy faced many challenges as voters became disillusioned with the country's many political problems, including government debt and the high level of corruption and crime. Organized crime has always been a major problem in Italy and in the 90s it became clearer than ever that it had a massive influence on the way Italy was operating. This corruption became known as Tangentopoli and was brought to light by the Mani Pulite operation.

The operation unearthed many scandals that included almost all of the country's main political parties, although it focused on those who had been part of the government coalition from 1992 to 1994. Marred by scandal the DC Party was eventually dissolved. The members divided into various other parties, which included the Christian Democratic Center and the Italian People's Party. As scandal after scandal was revealed the Italian people demanded ethical, economic and political reforms.

The Revolution

The protests that followed these scandals focused on making changes to Italy's political landscape. Many scholars and historians call this phase the Second Republic, although eventually not many changes were made. During the 1993 Italian referendums voters asked for major changes that included measures such as introducing an additional member system. The people also asked that some of the country's ministries be abolished. Not all the changes the people demanded took place and some of the parties they demanded be abolished only resurfaced again later with modified names.

In late 1993 a coalition of left wing parties appeared to have won about 40% of the vote, giving them a majority under the new electoral system. The well known Italian Social Movement party changed its name to the National Alliance and also modified its symbol. The president of the party was Gianfranco Fini and many new members joined the National Alliance, including those from the Christian Democracy like Publio Fiori. This restructured party managed to pull in a large number of Catholic votes in the central and southern areas of the country. The Northern League movement also found increased support in the 1990s, however, the movement was only presented in about one third of the country so only ended up receiving about 16% of the votes. In the early 90s Umberto Bossi was the party's secretary and had large support from northern conservatives.

Following this resurgence of the left, billionaire media baron Silvio Berlusconi decided to start his own party to take back some of the votes the left wing had won to their side. Only months before the 1994 elections Berlusconi's new party, Forza Italia, was launched. Berlusconi's campaign was very effective, mainly due to his access to advertisements and advanced communication techniques and methods.

Before the 1994 elections

During his campaign Berlusconi was also quite clever in joining forces with the Northern League and the National Alliance, although these two parties were not aligned with one another. In the north Forza Italia campaigned against the National Alliance. In the other parts of Italy, where the Northern League did not run, he joined forces with the Alliance and ran in the Northern League's place.

Romano Prodi

This was quite an unusual coalition and had been mainly made possible because of the deep enmity between nationalist post-fascists and the League. The parties in the left wing formed the Progressisti, a coalition which unfortunately did not have a leader. Achille Occhetto had been considered to be the party's main figure, but there was no clear person in charge.

The Christian Democracy, or whatever was left of it by 1994, then formed a third party with Mario Segni as their candidate for Prime Minister. In the elections that followed, major turnovers were seen as voters chose new blood over old. Out of the 630 deputies elected 450 were first-timers, while 213 of the 315 senators elected were entering public office for the first time.

Silvio Berlusconi

The

Elections in 1994

The 1994 elections brought many changes to Italy. Silvio Berlusconi was elected Primt Minister, however, in December of the same year he was forced to step down when the Northern League withdrew support for his government. Following this a government headed by Lamberto Dini governed until 1996.

The Elections in 1996

From 1996 until the beginning of the new century many center-left coalition governments dominated the Italian political landscape. In April of 1996 the national elections were held which saw Romano Prodi lead his coalition to victory. Their Olive Tree coalition include the Italian Popular Party, PDS and a few smaller parties. Prodi's government would become the third longest surviving government in the country, however, in 1998 he lost the vote of confidence by a margin of just three votes.

Massimo D'Alema

In the next year, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi was selected as President by the Parliament of Italy. Ciampi had previously been the Minister of the Treasury and the governor of the Bank of Italy. The government of the time was headed by Massimo D'Alema of Democrats of the Left, but after a poor showing in the 2000 elections D'Alema resigned. Giuliano Amato, who had been Prime Minister before in 1992, headed the winning government despite his earlier claim he would not return to politics.

A Collection of Italian Advertising spots on Rete 4 in 1996