Deadlock in the Constituent Assembly

With neither Christian Democracy nor the Popular Democratic Front winning a majority in the 1949 elections, the stage was set for another failed constitutional attempt. Christian Democracy went into the renewed session of the Constitutent Assembly that they could negotiate with the PDF on a case-by-case basis and get enough support to pass a constitution. While CD was willing to grant the left influence in the framing of the constitution, they were unwilling to meet the demands of the PDF. While hope held out throughout much of 1950 that a constitutional compromise would be possible, by the middle of 1951 it was clear that the Constituent Assembly had again failed at its primary task.

Another Referendum

With it becoming more and more clear to Christian Democracy that a they were not going to be able to draft a constitution agreeable to ⅔ of the assmebly, the Italian government attempted another approach. They suspected that many of the voters who supported the PDF were less stubborn than the PDF itself, and that they may be able to get the support of two-thirds of the electorate even if they could not get support of a supramajority of the Assembly.

However, rather than putting the draft constitution itself before the electorate, which could result in both left and right campaigning against it, CD chose to instead ask the electorate to "grant the Contintuent Assembly a Mandate to pass a constitution by simple majority." In doing so, CD ensured that the smaller parties: the Italian Patriotic Front, the Socialist Unity Party, and the Democratic Action list, would campaign on the 'Yes' side. With the Constituent Assembly's Mandate changed, these small parties now gained the influence to supply the needed votes for CD to pass a constitution without having to rely on PDF support. Only the PDF would campaign on the "No" side of the referendum.

On October 18, 1951, the votes were counted:

58.4% voted Yes

40.7% voted No

0.9% were invalid votes

The results of the referendum came as a surprise. With all other parties campaigning on the "Yes" side, it was expected that the "No" side would get little support outside the PDF. If anything, CD expected some PDF voters to vote "Yes"  against the stubborn wishes of the party leadership. However, the "No" side of the referendum counted tens of thousands of more votes than the PDF had commanded in the last election. Whether this was the result of Soviet-backed propaganda campaigns, or just general cynicism against what was portrayed by the PDF as a CD power grab, 4% of the electorate had shifted their support towards the PDF.

A Fascist-Backed Constitution

While CD had originally hoped that ⅔ of the electorate would vote "Yes" in the referendum, what appeared to be an uptick in support for PDF chilled them to their bones. They could not afford another election, or even another referendum. They had to act now. They quickly declared victory in the referendum campaign and announced that they would now consider a simple majority in the Constituent Assmebly to be sufficient support to enact a new constitution.

However, the CD's allies in the referendum campaign would not all stand alongside them. In particular, the Socialist Unity Party, would declare that they would not vote in favour of a constitution that did not have the support of ⅔ of the electorate. The SUP originally believed that the majority of Italy's Socialists would vote "Yes" in the referendum against what the SUP saw as a Communist takeover of the PDF. However, the SUP saw the referendum result as an indication that their support was being drained away to the PDF, and they risked being shut out of the next election if they continued to work with CD.

Thus, the only way for CD to get the support of a majority of the electorate was to work with the Italian Patriotic Front. While the rightist party was still despised by many due to their association with Fascism, CD saw no other choice other than to bow to PDF demands. On May 12th, 1952, the new constitution would be passed, with support from Christian Democracy, the Italian Patriotic Front, and the Democratic Action List.

General Strike

On May 13th, 1952, backed by accusations that CD betrayed their own promises to the electorate, PDF would declare a general strike. In all the cities of Italy, workers would march through the streets with Garibaldi Brigades protecting them and preventing scabs from replacing them. For a few short weeks, the country would be paralyzed, as the economy ground to a standstill. The government pondered over what to do: whether to crack down on the strikers or open new negotiations with PDF.

However, what happened next would not be up to the government. Far-right militias has been skirmishing with the Garibaldi Brigades even since the general strike began, with the violence continually escalating. On June 27, 1952, a squad of fascists would open fire on a picket line in Bolgna, killing a few dozen strikers, and would be pursued by a Garibali Brigade who would in turn pick off most of the Fasicsts. The remaining six Fascists would surrender to the Gendarmerie and would be taken into protective custody at the local police station. However, with the Gendarmerie having gained a reputation as a right-leaning institution, the strikers had little faith the Fascists would stand trial for their crimes. The Garibaldi Brigade would storm the police station and summarily executed the Fascists, killing three among the Gendarmerie in the process.

Martial Law is Declared

With the Garibaldi Brigades directly attacking the Gendarmerie, the Italian government would see little choice but to declare Martial Law, and crack down on the strikers with all the force they could muster. While the strikers in Bologna would be put down by force, the army could not be everywhere at once. In Milan, the most industrialized city in all of Italy, the strength of the Garibaldi Brigades would be too much for the Gendarmerie. The Gendarmerie would be forced from the city, with much of the city's middle and upper classes too fearful to set foot outside their homes. While the army could easily be redeployed from Bologna to Milan to put down the strikes, it was unclear whether that would be enough. The crisis had reached a boiling point.