National Democratic Union (Italy)

National Democratic Union Unione Democratica Nazionale
Founded	1946
Ideology	Liberalism Conservatism
Political position	Centre-right
Politics of Italy Political parties Elections

The National Democratic Union (Italian: Unione Democratica Nazionale, UDN) was a political alliance of parties for the 1946 general election, formed by the Italian Liberal Party, the Labour Democratic Party and some other liberal, conservative and monarchist parties. Its symbol was an Italian flag overcome by a brilliant star.

History

The party scored 6.8%, placing itself at the fourth place in the election.^[1][2] This grouping, during the sessions of the Constituent Assembly, represented the continuation of the Liberal elite, which governed Italy from the years of Giovanni Giolitti until the rise of Benito Mussolini and the instauration of the Fascist regime.

Important politicians elected on the UDN lists were Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, Francesco Saverio Nitti, Luigi Einaudi, Benedetto Croce, Enrico De Nicola, Gaetano Martino, Giuseppe Paratore, Ivanoe Bonomi, Raffaele De Caro, Meuccio Ruini, Enrico Molè, Bruno Villabruna, Epicarmo Corbino and Aldo Bozzi.

The alliance was succeeded in the 1948 general election by the National Bloc.^[3]

Composition

It was composed of the following political parties:

Party		Ideology	Leader
	Italian Liberal Party (PLI)	Liberalism	Manlio Brosio
	Labour Democratic Party (PLD)	Social liberalism	Ivanoe Bonomi

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

Chamber of Deputies
Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	+/–	Leader
1946	1,560,638 (#4)	6.8	41 / 535	41	Manlio Brosio

References

1. John Foot (2014). Modern Italy. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 235. ISBN 978-1-137-04192-0.
2. John Lamberton Harper (2002). America and the Reconstruction of Italy, 1945-1948. Cambridge University Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-521-52282-3.
3. Ram Mudambi; Pietro Navarra; Giuseppe Sobbrio (2001). "A History of the Italian Political System – 1913 to the Present". Rules, Choice and Strategy: The Political Economy of Italian Electoral Reform. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 31–32. ISBN 978-1-78195-082-1.