General elections were held in

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

on 4 March 1923 to elect the seventh term of the

Grand and General Council The Grand and General Council ( it, Consiglio Grande e Generale) is the parliament of San Marino. The council has 60 members elected for a five-year term. History From the fifth century San Marino was ruled by an assembly composed by all t ...

. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1678 It was a

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...

that marked the beginning of fascist rule in the republic.

Left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

parties were prevented from participating, while all

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

forces ran as a single "Patriotic Bloc". Of the 60 seats, 29 were taken by the

Sammarinese Fascist Party The Sammarinese Fascist Party ( it, Partito Fascista Sammarinese) or PFS was a fascist political party that ruled San Marino from 1923 to 1943. History The party was founded on 10 August 1922 and led by Giuliano Gozi, a Sammarinese World War ...

, 20 by the Sammarinese People's Party, 9 by the Sammarinese Democratic Union and two by the Fascist-puppets '' Volunteers of War''. Later the country was taken over by the Fascist Party.

Background

San Marino had been close to a civil war in 1921, with Socialist red forces by a hand, and Christian Democratic white forces on the opposite side together with the Conservatives. The situation was so explosive that the government introduced a six-month censorship, and called a

carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

garrison to restore order, while Fascist brigades entered in the country without invitation. Meanwhile, Sammarinese authorities became closer to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, as underlined by the adoption of the anniversary of Italian victory in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history ...

.Law 33 adopted on November 16, 1922
Grand and General Council database
(it.) When Benito Mussolini rose to power at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, he immediately managed to take control over the small republic. The old Council was forcibly disbanded on January 27, 1923, and a

was consequently called. Fascist threats obtained their goal: the Socialist Party did not take part to the election and a sole, centre-right list called ''Patriotic Bloc'' ran undisputed. The Bloc was obviously dominated by the

, which obtained the majority of seats together with their puppets ''Volunteers of War''. The turnout was very low, leftist electors boycotting the vote. Twenty-nine years old

Giuliano Gozi Giuliano Gozi (7 August 1894 – 18 January 1955) was Secretary for Foreign Affairs and de facto Fascist leader of San Marino from 1918 until 1943. He also held the role of Captain-Regent of San Marino 5 times between 1923 and 1942. Early lif ...

became the first Fascist

Captain Regent The Captains Regent (Italian: ''Capitani reggenti'') are the two heads of state of the Republic of San Marino. They are elected every six months by the Grand and General Council, the country's legislative body. Normally the Regents are chosen ...

in April 1923. The party political program was to dismantle all democratic reforms of the Meeting of 1906, and to emulate the Italian regime. A Sammarinese carabinieri corps was created, the anniversary of the

March on Rome The March on Rome ( it, Marcia su Roma) was an organized mass demonstration and a coup d'état in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, ...

became a public holiday, and the Captains of the Castles of San Marino became appointed by the Captains Regents.

Electoral system

Voters had to be citizens of San Marino, male, the head of the family and 24 years old.

Results

References

{{Sammarinese elections

General elections in San Marino

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...