The Bergamasco Autonomist Movement (''Movimento Autonomista Bergamasco'' in

Italian language Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 85 m ...

, ''Moviment Autonomista Bergamasch'' in

Lombard language Lombard (native name: ,Classical Milanese orthography, and . , Ticinese orthography. Modern Western orthography. or ,Eastern unified orthography. depending on the orthography; pronunciation: ) is a language, belonging to the Gallo-Italic family ...

) was an

autonomist Autonomism, also known as autonomist Marxism is an anti-capitalist left-wing political and social movement and theory. As a theoretical system, it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerism (). Later, post-Marxist and anarchist tendenci ...

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

and

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

party founded in 1956 by Guido Calderoli, dentist and grandfather of the current Italian politician

Roberto Calderoli Roberto Calderoli (born 18 April 1956) is an Italian politician and a member of the Senate of the Republic. He was a Minister without portfolio for Legislative Simplification in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet. He previously served as Minister without ...

History

autonomist movement The Autonomist Movement was a Chilean political movement which was a founding member of the Broad Front on 21 January 2017. One year later, the movement merged into the party Social Convergence alongside Libertarian Left, Socialism and Libert ...

in the area of

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

there was since the end of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

because the Italian Constitution created, but not activated, Regions. So a movement linked to the

Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party ( it, Partito Repubblicano Italiano, PRI) is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Italy. Founded in 1895, the PRI is the oldest political party still active in Italy. The PRI has old roots and a long histo ...

and its MP Giulio Bergmann started asking their activation. In 1956 this movement became a Party which run for the municipal and provincial elections and they won a seat in each assembly, sending Calderoli, later substituted by Gianfranco Gonella, in the Municipal Council and Ugo Gavazzeni in the Province Council. In 1958 Calderoli decided to run with other autonomist parties from

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

and the entire

Northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

founding then the Autonomist Lombard Regional Movement and the Autonomist Padanian Regional Movement, which run in the upcoming national election to the Senate. They earn no seats and had a loss of votes, which made the majority of the MAB to go to into the

Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

in 1960 with a minority which made a new party called "Autonomists" which loses all the formerly-MAB seats and then disbanded soon later.

Political views

The MAB substained self-government for Regions and territory but not the

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

and for a strong respect for regional languages, which they asked to be used in schools and by public servants. They had an anti-meridionalist view justified by the idea that a country which needs an important amount of internal migration is a weak country. They had a strong

view and thought a decentralized country's less likely to have an authoritarian drift and government: some of its program was based on documents made by the Lombards Catholics " Green Partisans".

Links with the Northern League

Some describes the MAB as an ideological ancestor of the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

and there are some point of commonality as some important differences. Both parties had a common vision about autonomy, local cultures and

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 ...

being an oppressive bureaucratic centre, but they differed on the vision about Italy: the MAB was in favour of a united country while the Northern League even advocated independence. Some mottos and symbols of the MAB were later reused by the League like the "golden goose" which eggs are taken by Rome or the Warrior of Legnano, and some{{whom, date=May 2020 hypothesise that Innocente Calderoli, Guido's son and early League activist, had a role on the acquisition of the old mottos.

References

The Movimento Autonomista Bergamasco and the Lega Nord: continuities and discontinuities
Lombard nationalist parties Federalist parties in Italy Political parties established in 1956 Political parties disestablished in 1960