The Peasants' Party of Italy ( it, Partito dei Contadini d'Italia) was a small

political party in Italy This article contains a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy, and since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern ...

founded in 1920 by Urbano Prunotto and Giacomo Scotti.

History

Starting from left-wing agrarian and

Christian left The Christian left is a range of left-wing Christian political and social movements that largely embrace social justice principles and uphold a social doctrine or social gospel. Given the inherent diversity in international political thoug ...

ist ideas, the party moved onto an independent ideological position, with the sole goal to defend the small farmers against major landowners. Its symbol was several ears of corn between two bunches of grapes, and its newspaper was called ''La Voce del Contadino'' ('The Peasant's Voice'). The party, founded in

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, was never able to rise on a national plan, being limited to the

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...

. The party participated in the 1924 general election, where it elected 4 deputies, before being forcibly disbanded by the

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...

government. After the war, the party was re-built by Alessandro Scotti, who was elected the party's sole deputy in 1946 general election, and 1948 general elections. However, 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 ...

had strongly taken the representation of the agrarian interests,PRUNOTTO Urbano Benigno
/ref> and the party was consequently marginalised. It survived on the local level, but eventually disbanded and in 1963 merged with 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 ...

Election results

Chamber of Deputies

Senate

References

{{Authority control 1920 establishments in Italy Defunct agrarian political parties Defunct political parties in Italy Formerly banned political parties Political parties disestablished in 1963 Political parties established in 1920 Political parties in Piedmont