The first Berlusconi government was the 51st government of the

Italian Republic 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 re ...

. It was the first right-wing and non-

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...

government since

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 ...

. Berlusconi resigned on 22 December 1994.

History

In order to win the March 1994 general election Berlusconi formed two electoral alliances:

Pole of Freedoms The Pole of Freedoms ( it, Polo delle Libertà) was a centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi. Its counterpart in central and southern Italy was the Pole of Good Govern ...

with the Northern League in northern Italian districts, and another, the

Pole of Good Government The Pole of Good Government ( it, Polo del Buon Governo) was a centre-right electoral, and later political alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi. Its counterpart in Northern Italy was the Pole of Freedo ...

, with the post-fascist National Alliance (heir to the

Italian Social Movement The Italian Social Movement ( it, Movimento Sociale Italiano, MSI) was a neo-fascist political party in Italy. A far-right party, it presented itself until the 1990s as the defender of Italian fascism's legacy, and later moved towards national ...

) in central and southern regions. He did not ally with the latter in the North because the League disliked them. As a result,

Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...

was allied with two parties that were not allied with each other. Berlusconi launched a massive campaign of electoral advertisements on his three TV networks. He subsequently won the elections, with

garnering 21% of the popular vote, the highest percentage of any single party. One of the most significant promises that he made in order to secure victory was that his government would create "one million more jobs". He was appointed Prime Minister in 1994, but his term in office was short because of the inherent contradictions in his coalition: the League, a regional party with a strong electoral base in northern Italy, was at that time fluctuating between

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 separatist positions, and National Alliance was a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

party that had yet to renounce

neo-fascism Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration sen ...

at the time. In December 1994, following the communication of a new investigation from Milan magistrates that was leaked to the press,

Umberto Bossi Umberto Bossi (born 19 September 1941) is an Italian politician and former leader of Lega Nord (Northern League), a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padania. He is married to the Sicilian Manuela Marrone, and has f ...

, leader of the Northern League, left the coalition claiming that the

electoral pact An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. Ea ...

had not been respected, forcing Berlusconi to resign from office and shifting the majority's weight to the centre-left side. The Northern League also resented the fact that many of its MPs had switched to Forza Italia, allegedly lured by promises of more prestigious portfolios. In 1998 various articles attacking Berlusconi were published by Northern League's official newspaper (La Padania), with titles such as ""Fininvest (Berlusconi's principal company) was founded by Cosa Nostra". Berlusconi remained prime minister for a little over a month until his replacement by a technocratic government headed by

Lamberto Dini Lamberto Dini CGMG (born 1 March 1931) is an Italian politician and economist. He was the Director General of Bank of Italy from 1979 to 1994, Minister of Treasury from 1994 to 1996, the 51st Prime Minister of Italy from 1995 to 1996, and Forei ...

. Dini had been a key minister in the Berlusconi government, and Berlusconi said the only way he would support a technocratic government would be if Dini headed it. In the end, however, Dini was only supported by most opposition parties but not by Forza Italia.

Investiture vote

Party breakdown

(FI): Prime minister, 8 ministers and 12 undersecretaries * National Alliance (AN): 5 ministers and 12 undersecretaries * Northern League (LN): 5 ministers and 9 undersecretaries *

Christian Democratic Centre The Christian Democratic Centre ( it, Centro Cristiano Democratico, CCD) was a Christian-democratic political party in Italy from 1994 to 2002. Formed from a right-wing split from Christian Democracy, the party joined the centre-right coalition, a ...

(CCD): 2 ministers and 1 undersecretary * Union of the Centre (UdC): 2 ministers * Liberal Democratic Foundation (FLD): 1 minister and 1 undersecretary * Independents: 2 ministers and 1 undersecretary

Composition

References

Italian Government – Berlusconi I Cabinet
{{Italian Governments Italian governments Silvio Berlusconi 1994 establishments in Italy 1995 disestablishments in Italy Cabinets established in 1994 Cabinets disestablished in 1995