What Was the Role and History of Italy After World War Two and Through Cold War (Essay Sample)

Role and History of Italy after World War 2
Name:
Institution:
Role and history of Italy after World War 2
In the early years of the 20th century, Italy made a mistake by allowing the rise of fascism and rallying behind Benito Mussolini. The tyrant concentrated power in his government and turned the country into his own personal dictatorship. All in all, after the axis power was defeated and Mussolini died after the Second World War, Italy had an opportunity to move forward in a different way.
After the war, the country’s history was in the hands of the Christian democratic system for about four decades. During this time, the Italian Communist Party played the role of the main opposition. This was to go on until the Tangentopoli scandal, the Soviet Union crisis and mission Mani pulite. According to Maier (2015), the three incidences helped form a major reformation within the Italian political system and electoral system that also included the closure of political parties.
Just after the war, the Italian society was mainly divided on the way forward. Some people thought that abolishing the monarchy and creating a republic was the way to go, while others wished to implement communism and socialism while nationalizing the northern industrial sectors. In June 1946, Italians voted in a referendum to do away with the monarchy. The royal family was chased away from Italy and banned from living anywhere within the borders of Italy (Maier, 2015). 
A Constituent Assembly was elected in 1946; with its role being to draft the Italian constitution. This assembly drew up a constitution that created a bicameral parliamentary republic with separate executive and judiciary branches; with the executive being headed by a president who was elected by parliament. This new constitution was promulgated on the 1st of January 1948, setting the way for the country’s first open parliamentary elections later that year, which was heavily influenced by America (Berger, 2012).
During that time around the Italian elections, the United States was dishing a lot of money to Western Europe in a strategy referred to as the Marshal Plan. According to Berger (2012), America was hoping to rebuild the economies and infrastructure of Western Europe while curtailing the spread of communism from Eastern Europe. The Christian Democrats won almost half of the popular vote while also getting a majority in the parliament.
With a western-leaning government in charge and American aid secured, Italy quickly became a European economic powerhouse in the 1950s and 1960s. When the war ended, the country was mainly a rural, agricultural-based society. With the influx of American money however, Italy quickly industrialized and got vital trading ...