Giuseppe Pella
31st Prime Minister of Italy
In office
17 August 1953 – 18 January 1954
PresidentLuigi Einaudi
Preceded byAlcide De Gasperi
Succeeded byAmintore Fanfani
Minister of Finance
In office
17 February 1972 – 26 June 1972
Prime MinisterGiulio Andreotti
Preceded byLuigi Preti
Succeeded byAthos Valsecchi
In office
6 June 1947 – 23 May 1948
Prime MinisterAlcide De Gasperi
Preceded byLuigi Einaudi
Succeeded byEzio Vanoni
Minister of Budget
In office
26 July 1960 – 21 February 1962
Prime MinisterAmintore Fanfani
Preceded byFernando Tambroni
Succeeded byUgo La Malfa
In office
23 May 1948 – 18 January 1954
Prime MinisterAlcide De Gasperi
Himself
Preceded byLuigi Einaudi
Succeeded byEzio Vanoni
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
15 February 1959 – 25 March 1960
Prime MinisterAntonio Segni
Preceded byAmintore Fanfani
Succeeded byAntonio Segni
In office
19 May 1957 – 1 July 1958
Prime MinisterAdone Zoli
Preceded byGaetano Martino
Succeeded byAmintore Fanfani
In office
17 August 1953 – 18 January 1954
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byAlcide De Gasperi
Succeeded byAttilio Piccioni
Minister of Treasury
In office
2 February 1952 – 17 August 1953
Prime MinisterAlcide De Gasperi
Preceded byEzio Vanoni
Succeeded bySilvio Gava
In office
23 May 1948 – 26 July 1951
Prime MinisterAlcide De Gasperi
Preceded byGustavo Del Vecchio
Succeeded byEzio Vanoni
President of the European Parliament
In office
29 November 1954 – 27 November 1956
Preceded byAlcide De Gasperi
Succeeded byHans Furler
Personal details
Born(1902-04-18)18 April 1902
Valdengo, Piedmont, Kingdom of Italy
Died31 May 1981(1981-05-31) (aged 79)
Rome, Lazio, Italy
Political partyChristian Democracy

Giuseppe Pella (18 April 1902 – 31 May 1981) was an Italian Christian Democratic politician who served as the 31st Prime Minister of Italy from 1953 to 1954. He was also Minister of Treasury, Budget and of Foreign Affairs during the 1950s and early 1960s. Pella served as President of the European Parliament from 1954 to 1956 after the death of Alcide De Gasperi.[1]

Pella is widely considered one of the most important politicians in Italy's post-war history. His economic and monetary policies in the ministry of finance based Italian reconstruction solidly on the best liberal traditions of Western capitalism.[2]

Early life and career

Giuseppe Pella was born in Valdengo, Piedmont. After graduation in Economy and Commerce, he became a professor of accounting at the Sapienza University of Rome and University of Torino.[3]

After the end of the World War II, Pella adhered to the Christian Democracy (DC), led by Alcide De Gasperi, becoming one of the main members of the party's right wing. After the 1946 general election, he became a member of the Constituent Assembly of Italy.[4] In July 1946, he was appointed under-secretary of Finances in the second and third governments of De Gasperi. On 6 June 1947, De Gasperi appointed him Minister of Finance in his fourth cabinet.[5]

Minister of Treasury

From May 1948 until July 1951 and again from February 1952 to August 1953, Pella served Minister of Treasury, always under the premiership of Alcide De Gasperi.[6][7] As minister he implemented liberist and monetarist policies, characterized by a strong laissez-faire capitalism, which gained him the enmity of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and Italian Socialist Party (PSI), as well as harsh criticism from members of Christian Democracy's left-wing, like Giuseppe Dossetti and Giorgio La Pira.[8] The American experts of the Marshall Plan, who arrived in Rome to check the use of the funds, were disconcerted that not a dollar had been spent on a Roosevelt-like public spending policy: the funds had in fact been used exclusively to bring order to the public finance and to stabilize the state budget following the thought of Luigi Einaudi.[9]

Prime Minister of Italy

Giuseppe Pella in 1953

The 1953 general election was characterised by changes in the electoral law. Even if the general structure remained uncorrupted, the government introduced a superbonus of two thirds of seats in the House for the coalition which would obtain at-large the absolute majority of votes. The change was strongly opposed by the opposition parties as well as DC's smaller coalition partners, who had no realistic chance of success under this system. The new law was called the Scam Law by its detractors,[10] including some dissidents of minor government parties who founded special opposition groups to deny the artificial landslide to Christian Democracy.

In the 7 June election, the government coalition won 49.9% of national vote, just a few thousand votes of the threshold for a supermajority, resulting in an ordinary proportional distribution of the seats. Technically, the government won the election, winning a clear working majority of seats in both houses. But frustration with the failure to win a supermajority caused significant tensions in the leading coalition. De Gasperi was forced to resign by the Parliament on 2 August. On 17 August, President Einaudi appointed Pella as new Prime Minister.[11] Pella Cabinet was immediately labeled as "administrative government", with the only aim of approving the budget law.[12] As premier, he also served as ad interim Minister of Budget and Foreign Affairs.

Pella gained further critics when, by issuing nationalistic declarations, he created strife with Josip Broz Tito regarding the Free Territory of Trieste. The Yugoslav dictator declared he would ha invaded Trieste if the Americans had assigned it to Italy.[13] Then, Pella threatened to send troops to the Eastern border in response to Tito's provocation. The crisis that could result in a military confrontation was brought back after many diplomatic efforts by the Western powers.[14] His interventionism provoked opposite reactions in Parliament and in the press: Monarchist National Party (PNM) and the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI) strongly supported him, the leftist parties, and especially the communists, accused him of nationalism and anti-communism.[15] Much of his own party remained neutral, partly because the governments of United States and United Kingdom wanted to keep good relations with Yugoslavia even at the cost of penalizing Italy. The media, however, described Pella as a patriot and as a courageous statesman. Much of the public opinion appreciated his policies.[16] Pella resigned on 12 January 1954,[17] after only 5 months in power.[18]

After the premiership

Giuseppe Pella in 1961

After the end of his government, he founded, along with Giulio Andreotti, a right-wing faction of Christian Democracy, known as "Concentration".[19] In 1955 he was one of the kingmakers of Giovanni Gronchi's election to the Presidency of the Republic, against Cesare Merzagora, who was the the candidate proposed by the Christian Democratic secretary, Amintore Fanfani. Pella and Andreotti's move gained the surprising support of communist and socialist parties, as well as the one monarchist and neo-fascist movements.[20] After Gronchi's sworn in, Pella was considered the natural candidate for the premiership, however the new President of the Republic appointed Antonio Segni.

In May 1957, Pella served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Adone Zoli, of whom he served also as Deputy Prime Minister.[21] He became Foreign Affairs Minister again under Segni, from February 1959 until March 1960,[22] and Minister of Budget in Fanfani III Cabinet from July 1960 to February 1962.[23]

A strong opponent of Fanfani's alliance with the Socialist Party, from 1962 he decided to keep aside. In the later years, he became president of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee from 18 July 1968 to 23 February 1972 and briefly returned to the government as Finance Minister in the first government of Giulio Andreotti from February to June 1972, which however failed to gain confidence by the Parliament.[24]

Pella died on 31 May 1981 in Rome, at the age of 79.[25]

Notes

  1. ^ Harris M. Lentz (2014). Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. Routledge. pp. 440–43.
  2. ^ D. Ivone, "Giuseppe Pella e la politica liberista nella ricostruzione economica del secondo Dopoguerra." Rivista internazionale di storia della banca (1982): vol 24-25 pp 104-20.
  3. ^ Giuseppe Pella – Treccani
  4. ^ Giuseppe Pella – Senato della Repubblica
  5. ^ Il Governo De Gasperi IV, Governo.it
  6. ^ VII Governo De Gasperi, Governo.it
  7. ^ VIII Governo De Gasperi, Governo.it
  8. ^ Giuseppe Pella. Un liberista cristiano
  9. ^ "Giuseppe Pella, ecco chi era costui", Milano Finanza
  10. ^ Also its parliamentarian exam had a disruptive effect: "Among the iron pots of political forces that faced in the Cold War, Senate cracked as earthenware pot": Buonomo, Giampiero (2014). "Come il Senato si scoprì vaso di coccio". L'Ago e Il Filo.  – via Questia (subscription required)
  11. ^ Mattarella cita Einaudi e l'incarico a Pella: fu il primo governo del presidente
  12. ^ Il governo del Presidente Pella
  13. ^ Pella replica alle minacce di Tito
  14. ^ Giuseppe Pella e la questione di Trieste
  15. ^ La strada per Osimo: Italia e Jugoslavia allo specchio
  16. ^ Crisi tra Jugoslavia e Italia sulla questione di Trieste
  17. ^ Governo Pella, Governo.it
  18. ^ Cattolico e risorgimentale, Pella e il caso di Trieste
  19. ^ Intanto nella DC (1953–1958)
  20. ^ Danger on the Left, Time Magazine, May 9, 1955
  21. ^ Governo Zoli, Governo.it
  22. ^ Governo Segni II, Governo.it
  23. ^ Governo Fanfani III, Governo.it
  24. ^ Composizione del Governo Andreotti I, Senato della Repubblica
  25. ^ Giuseppe Pella, Camera dei Deputati

Further reading

Political offices Preceded byLuigi Einaudi Italian Minister of Finance 1947–1948 Succeeded byEzio Vanoni Preceded byGustavo Del Vecchio Italian Minister of Treasury 1948–1951 Succeeded byEzio Vanoni Preceded byLuigi Einaudi Italian Minister of Budget 1948–1954 Succeeded byEzio Vanoni Preceded byEzio Vanoni Italian Minister of Treasury 1952–1953 Succeeded bySilvio Gava Preceded byAlcide De Gasperi President of the Italian Council of Ministers 1953–1954 Succeeded byAmintore Fanfani Preceded byAlcide De Gasperi Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1953–1954 Succeeded byAttilio Piccioni Preceded byAlcide De GasperiItaly President of the European Parliament 1954–1956 Succeeded byHans FurlerWest Germany Preceded byGaetano Martino Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1957–1958 Succeeded byAmintore Fanfani Preceded byAmintore Fanfani Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1958–1960 Succeeded byAntonio Segni Preceded byFernando Tambroni Italian Minister of Budget 1960–1962 Succeeded byUgo La Malfa Italian Chamber of Deputies Preceded byNone, Parliament re-established Member of Parliament for TurinLegislatures: CA, I, II, III, IV 1946–1968 Succeeded byTitle jointly held Italian Senate Preceded byTitle jointly held Italian Senator for PiedmontLegislatures: V, VI 1968–1976 Succeeded byTitle jointly held


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