The name of two Italian political parties. The first was founded by Giuseppe Mazzini in 1853. Its aim was to achieve an independent, republican, and united Italy by way of a popular war. Its decline was due to the failure of the revolts planned by Mazzini, and the success of Cavour's policies. The name was resurrected in 1942 and given to the coalition formed by the republicans and the liberal-socialists of Carlo Rosselli and Piero Gobetti. From 1943 it published L'Italia libera and took active part in the resistance through the partisan groups of Giustizia e Libertà (Justice and Freedom). The integrity of its members, mainly intellectuals, could not make up for its isolation from the masses. Although it led the first democratic government with Ferruccio Parri (1945), it was defeated in the 1946 elections and dissolved.
"Action Party" (1942-1947)
History
Italian political party of the anti-fascist opposition, in the tradition of Mazzini and the Risorgimento.
Prominent Members
Riccardo Bauer
Norberto Bobbio
Andrea Caffi
Piero Calamandrei
Guido Calogero
Aldo Capitini
Nicola Chiaromonte
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
Tristano Codignola
Enrico Cuccia
Guido Dorso
Enzo Enriques Agnoletti
Vittorio Foa
Ettore Gallo
Aldo Garosci
Piero Gobetti
Ugo La Malfa
Massimo Mila
Primo Levi
Riccardo Lombardi
Emilio Lussu
Raffaele Mattioli
Ferruccio Parri
Carlo Rosselli
Nello Rosselli
Ernesto Rossi
Manlio Rossi Doria
Joyce Salvadori Lussu
Gaetano Salvemini
Altiero Spinelli
Alberto Tarchiani
Adolfo Tino
Silvio Trentin
Leo Valiani
Franco Venturi
Paolo Vittorelli
Bruno Zevi
Sources
Website of the Italian Resistance Historical Society: http://www.romacivica.net/anpiroma/antifascismo/antifascismo15.html Includes in-depth bios, recent remembrances, and selections from party documents.
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