Sort of a minor point of interest. But still notable. The Italian government of Georgia Meloni has now become the longest lasting government since World War II at 1,413 days. Since the Italian Republic began at the end of World War II – specifically in a June 1946 national referendum on whether to maintain the monarchy or become a republic – it’s the longest lasting government in the 80 year history of the Italian Republic. Silvio Berlusconi is still the longest serving Prime Minister. But he did that non-consecutively and over four separate governments. The average length of a government since World War II is about 13 months – a somewhat notorious parliamentary, if not political, instability for which the Italian Republic has long been known.
This is at least somewhat ironic since Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party at least has its roots in Italy’s neo-fascist movement. And the Italian Republic was formed on the wreckage of Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime. Basically the monarchy, which was the shell in which the fascist regime existed, was thoroughly discredited by that association and that set the stage for its abolition and the beginning of the republic. Whether Brothers of Italy continues to be neo-fascist is contested. It’s at least moderated to a degree from its roots at founding. Most political scientists now generally class it as a right-wing nationalist/populist party. Obviously all of this is quite subjective.
Historians generally divide the history of the Italian Republic into a First Republic and a Second Republic. In the first the country was dominated by the Christian Democratic party and consistently excluded the main opposition Communist party from government – I think with one brief exception – with the assistance of various other minor parties. Then in the early 90s the end of the Cold War/USSR plus a government wide anti-corruption probe changed how everything worked.
