75 years ago, on June 2, 1946, Italians were asked to choose between a Republic and a Monarchy through a universal suffrage referendum, in which women also participated for the first time in Italy.
24.946.878 Italians participated in the Referendum. Among these 12.718.641 (54,27%) chose the Republic, against the 10.718.502 who chose the Monarchy.
At the same time, the Italians chose the representatives of the Constituent Assembly, that is, the parliamentarians who were to draft the Italian Constitution, which was then approved in December 1947 and came into force in January 1948.
The results of the referendum were announced in June 10th, 1946 by the Court of Cassation, which however waited until June 18 to officially proclaim the birth of the Italian Republic.
The birth of the Italian Republic put an end to the Kingdom of Italy, with the consequent cessation of the powers previously exercised by the royal family of Savoy.
Republic Day
The first Republic Day was celebrated in 1947, coinciding with the anniversary of the referendum.
In 1948 the first military parade took place in via dei Fori Imperiali, in Rome, but only in 1949, on June 2, was it definitively declared a national holiday.
In 1977, after the economic crisis that hit Italy in the 70s, Republic Day was postponed to the first Sunday in June, so as not to miss a working day.
In 2001, at the suggestion of the then President of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, the celebration returned to the original location, on June 2, abandoning the status of a mobile party.
FOLLOW-US
