Giulio Andreotti

Giulio Andreotti was an Italian Christian Democracy politician who served seven terms as prime minister between 1972 and 1992. His long career made him a central figure in postwar Italian government and its controversies.

Alcide De Gasperi: An Italian Christian Democracy leader who served as prime minister from 1945 to 1953 and helped rebuild postwar Italy. De Gasperi brought Andreotti into national politics and became his mentor.
Italian political system: The institutions, parties, and practices through which the Italian Republic governs. Andreotti’s repeated governments depended on the parliamentary coalitions characteristic of this system.
Mani pulite: A series of corruption investigations beginning in 1992 that exposed extensive bribery in Italian politics. The investigations helped bring down the party system in which Andreotti had held power.
Communist Party of Italy: The principal Italian communist party, known as the PCI, which became a major electoral force after World War II. The PCI was Christian Democracy’s chief domestic rival, though Andreotti’s governments sometimes relied on its support.
Italian political scandal: A controversy involving misconduct, illicit influence, or abuse of public office in Italian politics. Andreotti’s career became associated with disputes over political power and accountability.
Aldo Moro: An Italian Christian Democracy politician and prime minister kidnapped and murdered by the Red Brigades in 1978. Andreotti governed during Moro’s kidnapping and the crisis over negotiations with his captors.
Italian general election, 1948: A pivotal election in which Christian Democracy defeated the Popular Democratic Front by a wide margin. The victory consolidated the party that became the basis of Andreotti’s political career.
Tangentopoli: The Italian political corruption scandal of the early 1990s, involving systematic kickbacks and party financing. Its revelations formed the wider crisis that ended Christian Democracy’s dominance.
Historic Compromise: A proposed political accommodation between Christian Democracy and the Italian Communist Party in the 1970s. It was a broader strategy than Andreotti’s limited parliamentary cooperation with the Communists.
Piazza Fontana bombing: A 1969 bombing in Milan that killed 17 people and helped intensify Italy’s Years of Lead. The later debate over Andreotti’s knowledge of secret networks drew on the climate of suspicion surrounding political violence.

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