Editing Christian Democracy (Italy) (section)

===De Gasperi and centrism===
[[File:Alcide de Gasperi 2.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Alcide De Gasperi]]]]

In May 1947 De Gasperi broke decisively with his Communist and Socialist coalition partners under pressure from U.S. President [[Harry Truman]]. This opened the way for a [[Centrism (Italy)|centrist coalition]] that included the [[Italian Democratic Socialist Party|Italian Workers' Socialist Party]] (PSLI), a centrist break-away from the PSI, as well as its usual allies, the PLI and the PRI.

In the [[1948 Italian general election|1948 general election]] the DC went on to win a decisive victory, with the support of the [[Catholic Church]] and the [[United States]], and obtained 48.5% of the vote, its best result ever. Despite his party's absolute majority in the [[Italian Parliament]], De Gasperi continued to govern at the head of the centrist coalition, which was successively abandoned by the Liberals, who hoped for more right-wing policies, in 1950 and the Democratic Socialists, who hoped for more leftist policies, in 1951.

Under De Gasperi, major land reforms were carried out in the poorer rural regions in the early postwar years, with farms appropriated from the large landowners and parcelled out to the peasants. In addition, during its years in office, Christian Democrats passed a number of laws safeguarding employees from exploitation, established a national health service, and initiated low-cost housing in Italy's major cities.<ref>Italy: Library of Nations: Italy, Time-Life Books, 1985</ref>

De Gasperi served as prime minister until 1953 and died a year later. No Christian Democrat would match his longevity in office and, despite the fact that DC's share of the vote was always between 38 and 43% from [[1953 Italian general election|1953]] to [[1979 Italian general election|1979]], the party was more and more fractured. As a result, Prime Ministers changed more frequently.