Editing History of Italy (section)

===Birth of the Republic===
{{Main|1946 Italian institutional referendum}}
[[File:Alcide de Gasperi 2.jpg|thumb|[[Alcide De Gasperi]], [[List of Prime Ministers of Italy|first]] republican [[Prime Minister of Italy]] and one of the [[Founding fathers of the European Union|Founding Fathers of the European Union]]]]

The aftermath of World War II left Italy with a destroyed economy, a divided society, and anger against the monarchy for its endorsement of the Fascist regime. These frustrations contributed to a revival of the Italian republican movement.<ref>{{Citation |title=Italia |date=1970 |volume=VI |page=456 |publisher=[[Treccani]] |language=it |encyclopedia=Dizionario enciclopedico italiano}}</ref> [[Umberto II of Italy|Umberto II]] was pressured by the threat of another civil war to call the [[1946 Italian institutional referendum]] to decide whether Italy should remain a monarchy or become a republic. On 2 June 1946, the republican side won 54% of the vote and Italy officially became a republic.

Under the [[Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947]], [[Istria]], [[Kvarner Gulf|Kvarner]], most of the [[Julian March]] as well as the [[Dalmatia]]n city of [[Zadar|Zara]] was annexed by [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] causing the [[Istrian-Dalmatian exodus]], which led to the emigration of between 230,000 and 350,000 local ethnic [[Italians]] ([[Istrian Italians]] and [[Dalmatian Italians]]), the others being ethnic Slovenians, ethnic Croatians, and ethnic [[Istro-Romanians]], choosing to maintain Italian citizenship.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tobagi |first=Benedetta |title=La Repubblica italiana &#124; Treccani, il portale del sapere |url=http://www.treccani.it/scuola/lezioni/storia/la_repubblica_italiana.html |access-date=28 January 2015 |publisher=Treccani.it}}</ref> Later, the [[Free Territory of Trieste]] was divided between the two states. Italy also lost all of its colonial possessions, formally ending the [[Italian Empire]]. In 1950, [[Italian Somaliland]] was made a [[Trust Territory of Somaliland|United Nations Trust Territory]] under Italian administration until 1 July 1960. The Italian border that applies today has existed since 1975, when [[Trieste]] was formally re-annexed to Italy.

The [[Italian general election, 1946|General Elections of 1946]], held at the same time as the Constitutional Referendum, elected 556 members of a [[Constituent Assembly of Italy|Constituent Assembly]]. A [[Italian Constitution|new constitution]] was approved, setting up a [[parliamentary system|parliamentary]] democracy. In 1947, under American pressure, the communists were expelled from the government. The [[Italian general election, 1948]] saw a landslide victory for Christian Democrats, that dominated the system for the following forty years.

Italy joined the [[Marshall Plan]] (ERP) and [[NATO]]. By 1950, the economy had largely stabilized and started booming.<ref>Christopher Duggan, ''Force of Destiny: A History of Italy Since 1796'' (2008) ch 27</ref> In 1957, Italy was a founding member of the [[European Economic Community]], which later transformed into the European Union (EU). The Marshall Plan's long-term legacy was to help modernize Italy's economy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ellwood |first=David W. |date=2003 |title=The Propaganda of the Marshall Plan in Italy in a Cold War Context |journal=Intelligence and National Security |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=225–236 |doi=10.1080/02684520412331306820 |s2cid=153463824}}</ref> By 1953, industrial production had doubled compared with 1938 and the annual rate of productivity increase was 6.4%, twice the British rate.