Editing Silvio Berlusconi (section)

=== 1994 electoral victory ===
{{main|1994 Italian general election}}
{{see also|First Berlusconi government}}
[[File:Berlusconi-comizio.jpg|thumb|left|Berlusconi during a {{Lang|it|[[Forza Italia]]|italic=no}} rally in 1994]]
To win the March 1994 general election, Berlusconi formed two separate electoral alliances: [[Pole of Freedoms]] (''Polo delle Libertà'') with [[Lega Nord]] (Northern League) in northern Italian districts, and another, the [[Pole of Good Government]] (''Polo del Buon Governo''), with the [[National Alliance (Italy)|National Alliance]] (''Alleanza Nazionale''), heir to the [[Italian Social Movement]], in central and southern regions.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Griffin|first=Roger| author-link = Roger Griffin|quote=AN's ideological tap-root is still thrust deep into historical Fascism ... retaining many Fascist core values.|title=The 'Post-Fascism' of the Alleanza Nazionale: A Case Study in Ideological Morphology|journal=Journal of Political Ideologies|volume=1|issue=2|pages=123–145|year=1996|doi=10.1080/13569319608420733| issn = 1356-9317 }}</ref> In a pragmatic move, he did not ally with the latter in the North because Lega Nord disliked them. Consequently, {{Lang|it|[[Forza Italia]]|italic=no}} was allied with two parties that were not allied with each other.<ref>{{cite news |title=Elezioni che hanno fatto la storia: il 1994 |url=https://www.youtrend.it/2018/02/28/elezioni-che-hanno-fatto-la-storia-il-1994/ |access-date=16 June 2023 |work=YouTrend |date=28 February 2018 |language=it-IT |archive-date=5 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205171514/https://www.youtrend.it/2018/02/28/elezioni-che-hanno-fatto-la-storia-il-1994/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Berlusconi launched a massive campaign of electoral advertisements on his three TV networks and prepared his top advertising salesmen with seminars and screen tests, of whom 50 were subsequently elected despite an absence of legislative experience.<ref name="Peretz Rampini"/> He subsequently won the elections, with Forza Italia garnering 21% of the popular vote, more than any other single party.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elezionistorico.interno.it/liste.php?tp=C&dt=27/03/1994&cta=I&tpEnte=A&tpSeg=C&numEnte=0&sut1=&sut2=&sut3=&descEnte=&descArea=ITALIA&codTipoSegLeader=|title=Elezioni della Camera dei Deputati del 27 Marzo 1994|language=it|publisher=[[Italian Chamber of Deputies]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612091446/http://elezionistorico.interno.it/liste.php?tp=C&dt=27%2F03%2F1994&cta=I&tpEnte=A&tpSeg=C&numEnte=0&sut1=&sut2=&sut3=&descEnte=&descArea=ITALIA&codTipoSegLeader= |archive-date=12 June 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> One of the most significant promises that he made to secure victory was that his government would create "one million more jobs". He was appointed prime minister in 1994, but his term in office was short because of the inherent contradictions in his coalition: the League, a regional party with a strong electoral base in northern Italy, was at that time fluctuating between [[federalist]] and [[separatist]] positions and the National Alliance was a [[nationalist]] party that had yet to renounce [[neo-fascism]] at the time.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Capussela |first1=Andrea |title=Il declino {{!}} Illusioni, disastri e follie: come il 1994 cambiò per sempre l'Italia |url=https://www.linkiesta.it/2019/06/1994-italia-berlusconi-andrea-capussela/ |access-date=16 June 2023 |work=Linkiesta.it |date=21 June 2019 |language=it-IT |archive-date=16 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616075809/https://www.linkiesta.it/2019/06/1994-italia-berlusconi-andrea-capussela/ |url-status=live }}</ref>