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Post WW2 constitutional systems - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Overthrow of fascism was a palace revolution (an inside job, PINO GRANDI was the one who promoted to vote): this was possible because, differently from Hitler, Mussolini had been less careful anticipating revolts from his generals and did not suppress all the internal opposition (like during the night of the long knives in Germany
      - The existence of an alternative form of leadership in Italy, the monarchy: unlike Hitler, Mussolini never assumed all the powers on himself, because of the presence of the King
    - - For 46 days (25th of July and 8th of September) Italy was left in a very dangerous situation of ambiguity. The German army started to plan a military occupation because they had not been deceived by the announcement of the government and feared an Italian capitulation, while the Italian army had no clear orders and could not prepare itself for the predictable German reaction.
      - September 8, 1943, the armistice between Italy and the allies was made public (had been signed 5 days before): Germany attacked Italian forces making more than 600,000 prisoners and occupied most of Italy - German expedition freed Mussolini from the Gran Sasso and took him to Hitler in Germany
      - North of Italy, Mussolini created a new fascist state -> the Social Republic of Salò -> highly dependent on Germany, historians consider it as a puppet regime as Mussolini had few military powers and all decisions had to go through the German ambassador of the SS general of Italy
      - All over Italy, even in the north -> spontaneous organisation of partisans, marking a revival of old political movements. All forces were united in the NATIONAL LIBERATION COMMITTEE (CLN), an anti-fascist organisation which included all Italian parties, expect the fascist
        
        Resistance movements symbolised the Italian break with fascism and its horrors. However, the vicious nature of the struggle was evident in the north, where the conflict between the partisans and the supporters of the Fascist Republic of Salò was a civil war between Italians. In April 1945, after almost two years of civil war and Nazi occupation, the allies finally succeeded in overcoming the German defense.
        
        April 21st Polish troops entered Bologna. 4 days later, on the 25th, the National Liberation Committee of Upper Italy officially proclaimed the popular insurgency via radio announcement. 3 days later Mussolini was killed close to the lake of Como.
        
        Took 1 year to have a national election in June 1946, it was the first election with universal suffrage: the Italian voted for the institutional form of their state and also for the Constituent assembly. The election saw the victory of the Republic with more than 12 million of votes, but the monarchy still gained 10 million votes; and the Christian Democracy, led by ALCIDE DE GASPERI which won the elections for the constituent assembly. The Christian Democracy was a heterogeneous party characterized by an anti-communist ideology: it had the support of the United States, and it appealed mostly to women (provided 60% of its votes), the elderly and to the small landowners.
- - - - Pro-Western Germans Federal Republic - BRD
      - Soviet-oriented German Democratic Republic - DDR
      - Both states received a constitution in 1949 - West Germany followed a large extent the pattern Constitution of the Weimar, Easter Germany followed familiar constitutional pattern of the socialist countries
      - CRUCIAL: Constitution of the Federal Republic of 1949 made good another shortcoming of the primary era, by restricting the power of the president, who wasn't directly elected by the people anymore and therefore eliminated the possibility of dictatorial rule. Article 20 of the same constitution called the country “a democratic and social, federal, state” and article 100 attributed the review of the constitutionality of the laws to a special constitutional court.
        
        ARTICLE 21 one said that they might be organized freely, that their internal organization must be democratic, and they must publish accounts for their financial resources. Moreover, parties against the free and democratic order were declared unconstitutional.
        
        The Constitution also enhanced the reunification of the two Germanys; the same paragraph also insisted on the federal republic's duty to serve the peace of the world as an equal partner in a United Europe. More important is ARTICLE 23 which permitted the unification of the two states in 1990; after the fall of the Soviet Union, East Germany voted to dissolve itself and to join West Germany thanks to article 23.
        
        → West Germany absorbed East Germany and the West German Constitution of 1949 is still the constitution of the German state of today.
- - - - On the 16th of June, two days after Nazi tanks entered Paris, the prime minister RENAULT resigned in order to avoid any relations with Hitler: it was the end of the French third republic (started after the military defeat of Napoleon III in Sedan in 1817 by the Prussian army)
      - In 1940 the new HOG old MARSHAL PÉTAIN (hero of WWI) quickly secured an armistice with Hitler on the 22th of June. The armistice was extremely humiliating. Same place where WW1 armistice was signed.
        
        This armistice was a sort of Hitler's vengeance against France which was divided in 2 main areas: NORTH, under immediate military occupation, and SOUTH, with the Free State of VICHY - but from 1942, distinctions were eliminated as Germans occupied all the territory
        
        Collaborationist Vichy regime was the officially representative of the government of all France, but the Norther part of the country was subordinate to Germany, even though the South was heavily influence by Nazism
        
        Pétain creates a dictatorship based on the concept of “National Revolution”; the new motto is motto is the conservative trilogy “Work, Family, Fatherland” and Anti-Semitic repression is heavy
        
        PÉTAIN, who expected from his compatriots unconditional loyalty and obedience. Even though the regime was unmistakably authoritarian and had many similarities with Nazi Germany (ex. antisemitic repression), Pétain presented himself as the protector of France against Hitler. Many historians have discredited this argument by now, but at the time, it gave Pétain relative popularity (at least at the beginning of the Vichy regime)
        
        10th of July 1940 the National Assembly voted to grant full an extraordinary powers to Marshal PÉTAIN and granted him the power to write a new constitution: only 80 members out of more than 500 were contrary, BUT the vote is considered illegal by historians because of the non-voluntary abstention from the world of many deputies and senators: many politicians were threatened by Nazi collaborators and many others were already fleeing France to form a government in exile in Great Britain.
        
        ? Political legitimacy of the Vichy regime is crucial
        
        Those who highlight the unclear conditions of the June 1940 vote claim that the legal French government was that in exile, led by CHARLES DE GAULLE (a junior general; he broadcasted from BBC radio London and insisted that the Vichy government had no legitimacy since it had not been confirmed by the electorate and it was merely a client state of Germany. During the four years of war, DE GAULLE became the leader of the French resistance in exile: he was considered the democratic successor of Petain and was even allowed by the allies to liberate Paris in August 1944.
        
        De Gaulle was responsible for the post-war rebuilding of democracy in France: In August 1944, he established a PVG that replaced the previous regime of Vichy.
        
        New Republic was recognised by the UK and the US, becoming the 3rd Western Allied Power
        
        DE GAULLE'S leadership after the war
        
        He created a leadership style which was paternalistic, BUT firmly rooted in democracy: his desire for stronger presidency was clear in 1958 when he promoted the creation of a new constitutional system (this is the beginning of the 5th Republic). More than 80% of voters supported his project for a system of strong presidents elected for 7 year terms (today the term is of 5 years only); the 1st President of the 5th Republic was De Gaulle himself who led from 1959 to 1969.
        
        5th Republic 1958-present day - still in place, stronger presidency directly elected
        
        4th Republic 1946-1958 - established after WW2 with the issue of a new republican constitution
        
        3rd Republic 1870-1940 - started after the military defeat of Napoleon III in Sedan in 1870 and ended with Hitler's invasion
        
        2nd Republic 1848-1852 - during the revolutionary wave of 1848
        
        1st Republic 1792-1804 - founded during the French Revolution and finished with Napoleon's rise to power
  - - - UK only applied slight sanction to Italy following the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935
      - UK did not help republican Spain against Francisco FRANCO
      - UK didn't protest against German annexation of Austria (Anschluss) + signing of the Munich agreement after Hitler's occupation of the Sudetenland
      - After German aggressive invasion -> UK policy change, CHURCHILL rose to power
        
        Britain's resiliance and survival is owed much to Churchill as hegave Britain hope and resistance, quickly gained approval of the majority of deputies, inspired genuine support, trust and loyalty across party boundaries
        
        A vote of confidence in 1942 showed that he won by 476 votes to 25
        
        The most important point is that he, in particular during the long battle of Britain, kept the war open for others to join - Soviet Union and then the United States.