Dalle urne alle piazze: la battaglia tra monarchici e repubblicani per il referendum istituzionale del giugno 1946

This essay seeks to analyse a crucial moment in the Italian institutional tran- sition that followed the Second World War. On June 2, 1946, the Italian population participated in a referendum to choose the institutional form for the new Italian State. In the weeks leading up to the event - and following it –, political tensions between monarchist and republican supporters broke out in a crescendo of accusations, recriminations, and demonstrations. Disorders spread in the urban areas of southern Italy, which traditionally maintained a stronger bond with the monarchy. Once the violence had subsided and order had been restored, the country was ready to fully focus on the postwar recon- struction of the country within the new republican framewo