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The 1984 Italian General Election was a surprise to most observers and Italians. On August 10th, 1984, Berlinguer gave a speech responding to the increasing mob violence against unions and left wingers that had claimed hundreds of lives in only seven months. Halfway through the speech he collapsed from a brain aneurysm, killing him instantly. He was airlifted to the nearest hospital, but he was pronounced dead by doctors at the hospital. The seemingly healthy Prime Minister was taken away in just a few seconds. Minister of the Interior Alessandro Natta was quickly designated the new Prime Minister of Italy and faced little opposition except from the Italian Social Movement and Social Democratic Party.
Natta quickly gave a speech praising Berlinguer's time in office at the same time President Cianci and those at the CIA popped open champagne. If Berlinguer pissed them off, then they would come to hate Natta even more. He was more hardline than Berlinguer and more dedicated to furthering Eurocommunism than Berlinguer who was known for his soft and pragmatic approach with the Socialist Party. Him and Vassalli didn't get along and it was only a matter of time before the PCI-PSI coalition collapsed.
First came Berlinguer's funeral. Notable attendants included former Senator Mike Gravel, Pope Nicholas VI, Prime Minister Roy Jenkins, French Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, and the leaders of every major political party in Italy (minus the MSI). Over one hundred thousand people attended the funeral and for three days flags of the PCI outnumbered the Italian flag in Rome and arguably the entirety of Italy.
The next order of business was shuffling the cabinet. Nilde Iotti became the first female Minister of the Interior and Giuliano Vassalli became the new Deputy Prime Minister. Aldo Moro became the Minister of Justice (a position he'd hold until 1986) and Sergio Garavini was made Minister of Labor and Social Policies. Natta, Iotti, and Foreign Minister Achille Occhetto on August 20th discussed the possibility of another election in an attempt to secure a majority. It was a short meeting as all three agreed that a majority would allow them to further implement Berlinguer's policies without relying on the Socialists or the Christian Democrats. The next day Natta called an election.
The campaign itself was brutal for the Christian Democrats. Their leader, Giulio Andreotti was accused of being connected to the Mafia and vast corruption. He rejected the claims as here say but at a time Mafia related violence was exploding the allegations damaged him quite a bit. Furthermore, the PCI ran on continuing Berlinger's legacy and implementing his full proposals instead of compromises with the PSI. The PSI on the other hand ran on how they were the true pro-worker party that managed to water down the proposals and made the bills into reasonable socialist legislation.
The Christian Democrats had a muddled message that attempted to not trash Berlinguer and but promised to reverse his policies. Many on the center-left despised Andreotti's platform due to it being a betrayal of Moro's Historic Compromise causing them to not show up or vote for the PSI or even PCI. The only saving grace was the Christian Democrat's having around 120 safe seats meaning they could spend less on defending seats and more on attempting to take back lost seats. Come election day though things turned out very differently. Andreotti had overestimated how willing Catholics were willing to accept Christian Democratic hegemony. Sick of Mafia violence and those they viewed as corrupt they found refuge in Liberation Theology. After being endorsed as a rational ideology by Pope Nicholas VI earlier that same year the PCI and PSI made sure to secure Liberation Theology's role in the socialist and Eurocommunist movement. The election served as a disaster for Andreotti and the Christian Democrats who fell to 145 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 69 in the Senate. Meanwhile the PCI won a majority and the PSI won what at the time was the second-best result for them. The MSI also managed to increase their vote share to just under 14% of the vote in what would be their best showing as facing scandal and criminal accusations they collapsed in 1987.
Eurocommunism that actually means what it says rather than just set itself up as the gravedigger of European communism and backslide into mild social liberalism is something I like to see. I wonder if it can negotiate all the crises of the end of the century, but at least it's trying.