alternatehistory.com

OK, so the Genocide is dubious on this one, but it does say this:

The 1948 general elections were heavily influenced by the then flaring cold-war confrontation between the Soviet Union and the US. After the Soviet-inspired February 1948 communist coup in Czechoslovakia the US became alarmed about Soviet intentions and feared that the Soviet funded [1][2] PCI would draw Italy into the Soviet Union's sphere of influence if the leftist coalition were to win the elections. In response, on March 1948 the United States National Security Council issued its first document proffering recommendations to avoid such an outcome which were widely and energetically implemented. Ten million letters were sent by mostly Italian Americans urging Italians not to vote communist. US agencies made numerous short-wave propaganda radio broadcasts and funded the publishing of books and articles, warning the Italians of the perceived consequences of a communist victory. The CIA also funded the centre-right political parties and was accused of publishing forged letters in order to discredit the leaders of the PCI[citation needed]. The PCI itself was accused of being funded by Moscow and the Cominform, and in particular via export deals to the Communist countries.[3]

Apparently, because of fears of a Communist victory due to this, the Christian Democrats won the election - and every single election thereafter until the Mani pulite investigation in 1992. However, WI all this was for nothing? WI, despite this, Italians decide to give the US the middle finger and produce a victory of the Italian Communist Party instead? How would post-1945 Italy be different?
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