In Italy , the Christian Democrats ( DC ) , led by Alcide De Gasperi , were losing popularity , and feared that the leftist coalition would take power . The Communist Party of Italy ( PCI ) was growing particularly fast due to its organizing efforts supporting sharecroppers in Sicily , Tuscany and Umbria , movements which were also bolstered by the reforms of Fausto Gullo , the Communist minister of agriculture . On May 1 , the nation was thrown into crisis by the murder of eleven leftist peasants ( including four children ) at an International Workers ' Day parade in Palermo by Salvatore Giuliano and his gang . In the political chaos which ensued , the president engineered the expulsion of all left-wing ministers from the cabinet on May 31 . The PCI would not have a national position in government again for twenty years . De Gasperi did this under pressure from US Secretary of State George Marshall , who 'd informed him that anti-communism was a pre-condition for receiving American aid , and Ambassador James C. Dunn who had directly asked de Gasperi to dissolve the parliament and remove the PCI
murder of eleven leftist peasants
Portella della Ginestra massacre
May 1947 crises