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The Historical Left, also known as the Sinistra Liberale ("Liberal Left") was a liberal faction of Italian politics which existed from 1849 to 1913. Divided between a moderate and parliamentarian majority under Urbano Rattazzi and a radical and republican minority under Giuseppe Garibaldi, the faction represented the northern and southern middle class, urban bourgeoisie, small businessmen, journalists, and academics, and it supported the right to vote and universal public schooling. After Italian unification, the Left sat in opposition to the Historical Right and was divided between Rattazzi's liberal faction, Agostino Depretis and Agostino Bertani's anti-republican faction, and Francesco Crispi's populist faction, and it was not until 1876 that the Left rose to power. From 1881 to 1887, the Left achieved universal manhood suffrage, adopted protectionism, and supported an imperialist foreign policy. During the 1890s, the Left began to show conservative tendencies such as breaking strikes and protests and supporting colonialism in Africa. The 1896 Battle of Adwa in Ethiopia was disastrous, leading to the collapse of the Liberal government. In 1913, the Liberals of the Left and Right merged into the Liberal Union of Italy.

During the late 19th century, the Historical Left consisted mostly of Southerners who had strong ties to the local society, and the Right accused the Left of being the political face of the Mafia. Under Interior Minister Giovanni Nicotera, the police suppressed banditry in Sicily from 1877 to 1880 while leaving the Mafia mostly untouched.

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