A BRIEF EARLY HISTORY OF THE NORTHERN LEAGUE

The Northern League was constituted in 1991 after the Leagues of North-Italy had united at their first congress at Pieve Emanuele (near Milan).

The movement founded by Umberto Bossi does not interpret the political struggle as a clash between social classes or categories, but as a conflict between centralist States and the people who claim their right to self-determination and freedom.

A fundamental turning point on Bossi's path was a meeting in 1979 with Bruno Salvadori, founder of the Union Valdotaine, who aimed to spread the federalist idea beyond the confines of his Valle d'Aosta.

The political history of the Northern League and the personal history of Umberto Bossi are closely intertwined. The Lombard League was formed in 1984 with the signing of its constituent act. Among the signers together with Umberto Bossi were Giuseppe Leoni, Dino Daverio, Marino Moroni, Sergio Sogliaghi, and Manuela Marrone who later became Bossi's wife.

The League's symbol became the warrior Alberto da Giussano juxtaposed onto a profile of Lombardia. It is a historical-mythological reference to the oath of Pontida and to the Battle of Legnano where the towns of Padania rallied around the Carroccio* and defeated the emperor Frederick Barbarossa.

In 1985 the League won its first seats in the communal elections of Varese and Gallarate. In 1987 it won its first seats in Parliament: Bossi was elected senator from whence he got his nickname "Senatur", and Giuseppe Leoni was elected deputy (the Liga Veneta had already won two seats in Parliament in 1983: Achille Tramarin and Graziano Girardi). In 1989 the League sent its first men to the European Parliament: Enrico Speroni and Luigi Moretti. In 1992 the Northern League brought 80 parliamentarians to Rome, 25 senators and 55 deputies. In 1994 the number of parliamentarians jumped to 180. The League's Irene Pivetti was elected as President of the Chamber (Speaker of the lower House).

Bossi launched the Republic of the North as a political project to be completed.

* Carroccio - A large four-wheeled carriage, marked by the city colors, which was the symbol of freedom for the medieval North-Italian communes. During the battles, the Carroccio was placed at the center of the militia's formation and served for religious functions and as a place of recovery for the wounded.