«Those who are goading, get off the cart and put themselves on the pole»- Corriere.it

«In thanking you for your commitment, I address the invitation that, in a very different context, Alcide De Gasperi addressed after the war, when it was necessary to rebuild Italy from the rubble and at the same time build an authentic democracy: it is time for everyone, starting from the creation of the Pnrr, to get stuck
. Best wishes for your work.” Thus the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, speaking today at the first national conference of the Chambers of Commerce entitled “Designing tomorrow with courage” in Florence.

But when were those words spoken by De Gasperi for the first time?

We are in June 1949, in a very different context. On the occasion of III Christian Democrat Congress of Venice (June 2-6) a decisive clash occurs, with the progressive removal of Amintore Fanfani by the Dossettian group.

Dossetti delivered a speech addressed to the working class, which it should – in his opinion – be “liberated from the Communist Party”, as Paolo Mieli recalls here. Words they wanted to be of «prod» to the Christian Democrats, whose members were asked to have “an attitude as virile towards the conservative classes as we take – and have always taken – towards the extreme left”. His words did not please De Gasperi who replied: «It is true that every government needs a certain stimulus, if you like, a goad (I don’t like the word, because it reminds of oxen), but in any case I also accept the goad on one condition, that at a certain moment those who they are prodding, get out of the cart and put themselves to the pole too”. In other words, driving, working. It was — precisely — after that occasion that Fanfani broke away from the Dossetti group, aiming to succeed De Gasperi who, after the war, had adopted a foreign policy linked to the United States and the Western bloc, leading precisely in 1949 Italy in the Atlantic Pact.

After more than 70 years, President Mattarella has chosen to revoke De Gasperi’s speech, by borrowing the metaphor used by the then head of DC for the theme of the Pnrr. An expression that recalls the agricultural language: the pole is that element that protrudes at the front of the cart to which the animals are attached for shooting.