Editing Emilio Colombo (section)

==Political career==
Colombo entered politics as a member of the [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]] (DC) party in 1943.<ref name=lgdm25jun/><ref name=newsd>{{cite news|title=Former Italian prime minister Emilio Colombo dead at 93|url=http://www.newsdaily.com/article/02af98fb58844e641b779301e8257a43/former-italian-prime-minister-emilio-colombo-dead-at-93|access-date=26 June 2013|newspaper=NewsDaily|date=25 June 2013|archive-date=28 June 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130628033823/http://www.newsdaily.com/article/02af98fb58844e641b779301e8257a43/former-italian-prime-minister-emilio-colombo-dead-at-93|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the [[1946 Italian general election]], Colombo was elected to the [[Constituent Assembly of Italy]] with nearly 21,000 votes, becoming one of the youngest members of the [[Italian Parliament]].<ref>[https://elezionistorico.interno.gov.it/candidati.php?tpel=A&dtel=02/06/1946&tpa=I&tpe=I&lev0=0&levsut0=0&lev1=27&levsut1=1&ne1=27&es0=S&es1=S&ms=S&ne=27&nlg=1&ts=C&ccp=1 Elezioni 1946: Circoscrizione Potenza– Matera], ''Ministero dell'Interno''</ref> He was elected for the constituency of [[List of Italian constituencies (1946–1994)#Potenza–Matera|Potenza–Matera]], which would remain his stronghold for all his political career.<ref name=reu25jun/>

[[File:Segni De Gasperi Colombo.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Colombo with [[Alcide De Gasperi]] and [[Antonio Segni]] in the early 1950s]]
After two years, in the [[1948 Italian general election]], Colombo was re-elected in the country's [[Chamber of Deputies (Italy)|Chamber of Deputies]] for his constituency with more than 43,000 votes.<ref>[https://elezionistorico.interno.gov.it/candidati.php?tpel=C&dtel=18/04/1948&tpa=I&tpe=I&lev0=0&levsut0=0&lev1=26&levsut1=1&ne1=26&es0=S&es1=S&ms=S&ne=26&nlg=1&ts=C&ccp=1 Elezioni 1948: Circoscrizione Potenza– Matera], ''Ministero dell'Interno''</ref> From May 1948 to July 1951, he was appointed undersecretary to the [[Minister of Agriculture (Italy)|Ministry of Agriculture and Forests]] in the 5th and 6th governments of [[Alcide De Gasperi]].<ref>[http://www.governo.it/i-governi-dal-1943-ad-oggi/i-legislatura-8-maggio-1948-4-aprile-1953/governo-de-gasperi-v/3228 Governo De Gasperi V], ''governo.it''</ref><ref>[http://www.governo.it/i-governi-dal-1943-ad-oggi/i-legislatura-8-maggio-1948-4-aprile-1953/governo-de-gasperi-vi/3227 Governo De Gasperi VI], ''governo.it''</ref>

During these years, Colombo was involved in a successful mediation in [[Calabria]] in 1949 during clashes for the occupations of the lands by peasants. He also collaborated with minister [[Antonio Segni]] in the approval of the agrarian reform. The [[land reform]], approved by the parliament in October 1950, was financed in part by the funds of the [[Marshall Plan]] launched by the United States in 1947 and considered by some scholars as the most important reform of the entire post-war period.<ref>Corrado Barberis, ''Teoria e storia della riforma agraria'', [[Florence]], Vallecchi, 1957</ref> The reform proposed, through forced expropriation, the distribution of land to agricultural laborers, thus making them small entrepreneurs and no longer subject to the large landowner.<ref>[https://agriregionieuropa.univpm.it/it/content/article/31/52/riforma-agraria-e-modernizzazione-rurale-italia-nel-ventesimo-secolo Riforma agraria e modernizzazione rurale in Italia nel ventesimo secolo]</ref> If in some ways the reform had this beneficial result, for others it significantly reduced the size of farms, effectively removing any possibility of transforming them into advanced businesses. This negative element was mitigated and in some cases eliminated by forms of [[Cooperative|cooperatives]].<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/23719889?seq=1 Alcide De Gasperi tra riforma agraria e guerra fredda (1948–1950)]</ref>