After World War II and the overthrow of Mussolini's fascist regime, Italy's history was dominated by the Democrazia Cristiana (DC - Christian-Democrats) party for forty years, while the opposition was led by the Italian Communist Party (PCI); this condition endured until the Tangentopoli scandal and operation Mani pulite, which led to the dissolving of most of the Italian parties.
In 1994, in the midst of the mani pulite operation which shook most political parties, media magnate Silvio Berlusconi won the elections, becoming one of Italy's most important figures for the next decade, owner of three private TV channels. Ousted after a few months of government, he returned to power in 2001, but lost the general election five years later to Romano Prodi and his Union coalition.
