The
Historical Left was led by the
Prime Minister of Italy,
Agostino Depretis, longtime Prime Minister of Italy. The bloc of the
Historical Right was led by
Marco Minghetti, a conservative politician and former Prime Minister, from
Bologna. A third large parliamentary group was the
Dissident Left, composed by former members of the Left, which were against the alliance with the Right. Also known as
La Pentarchia (The Pentarchy), its main leader was
Giuseppe Zanardelli, a jurisconsult from
Brescia. ==Parties and leaders==