University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 1-1-1966 The Italian Communist Party 1921--1964: A profile. Aldo U. Marchini University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Marchini, Aldo U., "The Italian Communist Party 1921--1964: A profile." (1966). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 6438. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/6438 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). Under this license, works must always be attributed to the copyright holder (original author), cannot be used for any commercial purposes, and may not be altered. Any other use would require the permission of the copyright holder. Students may inquire about withdrawing their dissertation and/or thesis from this database. For additional inquiries, please contact the repository administrator via email ([email protected]) or by telephone at 519-253-3000ext. 3208. NOTE TO USERS Page(s) not included in the original manuscript and are unavailable from the author or university. The manuscript was scanned as received. it This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE ITALIAN COkkUNIST PARTY 1921 - 196A: A PROPILE by ALDO U. LARCHINI Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of kaster of Arts in the Department of Political Science University of Windsor 1966 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. 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Further reproduction prohibited without permission. n ii Approved -<Vn\ ±11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. iv A BSTRA CT The following study has as its purpose the desire to identify what qualities have become characteristic of the present day Italian Communist Party and to relate historically their ideological and political genesis during the years froir 1911 to 1964. The former date represents the year when the two most important leaders of the party began their intellectual preparation for future political careers; the latter, the year the celebrated Yalta Memorandum was written by Palmiro Togliatti. It is hoped that this will contribute to an appreciation of the reasons why il Partito comunista italiano has succeeded in exercising a profound influence on all aspects of contemporary Italian national life and how it has attracted and retained the immense following it possesses among the Italian masses. The desire also is to trace the origins of the party*s considerable reputation for intellectual competency to the ideological heritage left to it by Antonio Gramsci, one of the two great personalities of the party and the most eminent Marxist thinker produced in Italy during this century. Gramscirs thought is little known outside Italy. liven there, the greater part of his writings have been published posthumously only since the collapse of the Fascist regime which incarcerated him in order — to use the public prosecutor*s words — "to prevent this mind from operating for twenty years." It is impossible Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. V to overlook Gramsci's ideas when discussing Italian Communism because they pervade the thinking of all his successors. Gramscifs Marxism is characterized not by a raono- phagous concentration on economics but rather by a profound attentiveness to the importance of culture and philosophy as both catalysts and media of social change. This has led the Italian Communist Party to place particular emphasis on the role of the intellectual in revolution. It was Gramsci*s view that, in any society the intelligentsia provides the rational shield for the existing socio-political-economic order. Remove the protective veneer provided by the "mandarinate" and society will be exposed to the corrosive effects of whatever new ideals the disaffected intelligentsia champion against the old order. The importance it attached to the cultural aspect of political and social transformation caused the Italian Communist Party to adopt with reluctance any dogmatic ideological postures in charting its political course and it did so only when poli­ tical conditions made it imperative. Conversely, the party remained responsive to the exigencies of changing conditions in society which exacted political inaleability and ideological heterodoxy in adapting to them. The party was to experience many changes of fortunes from the time of its founding in 1921, but the quality briefly mentioned above remained a constant feature of Its political personality and in the end this was to prove to be its most valuable trait. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. vi While subject of this paper has meant that the time span covered is necessarily quite long, what follows is not intended to be an exhaustive study of Italian Communism. A profile ought to be detailed enough to suggest the whole character of the subject it depicts but it cannot be, by its nature, a full length portrait. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express to the members of ray thesis committee, Doctors V. C. Chrypinski, E. D. Briggs and C. E. Fantazzi, my sincere appreciation for the attentive care with which they read this paper during the various stages of its composition and for the numerous suggestions for its improve­ ment which were offered by their readings. I hopo to have incorporated in this final draft at least some of their recommendations although I accept full responsibilities for the lacunae which remain, I am also very deeply indebted to Mrs, Elena Saffran who spent many wearying hours typing and re-typing all these pages. To her I should like to express most genuinely felt thanks. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Number A b s t r a c t ........................................ iv Acknowledgments................. * ............ vii Introduction .................................... x Chapter I The Formation of the Italian Communist Party The Setting ................................ 1 Reaction to the Setting , , . ........ 17 Casting the D i e ........................... 37 Chapter II The Long Voyage Through Fascism The Nascent Party and the Fascist Offensive, 47 The Clandestine Existence ................. 64 Towards a Year of Reckoning ............ 79 Chapter III . A noi cornunisti spettera di salvarla!" Return to Legalit y......................... 85 "11 Vento del N o r d " ....................... 94 Premises and Postulates ................... 102 Grooming U p ................................ 123 Chapter IV Italian Communism in the Post War Period Reconstruction ..................... 127 The Break-Up of Tripartism................. 139 Towards a Day of Reckoning - April 18, 1948. 153 Chapter V Transition Years II Secondo Dopoguerra 1948-1953 165 The Third Quinquennium 1953-1958 .......... 186 Tov/ards the "Openings" 1958-1963 ........... 198 Chapter VI The Road to Artek New Horizons................................ 217 "Pinalmente" ................................ 231 "II liiracolo" .............................. 235 The International Aspects ................. 245 II Promemoria ............................. 267 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Page Number Conclusions.................................... 267 Appendices Bibliography Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. X INTRODUCTION The threads of history which were spun together to form the Italian Communist Party can be seen today in the form of the bright red fibres woven into the political, economic, social and cultural fabric of contemporary Italy. This inter­ weaving is not a recent thing; it is the result of a painstaking process which took years to achieve. It began not just at the formation of the Italian Republic after WVtf II; but must be traced back