The Italian road to socialism (it. Via italiana al socialismo) was the ideology and the political practice pursued by the Italian Communist Party, which had its roots in Antonio Gramsci's thought, and was formalized during the VIII Congress in 1956 by the general secretary Palmiro Togliatti.[1][2]
Essentially, the Italian road to socialism involved the recognition and defense of the Republican Constitution, which the communists contributed to draft, and the arrival at socialism also through the institutions. It also implied it was right for Italy to act as a bridge between the United States and the Soviet Union, being autonomous from both.[3]
Although the ties with the Soviet Union remained very close, a political difference between the PCI and the CPSU began to appear on the occasion of Togliatti's relations during the so-called «Reconstruction» phase (1945–1948), in which the party leadership gradually abandoned the prospect of an armed insurrection to establish the "dictatorship of the proletariat" in favor of collaborating in the construction of a "progressive democracy", i.e. a democracy destined to be increasingly open and participated by the masses, until the advent of socialism. The process was not linear, for a period the leadership maintained a strategic duplicity between insurrection and parliamentarism.[1]
In 1948 Togliatti praised the Republican Constitution, which the communists had helped to write, as "democratic", declaring that the PCI recognized itself in it and would fight for its effective application, which in his opinion was threatened by the non-socialist economical structure of Italy.[3]
With the death of Stalin in 1953 and the "secret report" drawn up by Khrushchev in 1956, a policy of greater autonomy of the PCI from Moscow was pursued. A significant turning point will in fact take place on the occasion of the VIII Congress of the PCI, in December 1956, which opened with Togliatti's report "For an Italian road to socialism, for a democratic government of the working classes", where was shown the political line that from that moment it would become the official ideology of the party.[5][6] Even on the conception of the State, Togliatti reiterates innovations that are not secondary in marxist tradition. What decides are the balance of power in society, and the structural reforms are «the fabric of the Italian road to socialism», which is democratic not only because of its method but because «the maturation of the working class as a new ruling class proceeds [...] ] on the basis of a progressive extension [...] of democratic control over production processes and economic development».[5]
The PCI will mature with Togliatti in the form of a national-popular party, open to dialogue with the Catholic world and with other democratic forces.[3]
Luigi Longo, who succeeded Togliatti in 1964, continued in the Togliatti-like Italian road to socialism, in obtaining more advanced laws despite being in the opposition, but at the head of social movements. The long struggle of the unions that led to the Workers' Statute in 1970 was hailed as a milestone for the Italian road to socialism, despite the PCI having proposed a more advanced one.[7] In the field of foreign relations and the international communist movement, he develops the Togliattian theme of "polycentrism", developing a dialogue both with the countries of the Soviet bloc and with the progressive forces of the Western bloc and with the emerging forces of the non-aligned countries, which they were born from the great process of decolonization underway.
Enrico Berlinguer secretary of the Communist Party from 1972 to 1984.
Enrico Berlinguer, who succeeded Longo in 1972, would bring the Italian road to socialism to the maximum of its successes, both in domestic and international politics. In the 1970s, the PCI saw a gradual increase in consensus and prestige, also due to the good results in the administration of cities and regions, which would lead to the historic result in the 1976 elections, where the party obtained 34% of the vote. Berlinguer will continue to maintain that «In Italy we can and must not only advance towards socialism, but also build a socialist society, with the contribution of different political forces, organisations, parties and that the working class can and must affirm its historical function in a pluralistic and democratic system». Also the establishment in Italy, after years of struggle, of the universal and public national health system in 1978 (where, moreover, Enrico's brother, Giovanni Berlinguer, played an important role) it was hailed as a step forward on the Italian road to socialism.[6][8]
He also posed important innovations on the international level, imagining "A Europe being neither anti-Soviet nor anti-American", deepening the strategy intuited by Togliatti, for a European reconciliation, to overcome the limited sovereignty that had been imposed on both Western and Eastern Europe , reclaiming the right of Italy and the European nations to decide their own destiny autonomously. This view inspired the so-called Eurocommunism, which was the dominant ideology among european communist parties between the late 70s and 80s. He placed great importance on the phenomenon of decolonization. Aware of the turbulence that it would entail, he posed the defense of peace and the use of diplomacy as a means of resolving conflicts as a fundamental issue for a road towards socialism.[3][6]
Alessandro Natta, who succeeded Berlinguer upon his death in 1984, declared that he wanted to pursue the Italian road to socialism, even if the PCI was going through a troubled period because of the difficult international situation, the joint attack of Bettino Craxi's PSI and large sectors of the DC who rallied around Craxi, as well as from the rise of Silvio Berlusconi. The main sign of the PCI's weakening was its defeat in the 1985 Italian wage referendum.[5]
Achille Occhetto, who took over from Natta in 1988 after his resignation for health reasons, was promoter of the end of the Italian road to socialism, embracing blairism, concretizing his action in 1989, when he announced the "Svolta della Bolognina" ("Turning point of the Bolognina"), opening a debate in the Party's cadres, in order to dissolve the Party and to abandon the socialist perspective (he was supported by the 67% of the Party's cadres). During the XX Party Congress in Rimini in 1991 his position was supported by 86% of the cadres, and was finally formalised the dissolution of the Italian Communist Party and the foundation of the Democratic Party of the Left, founded on Tony Blair's Third Way, with Occhetto himself as leader. The dissolution of the PCI was opposed by a group of delegates that would later form the Communist Refoundation Party, in order to continue the struggle for the Italian road to socialism with other italian left wing experiences.[6]
Domestic politics
We want a Socialist society that matches the conditions of our Country, that respects all the freedoms enshrined in our Costitution, founded on a plurality of Parties [...] a society that respects all freedoms of human beings expect one, the one of exploit the labour of other human beings.
The Italian road to socialism, framed as a long march within democratic institutions and at the head of social movements to obtain greater spaces for political and economic democracy, is characterized by openness to political pluralism.[6]
The first important step was dictated by historical contingencies, with the "Turning point of Salerno" (Svolta di Salerno) in 1944, when the Garibaldi Brigades under the political leadership of Togliatti collaborated together with all the forces of the National Liberation Committee to coordinate and optimize the efforts in the struggle for liberation from Nazi-fascism. Despite difficulties, dialogue followed to draft the Constitution.[10]
Another important step was Togliatti's great opening to the Catholic world, with the appeal to Catholics in 1954, in the name of defending peace and the values of Christian solidarity. Since the foundation of the Communist Party in 1921, religion had been used as a propaganda expedient against the PCI, with the reconciliation of Togliatti many italian Catholics joined the PCI.[11]
There was great closeness to the CGIL led by Di Vittorio, for the defense of workers' rights, while recognizing the importance of the union's autonomy from the party, particularly starting from 1956.[6][12][13]
Regarding economic issues, the PCI always defended the importance of state management of the economy, of a hard progressive taxation, the nationalization of strategic sectors both for the economy (gas, electricity, oil) and for national security (motorways, railways, telecommunications).[6][14]
Education, healthcare, housing and work were considered fundamental rights, and it should be the state's responsibility to provide them to citizens through money obtained through taxation.[6][14]
It was debated that culture, art and recreational activities should be encouraged by the state and be able to be practiced freely for a fairer and happier development of the personality.
When the USSR invaded Hungary in 1956 the majority of the Party sustained the position of Khrushchev, even if someone was perplexed or opposed.[18]
When Mao Zedong broke the relations with Khrushchev's USSR in 1961, Togliatti wrote a work, the Yalta memorial, where he defended the right of building socialism in an autonomous way pursued by Mao.[19]
The Party had a great attention and very good opinion on the Non-Aligned Movement Countries.
Enrico Mattei's energy politics, abruptly interrupted by his death in 1962, was critically supported by the PCI.[20][21]
The PCI's foreign policy gradually took on a policy in defense of the national interest, distancing itself from the United States and the Soviet Union, although the USSR often had closer positions to those of the PCI. The national interest was identified in autonomy from the United States, in the construction of an autonomous Europe (with the promotion, together with the French Communist Party and the Spanish Communist Party, of Eurocommunism in the 1970s), in a policy of dialogue towards the countries of the Eastern Bloc and towards the Mediterranean countries.[23][8][6]
The key of the international politics of the Italian road to socialism, already intuited by Togliatti and Longo and then explored further by Berlinguer, is that of a slow transition towards a "polycentric world" (it. mondo policentrico) which would born from the two big crossed phenomena, the decolonization and the end of Cold War. The task of the nations would be to govern this process by avoiding armed conflict and nuclear danger and instead using international law and diplomacy, avoiding hostile policies, both of an economic and war nature, towards any nation.[8]
Bibliography
Main books:
The Italian Road to Socialism, Eric Hobsbawm, Journeyman, 1977.
(in Italian) La via italiana al socialismo, Palmiro Togliatti, Editori Riuniti, 1972.
(in Italian) Il 1956 e la via italiana al socialismo, Palmiro Togliatti, Alexander Hoebel, Editori Riuniti, 2016.
(in Italian) Storia della Repubblica: L'Italia dalla Liberazione ad oggi, Guido Crainz, Donzelli, 2013.
(in Italian) Da Gramsci a Berlinguer. La via italiana al socialismo attraverso i congressi del partito comunista italiano 1921–1984 Vol. I, II, III, IV, V, D. Pugliese, Marsilio, 1985.
(in Italian) La pace al primo posto. Scritti e discorsi di politica internazionale 1972–1984, Enrico Berlinguer, Alexander Hoebel, Donzelli, 2023.
(in Italian) Allende e Berlinguer. Il Cile dell'Unidad Popular e il compromesso storico italiano, Andrea Mulas, Manni, 2005.
(in Italian) Il 1956: Un bilancio storico e storiografico, Fabrizio Loreto et al., Accademia University Press, 2022.
Enrico Berlinguer was an Italian politician and statesman. Considered the most popular leader of the Italian Communist Party (PCI), he led the PCI as the national secretary from 1972 until his death during a tense period in Italy's history, which was marked by the Years of Lead and social conflicts, such as the Hot Autumn of 1969–1970. Berlinguer was born into a middle-class family; his father was a socialist who became a deputy and later senator. After leading the party's youth wing in his hometown, he led the PCI's youth wing, the Italian Communist Youth Federation (FGCI), at the national level from 1949 to 1956. In 1968, he was elected to the country's Chamber of Deputies, and he became the leader of the PCI in 1972; he remained a deputy until his death in 1984. Under his leadership, the number of votes for the PCI peaked. The PCI's results in 1976 remain the highest for any Italian left-wing or centre-left party both in terms of votes and vote share, and the party's results in 1984, just after his death, remain the best result for an Italian left-wing party in European elections, and were toppled, in terms of vote share in a lower-turnout election, in the 2014 European Parliament election in Italy.
The Italian Communist Party was a communist and democratic socialist political party in Italy. It was founded in Livorno as the Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921, when it seceded from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), under the leadership of Amadeo Bordiga, Antonio Gramsci, and Nicola Bombacci. Outlawed during the Italian fascist regime, the party continued to operate underground and played a major role in the Italian resistance movement. The party's peaceful and national road to socialism, or the Italian road to socialism, the realisation of the communist project through democracy, repudiating the use of violence and applying the Constitution of Italy in all its parts, a strategy inaugurated under Palmiro Togliatti but that some date back to Gramsci, would become the leitmotif of the party's history.
Palmiro Michele Nicola Togliatti was an Italian politician and statesman, leader of Italy's Communist party for nearly forty years, from 1927 until his death. Born into a middle-class family, Togliatti received an education in law at the University of Turin, later served as an officer and was wounded in World War I, and became a tutor. Described as "severe in approach but extremely popular among the Communist base" and "a hero of his time, capable of courageous personal feats", his supporters gave him the nickname il Migliore. In 1930, Togliatti renounced Italian citizenship, and he became a citizen of the Soviet Union. Upon his death, Togliatti had a Soviet city named after him. Considered one of the founding fathers of the Italian Republic, he led Italy's Communist party from a few thousand members in 1943 to two million members in 1946.
Luigi Longo, also known as Gallo, was an Italian communist politician and general secretary of the Italian Communist Party from 1964 to 1972. He was also the first foreigner to be awarded an Order of Lenin.
Alessandro Natta was an Italian politician and secretary of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) from 1984 to 1988. An illuminist, Jacobin, and communist, as he used to describe himself, Natta represented the political and cultural prototype of a PCI militant and party member for over fifty years of the Italian democratic-republican history. After joining the PCI in 1945, he was deputy from 1948 to 1992, a member of the PCI's central committee starting in 1956, was part of the direction from 1963 and of the secretariat, first from 1962 to 1970 and then from 1979 to 1983, and leader of the PCI parliamentary group from 1972 to 1979; he was also the director of Rinascita from 1970 to 1972. After 1991, he did not join the PCI's successor parties.
Giuseppe Di Vittorio, also known as Mario Nicoletti, was an Italian trade union leader and communist politician. He was one of the most influential trade union leaders of the labour movement after World War I.
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The Legislature VII of Italy was the 7th legislature of the Italian Republic, and lasted from 5 July 1976 until 19 June 1979. Its composition was the one resulting from the general election of 20 June 1976.
Ruggero Grieco was an Italian politician, antifascist, and member of the Italian Communist Party. He was born in Foggia, Apulia.
Luciano Canfora is an Italian classicist and historian. Born in Bari, Canfora obtained his first degree in Roman History in 1964 at Pisa University. He has for some years been Professor Emeritus of Classics at the University of Bari. His specialty is ancient libraries and his book The Vanished Library, which is about the Library of Alexandria, has been translated into some 15 languages.
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pugliese, D. (1985). Da Gramsci a Berlinguer. La via italiana al socialismo attraverso i congressi del partito comunista italiano 1921–1984. Vol. II (in Italian). Marsilio.
↑ Loreto, Fabrizio (2022), Chiarotto, Francesca; Höbel, Alexander (eds.), "La Cgil e lo «strappo» di Giuseppe Di Vittorio", Il 1956: Un bilancio storico e storiografico, BHM. La Biblioteca di «Historia Magistra» (in Italian), Torino: Accademia University Press, pp.211–226, ISBN979-12-80136-89-3, retrieved 2024-03-16
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