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Unforgettable 1956? The PCI and the Crisis of Communism in Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2014

ALESSANDRO IANDOLO
ALESSANDRO IANDOLO*
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science: Department of International History, LSE, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE; a.iandolo@lse.ac.uk
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Abstract

The Italian left has always perceived 1956 as an extraordinary year, because of the succession of international events that supposedly shocked many Italian militants and convinced them to abandon communism and the Italian Communist Party. On the contrary, this article claims that the real reasons for the crisis of communism in Italy had little to do with international events and must be found instead in the momentous economic and social changes that Italy was experiencing at the time. Unforgettable 1956 was therefore only a moment in a longer-term process that was destined to change communism in Italy. The article is based on previously unused documents now available at the Italian Communist Party Archive.

1956, année inoubliable? le pci et la crise du communisme en italie

Pour la gauche italienne, 1956 a toujours représenté une année extraordinaire à cause de la série d’événements internationaux qui auraient choqué de nombreux militants italiens, les persuadant d’abandonner le communisme et le parti communiste italien. Or selon cet article, les véritables causes de la crise du communisme en Italie n’ont rien à voir avec l’actualité internationale, mais résident dans les bouleversements économiques et sociaux qu’a connus le pays à cette époque. L’inoubliable année 1956 ne constituait donc qu’un épisode dans un processus de transformation à plus long terme du communisme en Italie. Cet article se fonde sur des documents non encore exploités, tirés des archives du parti communiste italien.

1956 – ein unvergessliches jahr? die pki und die krise des kommunismus in italien

Aufgrund der Abfolge internationaler Ereignisse, die vermeintlich viele italienische Aktivisten erschütterten und zur Abkehr vom Kommunismus und der Kommunistischen Partei Italiens (PKI) bewegten, hat die italienische Linke 1956 von jeher als außergewöhnliches Jahr empfunden. Dieser Beitrag vertritt die Hypothese, dass die wahren Gründe für die Krise des Kommunismus in Italien mit internationalen Ereignissen nur wenig zu tun hatten und stattdessen in den bedeutsamen wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen Umwälzungen zu suchen sind, die Italien damals erlebte. Das unvergessliche Jahr 1956 war daher lediglich ein kurzer Abschnitt in einem längerfristigen Prozess, der den Kommunismus in Italien dauerhaft ändern sollte. Der Beitrag stützt sich auf bisher unerschlossene Dokumente aus dem Archiv der Kommunistischen Partei Italiens, die nunmehr für die Forschung zugänglich sind.

Type
Articles
Information
Contemporary European History , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , May 2014 , pp. 259 - 282
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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References

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31 ‘Deplorato l’intervento delle truppe Sovietiche’, L’Avanti, 28 Oct. 1956.

32 Archivio PCI (henceforth, APC) Fondo Mosca (henceforth, FM), MF 127, Verbale 1956 Ott. 30.

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34 Ibid. 391.

35 Sassoon, The Strategy of the ICP, 94.

36 Rome and Naples had to be left out for reasons of space, or owing to the temporary unavailability of sources. In the near future, I plan to extend the analysis to include these two cities as well.

37 Direzione PCI, Sezione d’Organizzazione, Note per i Congressi Federali 1956, APC, MF 0442, 3089.

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39 APC, MF 0442, 3050, 14 June 1956.

40 Ibid.

41 APC, MF 0442, 3075–3076. A ‘cell’ was the smallest organisational unit in the PCI. A group of cells formed a party ‘section’, which was responsible for a larger territory. All the sections in a city or provincia formed a ‘federation’.

42 Ibid. 3077–3079.

43 APC, FM, MF 127, Verbale 1956 Oct. 30.

44 Ibid. 195.

45 APC, MF 0442, 3083–3085, 22 Nov. 1956.

46 Ibid.

47 APC, MF 0442, 3105–3494.

48 APC, MF 0442, 3105–3494.

49 Ibid. Several factory delegates reported on these rallies at the party congress.

50 APC, MF 0442, 3493–3494.

51 APC, MF 0443, 1761–1865, 9–10 June 1956.

52 Ibid.

53 Ibid.

54 APC, MF 0443, 1909–1914.

55 Ibid.

56 APC, MF 0443, 1915–1922.

57 ‘Problemi e lotte del popolo milanese’, Voce Comunista, Anno X no. 47, Thursday, 5 Dec 1956.

58 APC, MF 0443, 1697–2477.

59 Ibid.

60 Ibid. The translation is literal.

61 Ibid. 2285

62 APC, MF 0443, 1697–2477.

63 Ibid.

64 Ibid. 2365.

65 A leading Christian-Democratic thinker and politician, he was together with Amintore Fanfani and Giorgio La Pira, one of the most prominent members of the leftist and ‘social’ group inside the DC.

66 APC, MF 0444, 1776–1840, 1 June 1956.

67 Ibid.

68 ‘Riunione della Commissione Provinciale di Amministrazione della Federazione di Bologna – 26/6/1956’, APC, MF 0444, 1872.

69 Gozzini and Martinelli, Storia del PCI, 560–3.

70 APC, MF 0444, 2306–2374.

71 ‘Verbale Riunione di Comitato Federale tenuta il 27–8 Agosto 1956’, APC, MF 0444, 1996–2117.

72 APC, MF 0444, 2426–2450.

73 Ibid.

74 Ibid. 2472.

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80 APC, MF 0445, 0706–0709.

81 Ibid. 0711–0712.

82 Ibid. 0735–0737.

83 Ibid.

84 APC, MF 0445, 0742–0871.

85 APC, MF 0445, 0742–0871.

86 Ibid.

87 Ibid. 0403–0409.

88 APC, MF 0445, 0403–0409.

89 Ibid.

90 Ibid. 0872–1201. Quotation from a militant.

91 Ibid. 1200.

92 APC, MF 0445, 0403–0409.

93 l’Unità, 13 July 1957.

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