PALMIRO TOGLIATTI, LEADER OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF ITALY

 


Palmiro Togliatti, leader of the Communist Party of Italy in the Fascist regime, and a contemporary of Antonio Gramsci. 

Palmiro Togliatti (1893–1964) was a pivotal figure in Italian politics. He led the Italian Communist Party (PCI) from 1927 till his death, with a break from 1934 to 1938. Born in Genoa into a middle-class family, he studied law at the University of Turin, joined the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) in 1914, and co-founded the Communist Party of Italy (PCI) in 1921 after a split from the PSI, along with Antonio Gramsci and others. He became PCI’s leader after Gramsci’s arrest by Mussolini’s Fascist regime in 1926, which outlawed the party, forcing Togliatti into exile in Moscow. Togliatti developed the 'Italian Road to Socialism,' advocating the democratic path to communism, rejecting violent revolution and aligning with parliamentary democracy, a strategy influenced by Gramsci’s ideas and later associated with Eurocommunism. He played a significant role in the Comintern (Communist International), representing Italy and surviving Stalin’s purges. He was involved in the Spanish Civil War (1937–1939) as a Comintern advisor and broadcast anti-Fascist messages to Italy during World War II. Returning to Italy in 1944, Togliatti joined the post-Fascist government as Deputy Prime Minister (1944–1945) and Minister of Justice (1945–1946). He helped shape Italy’s postwar constitution, embedding anti-Fascist principles, and grew the PCI into Western Europe’s largest communist party, peaking at 23 lakh members in 1947 and securing 25–30% of votes in elections. Despite surviving an assassination attempt in 1948, which sparked nationwide strikes, Togliatti maintained a moderate stance, rejecting Stalinist tactics and promoting alliances with non-communists and Catholics. His leadership faced criticism for alleged ties to Stalinism. Some historians claimed he followed Soviet directives in rejecting the Marshall Plan and approving purges in Eastern Europe. Others argue that his polycentrism theory, emphasizing national communist autonomy, showed independence from Moscow. Togliatti’s personal life, including his relationship with Nilde Iotti and his Soviet citizenship (1930), stirred controversy. He died in 1964 in Yalta of cerebral hemorrhage, leaving a legacy as a founding father of the Italian Republic and a key figure in Western communism.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hermann Wilhelm Göring

Image
  Hermann Wilhelm Göring  was  born on January 12, 1893, in  Rosenheim, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire. He was  a German politician, Nazi military leader, and convicted war criminal, known as one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945. A decorated World War I fighter pilot ace, he was a recipient of the Pour le Mérite ("The Blue Max") and the last commander of Jagdgeschwader 1, a fighter wing once led by Manfred von Richthofen. As an early member of the Nazi Party, Göring was among those wounded in Adolf Hitler's failed Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. After Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, Göring was named minister without portfolio and oversaw the creation of the Gestapo, Hitler's secret organization. Göring's rise in power made him the second most powerful man in Germany. He held the position of commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe (air force) until the regime's final days and was entrusted with mobilizin...
Read more

Phoenix Settlement and Tolstoy Farm

Image
  Phoenix Settlement   Tolstoy Farm   Mohanchand Karamchand Gandhi founded two ashrams for community living in South Africa. The Phoenix Settlement was the first ashram-like settlement established near Durban, KwaZulu-Natal in 1904.   This was the home for Gandhi and his family from its founding until his return to India on 9 January 1915.  Tolstoy Farm, the second ashram in South Africa, was  initiated and organized  in Johannesburg in 1910 during his South African Movement.  It  was meant for training and preparing people for non-violent satyagraha and served  f rom 1910 to 1913  as the headquarters for campaigning satyagraha against discrimination against Indians in Transvaal, where it was located. Hermann Kallenbach, a Gandhian supporter, allowed Gandhi and seventy to eighty others to live there as long as their local movement was in effect.   Kallenbach  suggested the name for the community, which soon const...
Read more

BLOODY OR RED SUNDAY OF RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

Image
  By 1905, the aging Russian autocracy was in terminal decline. Strikes, unrest, and mutiny sprang up across the vast Russian landscape where, for centuries, people had been told that the Tsar was a saintly father figure; inviolable, all-powerful, and divinely appointed. Demonstrations led by Father Georgy Gapon in St. Petersburg on 22 January 1905 helped to shatter this illusion.  Fr. Gapon was a charismatic speaker and effective organizer who took an interest in the working  and lower classes  of the Russian cities.  Tsarist soldiers opened fire on protesters, killing 140 to 240 people and injuring 33 as per official figures. The crowd had been pro-Tsar, carrying pictures and banners of Tsar Nicholas II, and only wished to present a petition to him  calling for reforms such as limitations on state officials' power, improvements to working conditions and hours, and the introduction of a national . This Bloody Sunday or Red Sunday with a series of events sp...
Read more