The Crisis in Italian Communism

The interview given by Palmiro Togliatti to Nuovi Argomenti (reprinted in the New York Times) is the best-known reaction of Italian Communism to the Khrushchev revelations; but it is not necessarily the most important one. The Report presented by Togliatti to the Central Committee of the Italian CP on June 24, 1956 completes and to some extent goes beyond this interview. The open discussion in the CP press, which is supposed to prepare for the 8th National Congress of the Italian party, poses problems that Togliatti had barely touched upon. Meanwhile, Nenni’s polemic has aggravated the embarrassment of the Italian Communists, who find themselves flanked by his Socialist Party, a party that is both “leftwing,...