Berlinguer, Enrico Sassari

(1922–1984)

   A leading Eurocommmunist and figure in the Italian Communist Party (PCI) Berlinguer is particularly associated with the “historic compromise” with the Italian Christian Democrats. Born in Sardinia he joined the resistance to the fascists and the Italian Communist Party in 1943. From 1950 to 1956 he was head of the PCI youth organization and in 1968 he was elected to the Italian Parliament. From March 1972 until his murder in 1984 by an extreme monarchist he was secretary general of the PCI.

   As PCI secretary general he sought to build on the strategies of Antonio Gramsci and Palmiro Togliatti, especially in his advocacy of a “national–popular” strategy. In practice this meant abandoning the revolutionary road to socialism and following a parliamentary route, taking into account distinctive Italian conditions. He advocated the embracing of democratic pluralism and a distancing of Italian communism from the Soviet model, which he saw as discredited. In 1981 the PCI broke completely with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union over the issue of martial law in Poland. He believed a third path between the Soviet approach and the social democratic reformist road could be navigated, encompassing both a commitment to pluralist parliamentary democracy and the revolutionary socialist goal of overcoming capitalism. He expressed his views in his book The Italian Communists Speak for Themselves published in 1978. The “historic compromise” with the ruling Christian Democratic Party began in 1973 and was an attempt to maximize support, avoid divisive splits and push through democratic reforms en route to a fully socialist society. It was also an acknowledgement of the particular Italian situation where much of the working class was Catholic and looked to a Catholic political party for representation and leadership. The alliance held until 1980 when previous electoral gains began to be reversed and the limits of cooperation with the Christian Democrats seemed to have been reached.