The Communist Party of Italy (Marxist–Leninist) (''Partito Comunista d'Italia (marxista-leninista)'', PCd'I(m-l)) was a

political party in Italy This article contains a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy, and since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern ...

. It was at one time Italy's largest

Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

group, until it changed affiliation and sided with Albania.

History

The party was founded in 1963 as the Italian Marxist–Leninist Movement. It was renamed Communist Party of Italy (Marxist–Leninist) in 1966. Its founders were from a group of Marxist–Leninist communists, who abandoned the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...

led by

Luigi Longo Luigi Longo (15 March 1900 – 16 October 1980), also known as Gallo, was an Italian communist politician and secretary of the Italian Communist Party from 1964 to 1972. He was also the first foreigner to be awarded an Order of Lenin. Early ...

for its "revisionist" political line. The founders of the Communist Party of Italy (Marxist–Leninist) criticized and accused the PCI of " revisionism" (because the executives of Italian Communist Party accepted the thesis of

Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev st ...

that denigrated

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

in the

20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was held during the period 14–25 February 1956. It is known especially for First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev's "Secret Speech", which denounced the personality cult and dictatorship ...

) and to follow a parliamentarist and reformist political line. The secretary of the Communist Party of Italy (Marxist–Leninist) was Fosco Dinucci. Only persons who showed they knew the thought of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and

Mao Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC ...

and who actively devoted themselves to the cause of the Proletarian Revolution, could join the party. The Communist Party of Italy (Marxist–Leninist) declared its opposition to the parliamentary

bourgeois democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into ...

. For the revolutionary activists of the PCd'I (m-l), the only way was the revolution, the

dictatorship of the proletariat In Marxist philosophy, the dictatorship of the proletariat is a condition in which the proletariat holds state power. The dictatorship of the proletariat is the intermediate stage between a capitalist economy and a communist economy, whereby the ...

, and to realize communism in Italy through the

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...

of the

means of production The means of production is a term which describes land, labor and capital that can be used to produce products (such as goods or services); however, the term can also refer to anything that is used to produce products. It can also be used as a ...

and of exchange, and a

planned economy A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, ...

. In 1968, when the ideological clash between the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union " Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspape ...

and the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

(CPC) peaked, the PCd'I(m-l) was recognized as the representative of communism in Italy by the CPC and by the Party of Labour of Albania. Such recognition became official in August 1968. Osvaldo Pesce and Dino Dini made a delegation to

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and met

and other important Chinese leaders. The meeting was immortalized in a photo published by the newspaper ''Nuova Unità'', in which the two Italian representatives were seen together with the Chinese leaders. In 1969 a radical faction (led by

Giovanni Scuderi Giovanni Scuderi (born 24 May 1935) is an Italian politician and general secretary of the Italian Marxist–Leninist Party (PMLI), which was established by him and others on 10 April 1977. Early life and political career Scuderi was born in Av ...

) broke away from the party and founded the Italian Marxist-Leninist Party. In 1977, after the

Sino-Albanian split The Sino-Albanian split was the gradual worsening of relations between the People's Socialist Republic of Albania and the People's Republic of China in the period 1972–1978. Both countries had supported each other in the Soviet–Albanian and S ...

, the party sided with Albania. The party published a daily newspaper called ''Nuova Unità'' (New Unity) and a weekly called ''Vocce della Cella'' (Voice from the Cell). In 1991, the PCd'I(m-l) joined the

Communist Refoundation Party The Communist Refoundation Party ( it, Partito della Rifondazione Comunista, PRC) is a communist political party in Italy that emerged from a split of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1991. The party's secretary is Maurizio Acerbo, who repla ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Communist Party of Italy (Marxist-Leninist) 1963 establishments in Italy 1991 disestablishments in Italy Defunct communist parties in Italy History of the Communist Refoundation Party Political parties disestablished in 1991 Political parties established in 1963 Defunct political parties in Italy Hoxhaist parties