II – From Bordiga to Gramsci (1921–1926)

In May 1921, the political elections were held, and the communists presented themselves with an autonomous list[1] which gathered only 300,000 votes and 15 Deputies; the PSI, however, retained almost its entire electoral strength, achieving 1,600,000 votes (122 seats). This appointment was marked by disruptive actions by the fascists who tried to prevent many socialists and communists from voting. Against the spread of fascist squadrism, the "Arditi del popolo" (People's Daredevils) were born, a movement that declared itself "apolitical," but which included many socialists and some communists. The very sectarian line of Bordiga's PCI, which forbade its members from participating in the movement, prevented that experience from growing, and it failed miserably. In the II Congress of the PCI in 1922, held in Rome, Bordiga's line was confirmed, based on the exclusion of any kind of agreement with the socialists, and this caused, also due to the split of the reformist wing of the PSI, the first friction with the International, which forcefully raised the issue of reunification with Serrati's PSI.

Meanwhile, Fascism, with the "March on Rome" in October 1922, settled into power, with the tacit consent of the Crown, and Antonio Gramsci realized that Bordiga's policy, which had led to the isolation of the Party, had to be overcome[2]. The PCI, in fact, found itself at that moment in rupture both with the Communist International and with the other forces of the Italian left. It was in this context that Gramsci began to work for a change of majority within the Party and, with the support of the International, founded the so-called "center" group, which opposed the "right" of Tasca and especially the "left" of Bordiga.

Bordiga still held the majority at the clandestine organizational Conference of 1924, but the political weight of the center was growing, as demonstrated by the choice to stand in the 1924 political elections with a single list together with the socialists close to the Third International. The entry into the PCI of the so-called "terzini" (Third International Socialists), including Giuseppe Di Vittorio, marked a significant step in the strengthening of the Party.

In the 1924 elections, held under the Acerbo Law, the PCI maintained its result, despite fascist repression. The regime's crimes, however, culminated with the assassination of Matteotti, an event that opened new spaces for political maneuvering. The "Bolshevization" of the Party, launched at the V Congress of the Communist International, is situated in this context, leading to a profound reorganization based on cells and the new role of the militants.

The definitive handover from Bordiga to Gramsci occurred with the III Congress of the PCI in Lyon in 1926, where the large majority of delegates approved the so-called "Theses of Lyon," an authentic turning point in the history of the Party, based on the alliance between the working class of the North and the peasants of the South.

The task of the Party was to organize and mobilize these forces towards transitional objectives that would lead to the insurrection and the dictatorship of the proletariat[6]. In this framework, Antonio Gramsci was the first to grasp the risks deriving from the internal clashes within the Russian Communist Party after Lenin's death, intuiting the consequences of Stalin's victory well in advance[7].

[1] In these elections, Bordiga was not a candidate because he considered his election to Parliament unnecessary. Cf. Pistillo, Pagine di storia del Partito Comunista Italiano, Piero Lacaita Editore.

[2] Cf. Togliatti, op. cit.

[3] Cf. Spriano, Storia del Partito Comunista Italiano, Einaudi.

[4] Cf. Agosti, op. cit.

[5] Cf. Gramsci in the essay Cinque anni di vita del Partito. The speech is taken from I comunisti e l’unità della classe operaia, edited by the PCI Central Section of Party Schools. In this important text, Gramsci reconstructs the first five years of the Party, acknowledges the necessity of the split from the PSI, but admits the difficulties faced by the PCI in its earliest years, justifying them with the acute crises of the bourgeoisie and the labor movement. After a brief analysis of the early years, Gramsci proceeds to describe “the new course of the Party,” the importance of the Third Congress, and the main political goals and results.

[6] Cf. Agosti, op. cit.

[7] Cf. Spriano, Intervista sulla storia del PCI, edited by Simona Colarizi.