Italian Socialist Party

The Italian Socialist Party (Italian: Partito Socialista Italiano, PSI) was an Italian socialist party. It became the Communist Party of Italy in 1921. 
== History ==
The PSI was founded in Genoa in 1892 as the Partito dei Lavoratori Italiani, unifying various left-wing organizations. It was renamed to the Italian Socialist Party in 1893. The party gradually grew in influence over the following years, especially with changes in the electoral laws that extended suffrage to many workers. In 1912 a number of reformists left to form the Italian Reformist Socialist Party.
The Great War transformed the party. A majority of the party voted to assume an anti-war position. The newly founded pro-war national syndicalist faction was expelled. The Russian Revolution in 1917 triggered yet another transformation. The majority of the party proclaimed support for the Bolsheviks, while the reformist faction opposed the move. The party achieved their peak electoral success in the 1919 elections, shortly after the Great War.
The post-war period was marked with great labour unrest, becoming known as the Decennio Rosso. The factionalization of the party contributed to their inability to turn the unrest into a revolution. For example, the local wing of the party in Turin successfully established the Red Army of Turin, but their initiative failed to achieve support from the national party leadership.
Ultimately the divides came to a climax with the 1921 party congress, where the question of whether or not to align with the Communist International was discussed. At this point there were three primary factions within the party: the Ordinovists, Maximalists and Reformists. The Ordinovists (named after the L'Ordine Nuovo newspaper), led by Antonio Gramsci, strongly supported joining the Comintern. The Maximists, the majority of the party led by Giacinto Menotti Serrati, were largely revolutionary but divided on some of the terms for joining the Comintern. The Reformists, led by the party founder Filippo Turati, bitterly opposed joining the Comintern. The debate nearly led to the splitting away of the Ordinovists and their allies, but was eventually resolved in great part by the intervention of the German communists, who had just recently emerged victorious in their revolution. The party was renamed to the Communist Party of Italy and the Reformists were expelled, fulfilling the terms for joining the Comintern. The Reformists formed the Unitary Socialist Party as an alternative, but the vast majority of the party assets were transferred to the communists.
Category:Italian political parties
Category:Socialist political parties
Category:Defunct political parties