Palmiro Togliatti

"At the end of the war, the situation was such that it would not have been difficult for us to seize power and begin building a socialist society. Most of the people would have followed us."

"[...] even in the mane of a noble racehorse, you can always find two or three lice."

"Very often, the enemies of the workers try to challenge the patriotism of communists and socialists, invoking their internationalism and presenting it as a manifestation of cosmopolitanism, indifference and contempt for the homeland. This too is a slander. Communism has nothing in common with cosmopolitanism. Fighting under the banner of international workers' solidarity, communists in every country, as the vanguard of the working masses, stand firmly on national ground. Communism does not oppose, but rather reconciles and unites patriotism and proletarian internationalism, since both are based on respect for the rights, freedoms and independence of individual peoples. It is ridiculous to think that the working class can detach itself, separate itself from the nation. The modern working class is the backbone of nations, not only because of its numbers, but also because of its economic and political function. The future of the nation rests first and foremost on the shoulders of the working classes. Communists, who are the party of the working class, cannot therefore detach themselves from their nation unless they want to sever their vital roots. Cosmopolitanism is an ideology completely foreign to the working class. It is instead the characteristic ideology of international bankers, international cartels and trusts, big stock market speculators and arms manufacturers. These are the patriots of their portfolios. They not only sell, but willingly sell themselves to the highest bidder among foreign imperialists."

"(In 1953, referring to Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin and Stalin's enemies) He had the characteristics of a presumptuous, vain and scheming professor. Like others, he had the makings of a double-dealer and traitor."

"Bordiga lives peacefully in Italy today as a Trotskyist scoundrel, protected by the police and the fascists, hated by the workers as a traitor should be hated."

"(Last words spoken in Russian, greeting the young guests of the Artek pioneer camp, a few minutes before the illness that would lead to his death) Dear friends, pioneers. I can say very little to you because, in reality, our languages are different. But, comrades, our hearts are the same. The same thoughts, the same ideals live in your hearts and in mine. There are no differences between us because we are fighting for the same goals. You and we are fighting together for the same ends. You and we are fighting together for peace, for the happiness of peoples, for brotherhood among peoples, for progress, for socialism. In this unity of ours lies the guarantee of our victory, young people, pioneers. And you and we, although we are in different conditions and with different means, are waging the same struggle. And therein lies the certainty of our success, of victory over our adversaries, of the victory of peace throughout the world, of the victory of socialism and communism. Thank you very much, dear friends."

"“'l'Unità”', 23 August 1964, p. 3."

"(From the speech at the Foro Italico on 27 September 1948, for the first time after the attack he suffered two months earlier) Comrades, I have finished. [...] Take my greetings everywhere in Italy, take them to the workers and the unemployed in the factories of Milan, Turin, Genoa, all our industrial capitals; take my greetings to the strong labourers and sharecroppers of the Po plain, to the farmers of southern Italy; take them to the professionals, to the employees who are fighting hard today for bread, a just battle; take them a greeting that will strengthen them in the struggle they must face, which tells them once again that in Italy, within the Italian people, an invincible force has arisen and lives: the force of the Communist Party. No one has yet succeeded in breaking this force, nor will they ever succeed, and it knows that it is called upon to make its decisive contribution to leading the masses of the people in a redemptive struggle, which can only end in our victory. Comrades, to work, to struggle [Communist slogans]. The dark forces of reaction, the hostile forces that have even resorted to murder to break us, these forces will not prevail. Victory will be ours!"

"(To Pietro Secchia) What did Juve do yesterday? [...] And you want to start a revolution without knowing Juve's results?"

"Since we overthrew fascism, we have made an explicit declaration that places us on the path to democratic development. We have achieved a republican constitution, in which democratic principles are enshrined, and we have always declared that we remain faithful to those principles. [One could argue that] this is not the case in other countries [under communist regimes]. This would require a lengthy discussion. Italy is a country of great intellectual and philosophical traditions. Italian thinkers were the initiators of the great modern school of historicism: we had Gian Battista Vico, Antonio Labriola, Antonio Gramsci, and Carlo Cattaneo. The starting point of modern historicist thought is concrete analysis, reality. In the Soviet Union, China and other countries, the socialist revolution took place in conditions dictated by those circumstances, by the balance of power, by war, by attacks from all enemies, and so on. We were under Fascism, an anti-democratic and anti-national regime that had deprived us of all our freedoms [...]. We had to fight that regime with all means, and we fought, even taking up arms. We have won democracy, which is an achievement of ours, of the popular movement, of the communists, of the socialists, of the advanced democrats, and also of the Christian Democrats who have democratic opinions. We are committed to continuing along this path that the Republican Constitution guarantees us. By continuing along this path, we will succeed in laying the foundations for a new society based on freedom and social justice. :*From the television programme “'Tribuna elettorale”', Rai, 14 October 1960; transcript reported in “'l'Unità”', 15 October 1960, p. 8."

"Hence the constant threat of reactionary adventure. Today, large monopolies dominate and clerical hierarchies lay down the law. Instead of having a republic based on work, we have a power based on social privilege, discrimination, corruption and the blatant wealth of a few. [...] the advantage has not gone and does not go to everyone: where large monopolies reign, the benefits of economic progress created by everyone's work do not go to everyone but only to small privileged groups [...]."

"After the dramatic days in Geno [events in Genoa on 30 June 1960], [...] now, in Reggio, there has been a massacre: five dead and dozens injured, at the hands of the police forces unleashed against a peaceful people. There is a harsh, terrible logic in this succession of events. It is the logic of the actions of a government (about the Tambroni government) whose very constitution pushes it towards violence against the democratic and anti-fascist masses. [...] In Reggio Emilia, the government, indebted for its existence to the votes and support of the fascists, sought revenge for the victory of anti-fascism in Genoa. And cynically, for this purpose, it has shed the blood of defenceless citizens. [...] Today, the country does not understand the government's actions and condemns them. It does not understand why anti-fascist demonstrations by the people should be banned and dispersed by the police with machine-gun fire. Anti-fascism is the foundation of our political system. A government that takes a stand against anti-fascism becomes, through its actions, the source of a political situation that is already unsustainable and could become catastrophic. Our hearts are filled with bitterness and grief today. We feel that it is necessary to abandon the path of repeated conflicts, clashes and massacres. We feel that détente is necessary. But the first condition for this is that the country be freed from the shameful alliance between the government and fascism and from the shame of a government based on this alliance. The spirit of the vast majority is democratic and anti-fascist. This spirit must inspire the formation and action of the new government. The longer this decision is delayed, the more serious the consequences will be."

"I am particularly proud to have renounced my Italian citizenship in favour of Soviet citizenship. I do not feel attached to Italy as my homeland, but consider myself a citizen of the world, of the world that we want united in Moscow under the leadership of Comrade Stalin. I am particularly proud to have renounced my Italian citizenship because, as an Italian, I felt like a miserable mandolin player and nothing more. As a Soviet citizen, I feel I am worth ten thousand times more than the best Italian citizen."

"(The Vatican) is the most irreconcilable and organised opponent of greater democratic transformation in Italy."

"The real problem is that economic development has so far been regulated, essentially, by the harsh law of profit, the interests of big capital and the privileged classes. The people have worked hard. The pace of work in the factories has become so intense that it exhausts a man in the space of a few years. But it has happened as with the bees of the bitter honey for which Virgil accused the profiteers of his work. Remember? You make the honey, bees, but others enjoy it. The profits of the big capitalists are sky-high. [...] Socialism is our goal. We make no secret of it. We want a new society, based on the end of exploitation, on solidarity and fraternity among all people, on their social equality, on access for all to well-being, culture and the economic and political management of power, and on peace. This is what we are working and fighting for. And today, for our country, what we want is a shift to the left, for a democratic advance, in accordance with the Constitution and the principles it enshrines, which, if applied, offer the Italian people the hope of a bright future of progress, freedom and happiness."

"We must do everything we can to encourage the occupation of the Julian region by Marshal Tito's troops. This means that there will be neither British occupation nor a restoration of the reactionary Italian administration in this region, i.e. a situation will be created that is profoundly different from that which exists in the free part of Italy [...] this directive also applies above all to the city of Trieste."

"(At the conclusion of the commemoration of Stalin on the occasion of his death, delivered in the Chamber of Deputies) The heroic life of the victorious fighter has come to an end. His cause triumphs. His cause will triumph throughout the world."

"The discussion highlighted a new problem, that private schools are becoming a second state school system."

"Our position of principle regarding the armies that invaded the Soviet Union was defined by Stalin, and there is nothing more to say. In practice, however, if a large number of prisoners die as a result of the harsh conditions, I have absolutely nothing to say about it. On the contrary. And I'll explain why. There is no doubt that the Italian people have been poisoned by the imperialist and brigand ideology of fascism. Not to the same extent as the German people, but to a considerable extent. The poison has penetrated the peasants, the workers, not to mention the petty bourgeoisie and the intellectuals; in short, it has penetrated the people. The fact that for thousands and thousands of families Mussolini's war, and above all the expedition against Russia, will end in tragedy, in personal mourning, is the best and most effective antidote. {{NDR|Response of 15 February 1943 to a letter from Vincenzo Bianco asking him to intervene with the Kremlin on behalf of Italian prisoners in Russia."

"Our Soviet comrades never put really serious and grave matters in writing."

"The communist sections in city and town districts must become centres of popular life, centres where all comrades, sympathisers and those without a party, knowing that they will find a party and an organisation that cares about their problems and will provide them with guidance, knowing that they will find someone who can lead them, advise them and give them the opportunity to enjoy themselves if necessary."

"The effort I would like to make at the beginning of this debate, which has rightly been defined as preliminary, is to identify the essential assets that the Constitution must guarantee to the Italian people, assets that cannot be ignored if we want to achieve the fundamental objective that I have tried to set and which must be either established or restored. I believe that there are three such assets: the first is freedom and respect for popular sovereignty; the second is the political and moral unity of the nation; the third is social progress, linked to the advent of a new ruling class. If we succeed in drafting a Constitution that guarantees these three assets to the nation, then we will not have created, as has been said, an interim Constitution, but a Constitution that will effectively remain as the book to be placed next to the ark of the covenant, a Constitution that will enlighten and guide the Italian people for a long period of their history. The requirements I have indicated are not, in fact, something transitory, but are permanent and concrete requirements, corresponding to the well-defined historical situation that lies before us."

"The ranks of the Christian Democratic Party are filled with masses of workers, farmers, intellectuals and young people who basically have the same aspirations as us because, like us, they want a democratic and progressive Italy in which the demands of the working classes are given priority."

"(From the commemoration of Stalin on the occasion of his death, delivered in the Chamber of Deputies) Every time a word of peace is spoken, every time an act is performed that can ensure peace, we find Stalin there."

"To fight against the left, we must also use the police."

"(About the PRI) Small mass party."

"Always remember that the insurrection we want is not aimed at imposing social and political changes in a socialist or communist sense, but at national liberation and the destruction of fascism. All other problems will be resolved by the people tomorrow, once Italy has been liberated, through free popular consultation and the election of a Constituent Assembly."

"We extend [...] our greetings and homage to our country, which we love, for whose good we have worked and fought and to which we want to give and will give, with the victory of democracy and socialism, happiness, well-being and progress, security, independence, freedom and peace. Let us move forward [...], for the emancipation of labour, for the democratic and socialist renewal of Italy, for the triumph of communism."

"Joseph Stalin is a giant of thought, a giant of action. His name will be used to refer to an entire century, perhaps the most dramatic, certainly the most eventful in the arduous and glorious history of humankind."

"Stalin spread exaggerated and false theories; he was the victim of an almost desperate perspective of endless persecution, of general and continuous mistrust, of suspicion in all directions."

"I knew what the city of Matera was like, this city where three quarters of the population, namely those men who sweat from morning to night, toil incessantly, have no home worthy of the name, live in caves, do not know what a window is, and in those caves in which they live, which were dug centuries ago, families and working animals are crammed together in incredible promiscuity. I knew that from a city where three quarters of the population live in these terrible conditions, a terrible indictment would arise against the ruling classes of our country, the social groups, capitalists, landowners and privileged classes, who are responsible for the fact that in Italy there is still a city where thousands of men and women live in these conditions."

"Everyone understands the reality of today's economic life; everyone has seen how economic life has developed in capitalist Europe, where we have witnessed forms of concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, and how this has led to social upheaval, misery, war, fascism and tyranny, which has suppressed democratic freedom. This is what we are trying to remedy. The problem cannot be solved with economic theorems; it is a real political and social problem that began and continues to develop before the eyes of the present generation, and the working classes are trying to find a solution to it."

"(About Francesco Saverio Nitti) A man of undisputed value and undisputed ability."

"We have come a long way and we are going a long way! Without a doubt! Our goal is to create a society of free and equal people in our country, in which there is no exploitation of men by other men."

"The source of the organic deficiencies of the socialist movement was also to be found in the fatalistic vision of a revolution that was supposed to come about automatically, when capitalism had reached the final stage of its maturation. (chap. II, p. 24)"

"Ideas, the great principles of world renewal, do not advance by their own means. They have no legs, said one of the classics of our thought. They advance and impose themselves when, having penetrated the minds of men and the consciousness of a class, they become a force, because the best among men, and first of all in this class, go into battle for them, face danger, sacrifice their freedom and their lives. (chap. VII, p. 69)"

"The advance of fascism towards the destruction of all forms of democracy and towards a new war was the work of the most reactionary and chauvinistic groups of the capitalist bourgeoisie. It affected the rights, interests and aspirations not only of the workers, but of the vast majority of the population, of all non-reactionary political movements, of all those who loved civilisation or peace. However, as the facts themselves demonstrated, the initiative for all these forces to collaborate in order to save peace and democracy through joint action could only be taken by the working class, which is the objective historical antagonist of the reactionary bourgeois forces. (chap. VIII, p. 76)"

"This situation gave rise to the frenzied anti-communist agitation that has oppressed Italy for more than ten years, degrading our political struggle. This agitation is, particularly for Italy, a historical and political absurdity. It is a historical absurdity because everyone knows that if it had not been for the communists, the Italians would have lacked one of the necessary guides, perhaps the most important one, in their resistance and struggle against fascism and in the struggle for liberation. It is a political absurdity because the Communist Party is not a small, negligible entity, but is followed by the majority of workers, by large sections of the population, and by a far from small part of the intelligentsia. Banning it means introducing a division into the body of the nation that disturbs and poisons the whole life of the country. (chap. XI, p. 116)"

"In this grand picture, the decisive factor was the impetus given in Italy by the founder of our party, Antonio Gramsci, one of the most original thinkers of our time, the greatest Italian of our era, for the indelible mark he left with his thought and action. With Gramsci, Marxism, freed from the parasitic distortions of positivist fatalism and vulgar materialism, regains its full value as a conception of the world and an integral vision of history. It is once again the guide for action and thought in all fields, not only in purely political research, but also in the critique of a decrepit idealistic culture incapable of helping us understand the world of yesterday and today, in the construction of a new culture and in the struggle for the renewal of society. (chap. XIV, p. 142)"

"Before beginning this course, I would like to say a few words about the term “adversaries” to avoid any misinterpretation of this term by some of you, a misinterpretation that could lead to political errors. When we speak of adversaries, we are not referring to “the masses” who are members of fascist, social democratic or Catholic organisations. Our adversaries are the fascist, social democratic and Catholic “organisations”. But the masses who belong to them are not our adversaries; they are masses of workers whom we must make every effort to win over."

"What is the stance of Mr Togliatti's neo-Europeanism? The terms in which he expresses himself are such that it can be judged rather insipid and insubstantial: they are the usual formulas of the neutralists. It is America that disturbs the peace in Europe with its presence; through the EDC, it wants to rebuild the German army and mobilise Western Europe against Eastern Europe under the leadership of German nationalists. it is therefore necessary to reject the EDC, remove America from Europe, and promote understanding and rapprochement between all European peoples, whatever their regime. Cultural, economic, political and even military agreements can be developed between them, such as the reduction and control of armaments in all European states. According to Mr. Togliatti, these are the proposals that Europeanists should make in order to gain his approval. But one should not believe that he has converted to neutralist ideas. He adopts and supports them only because they fit perfectly into the framework of the tacit and ambitious communist policy, which must always be kept in mind if one wants to understand the meaning of the extraordinary propaganda masquerades to which it dedicates itself with such tenacity. :*Altiero Spinelli, L’europeismo di Togliatti, Il Mondo, 5 January 1954, pag.1."

"The son of a primary school teacher and a clerk, [...] he had been with Gramsci in Turin during the Red Biennium and was one of the founders of the party in 1921. Having taken refuge in Russia after the victory of fascism, he quickly rose in importance to become deputy secretary-general of the Comintern. Astute, prudent, cultured and haughty, he possessed an innate ability to survive all political storms: a quality that helped him in Moscow in the 1930s. Although he was obviously a loyal supporter of Stalin, Togliatti was able to think creatively and had a strategic overview, and these merits made him stand out within an international communist movement famous for its dogmatism and fideism."

"Gramsci had greater human sensitivity, he was more spontaneous and open. Togliatti, strange as it may seem, was much more intellectual."

"(About Togliatti and what struck him about his personality) His skill, but it was something more, the way in which he managed to impose, in a dialectical sense, the presence of the Communist Party."

"The Honourable Togliatti represents ideas and programmes that differ from mine. We are two parallel lines that can only meet at infinity."

"The greatest fault of television is that it introduced Togliatti and dancers into the hearts of Italian families."

"While for Gramsci what mattered and prevailed in the revolutionary perspective was the International, Togliatti limited its scope to the Soviet party."

"I think Togliatti only understood the Resistance when we shot Mussolini in Dongo."

"How many crimes did Togliatti commit or cover up in the 1930s and 1940s? Yet he is considered part of our history. (1975)"

"What enchanted me was his language, which was both popular and understood by everyone, yet every cautious motto, pure Italian, every word an exact reflection of what he wanted to express, every word right to “stir” the hearts and minds of those who listened to him. The square was packed. The rally took place in silence, the emotion acute in everyone. The leader of their enemies, of the Lucchesi, the Bianchi, spoke like a preacher from the pulpit, calmly, with a solemn echo... such precise speech also seemed like a tribute to the people who listened there, under the small stage, and who knew and cultivated the Italian language, the dictation, and who had preserved the beautiful speech, the Italian language, through the centuries."