Up With Nenni!

Nenni, Pietro (1891-1980).

Il Centenario del “Manifesto” di Marx e di Engels. (Discorso pronunciato a Roma il 19 settembre 1948). A cura della Federazione Romana del Partito Socialista Italiano.

Roma, Stabilimento Tipografico Chillemi, [1948].

4° (225x160 mm). 15, [1] pages. Stapled leaves, in publisher’s original pale green wrappers, title printed in black. A very good copy, leaves rather toned owing to the quality of the paper.

Provenance: Pietro Nenni’s presentation copy to Giuseppe Casadei (b. 1903), senator of the Italian Socialist Party (1948-1953) and journalist (autograph address ‘Al compagno Casadei cordialmente Nenni’, inked on front cover).

The rare first edition of the speech delivered by the Italian socialist leader on 19 September 1948, for the centennial of the Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei by Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895), first issued in London in 1848.

The centennial of this revolutionary publication was celebrated worldwide. In Italy, the celebrations occurred at a critical time in the history of the Socialist Party, with the first general elections of the Italian republican era occurring only a few months earlier, in April 1948. The Socialist Party and the Communist Party – then led by Pietro Nenni and Palmiro Togliatti (1893-1964), respectively – decided to form an electoral coalition, the Fronte Democratico

Popolare (Popular Democratic Front). However, the results fell well short of both Nenni’s and Togliatti’s expectations, and the elections were won by the Democrazia Cristiana (Christian Democracy) led by Alcide De Gasperi (1881-1954). Consequently, Nenni lost his leadership within his party to more moderate positions.

In this context, giving a speech in honour of the centennial of the Manifesto of the Communist Party could be seen as a sort of test for the defeated leader, an opportunity for self-criticism and political reflection. Quite the opposite: the text is an impassioned “call for and return to the fundamental principles of socialism” (p. 1, our transl.). After a presentation of the Manifesto and a survey of socialism’s great achievements, the speech ends by addressing the recent electoral defeat and internal polemics that ensued. Here, Nenni strongly re- affirmed his political ideals, inviting his ‘compagni’ to resume the political battle – “Would you want us to be impressed by an electoral failure?” – with renewed “serenity, courage, decision, optimism” (p. 15, our transl.).

The printed text of the speech parenthetically includes reactions from the original audience, citing their long applauses and cries of ‘Viva Nenni!’. Already by May 1949 Nenni had regained leadership of the party.

On the front cover of the present copy is Nenni’s autograph address to Giuseppe Casadei, a member of the Socialist Party. Elected as a senator in 1948, Casadei was an avid supporter of Nenni’s political positions and was himself closely affiliated with the Communist Party.

S. Fedele, Fronte Popolare. La sinistra e le elezioni del 18 aprile 1948, Milano 1976; R. A. Ventresca, From Fascism to Democracy: Culture and Politics in the Italian Election of 1948, Toronto-Buffalo-London 2004.