The Sammarinese Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Sammarinese, abbreviated PCS) was a Marxist political party in the small European republic of

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

. It was founded in 1921 as a section of the

Communist Party of Italy 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). ...

(PCI). The organization existed for its first two decades as an underground political organization. Between 1945 and the spring of 1957 the PCS governed the country in coalition with the

Sammarinese Socialist Party The Sammarinese Socialist Party ( it, Partito Socialista Sammarinese, PSS) was a socialist and, later, social-democratic political party in San Marino. Its Italian counterpart was the Italian Socialist Party and its international affiliation was w ...

(PSS). The communist-socialist coalition lost power in the events known as ''

Fatti di Rovereta The ''fatti di Rovereta'' (the Rovereta affair) was a constitutional crisis in San Marino in 1957 in which the Grand and General Council was deliberately rendered inquorate to prevent the scheduled election of Captains-Regent. A provisional gover ...

''. The PCS returned to membership in a governing parliamentary coalition in 1978, with its adherents remaining as part of the leadership group until 1992. In 1991, with the fall of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, the PCS formally renounced communism and relaunched itself

Sammarinese Democratic Progressive Party The Sammarinese Democratic Progressive Party (''Partito Progressista Democratico Sammarinese'', PPDS) was a democratic socialist political party in San Marino. Its Italian counterpart was the Democratic Party of the Left. The party was formed in ...

(PPDS).

History

Establishment

is a

European microstate The European microstates or European ministates are a set of very small sovereign states in Europe. In modern contexts the term is typically used to refer to the six smallest states in Europe by area: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco ...

, considered the third smallest in Europe with an area of just 61 square kilometers (24 square miles). Despite its small size and tiny population, the tiny nation — wholly surrounded by

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

— was the home of a communist political party from 1921, the Communist Party of San Marino, ''(Partito Communista di San Marino),'' or PCS. The organization was established as a section of the

(PCI).Giacomo Sani, "San Marino," in Richard F. Staar (ed.), ''Yearbook on International Communist Affairs, 1984.'' Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1984; pp. 513-514. The party's first two decades were spent in the

political underground Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

, as San Marino was dominated — as was Italy — by the fascist movement in the form of the

Sammarinese Fascist Party The Sammarinese Fascist Party ( it, Partito Fascista Sammarinese) or PFS was a fascist political party that ruled San Marino from 1923 to 1943. History The party was founded on 10 August 1922 and led by Giuliano Gozi, a Sammarinese World War ...

, which held all 60 of the seats in the country's

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

parliament from the election of 1923 until the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

in 1945. The party was refounded in 1940 under the leadership of

Ermenegildo Gasperoni Ermenegildo "Gildo" Gasperoni (4 August 1906Prokhorov, Aleksandr Mikhaĭlovich. Great Soviet encyclopedia, Vol. 6'. Macmillan, 1982. p. 128 – 26 June 1994) was a Sammarinese politician. He served as the general secretary and, later, chairman of ...

(1906-1994).Carla Liverani, "San Marino," in Richard F. Staar (ed.), ''Yearbook on International Communist Affairs, 1972.'' Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1972; pp. 218-219.

Period of coalition government

The PCS was a governing party of San Marino in coalition with the Socialist Party of San Marino (PSSM) from 1945 until March 1957.Branko Lazitch, "San Marino," in Witold S. Sworakowski (ed.), ''World Communism: A Handbook, 1918-1965.'' Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1973; pp. 384-385.

Crisis of 1957

Following events in the Eastern Bloc in 1956, some of the socialist deputies abandoned the coalition. On September 18, 1957 the coalition lost its majority when a socialist deputy crossed over to the opposition, reducing the number of pro-coalition deputies to 29. The tenure of the assembly ended on October 1, 1957, placing the government in constitutional limbo. The Christian Democratic deputies refused to attend session; instead, they occupied a factory in Rovereta and set up a provisional government there. The Italian and U.S. government pledged support to the provisional government, whilst the communist-socialist coalition (with support of Italian communists) sought to resist the attempt to establish a provisional government.

Years of opposition

After the failed attempt at a coup in 1957, the PCS remained an opposition party in San Marino, excluded from the government coalition. The new non-communist government won reelection in September 1959, with the PCS's parliamentary delegation falling to 16 members, joined by 8 Socialists. The PCS remained a recognized independent member of the international communist movement, sending delegations to international conferences in 1957, 1959, and 1960 and to the

22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (russian: XXII съезд КПСС) was held from 17 to 31 October 1961. In fourteen days of sessions (22 October was a day off), 4,413 delegates, in addition to delegates from 83 foreign ...

in October 1961. With the split of the world communist movement into pro-Soviet and pro-Chinese factions during the 1960s, the PCS remained firmly pro-Soviet. In national elections held on September 8, 1974, the PCS received 3,246 votes (23% of those cast) and won 16 seats to the Great and General Council — a gain of 1 seat from the previous election, held in 1969.Dante Germino, "San Marino," in Richard F. Staar (ed.), ''Yearbook on International Communist Affairs, 1975.'' Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1975; pg. 237.

Return to government

In 1978 the PCS returned to government as part of a coalition with the Socialist Party and a new organization formed three years earlier, the Unitary Socialist Party (PSU).Donald F. Busky
''Communism in History and Theory: From Utopian Socialism to the Fall of the Soviet Union.''
Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002; pp. 57-58. This made San Marino in 1978 the only country in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

with a Communist Party as a participant in a governing coalition. A scheduled election held on May 29, 1983 saw the PCs receiving 24.3% of the vote cast for the General Council (parliament), thereby electing 15 Communists to the body.Margrit N. Grigory, "San Marino," in Richard F. Staar (ed.), ''Yearbook on International Communist Affairs, 1988.'' Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1988; pg. 536. These were joined by 9 Socialists, and 8 members of the SUP — a total of 32 of the 60 seats as part of a new Communist-Socialist unity government. This government remained in power until a 1986 corruption scandal shattered the Socialists, with the Communists remaining in government through an unlikely coalition with the center-right

Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party The Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party ( it, Partito Democratico Cristiano Sammarinese, PDCS) is a Christian-democratic political party in San Marino. The PDCS is an observer member of the European People's Party (EPP), having joined the ...

(PDCS) until 1992. At the national election held on May 29, 1988, the PCS garnered 28.7% of the votes cast, winning 18 of 60 seats on the General Council.

Structure

The PCS was governed by a 17-member Central Committee, elected at periodic party congresses.Milorad Drachkovitch (ed.), ''Yearbook on International Communist Affairs, 1966.'' Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, 1967; pg. 143. This body selected a 10-member Executive Committee from its ranks to handle daily party governance. The General Secretary of the organization from its 1940 reformation until the early 1970s was Ermenegildo Gasperoni. In 1973, Gasperoni was moved into the more ceremonial role of party chairman, with Umberto Barulli (1921-1993) taking the helm as General Secretary.Angelo Codevilla, "San Marino," in Richard F. Staar (ed.), ''Yearbook on International Communist Affairs, 1977.'' Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1977; pg. 222. Barulli was replaced in turn as General Secretary by Gilberto Ghiotti in 1984, with Ghiotti remaining in power until the end of the party in 1990. The PCS was the chief sponsor of two subsidiary organizations, the Federation of Communist Women of San Marino and the Communist Youth Federation of San Marino. Party membership in 1965 was estimated at 960 out of a total national population of about 17,000. In 1976 total membership was estimated by another scholar at about 300 from a national population of 19,000. The official organ of the PCS was the newspaper '' La Scintilla,'' a publication which was not produced on a regular chronological basis.

Restructuring

With the collapse of the

in 1990, in parallel to the transformation of PCI into the

Democratic Party of the Left The Democratic Party of the Left ( it, Partito Democratico della Sinistra, PDS) was a democratic socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, t ...

(PDS) in Italy, the PCS formally renounced communism and remade itself as the

(PPDS). This change was followed by a split of communist hard-liners who formed the

Sammarinese Communist Refoundation Sammarinese Communist Refoundation ( it, Rifondazione Comunista Sammarinese, RCS) was a communist political party in San Marino. It was a member of the European Left. History It emerged in 1992 when the old Sammarinese Communist Party evolved i ...

(RCS). With the renaming of the organization at the 12th Party Congress of April 1990, the name of the official organ was changed from ''La Scintilla'' to ''Progresso.''Margrit N. Grigory, "San Marino," in Richard F. Staar and Margrit N. Grigory (eds.), ''Yearbook on International Communist Affairs, 1991.'' Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1991; pp. 624-625. The party's former hammer-and-sickle logo was dropped at this time, replaced by a drawing of a dove by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

History

Establishment

Period of coalition government

Crisis of 1957

Years of opposition

Return to government

Structure

Restructuring

Congresses

See also

Footnotes

Further reading