The Action Party (, PdA) was a liberal-socialist

political party in Italy This is a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy. Since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern alone; thus, partie ...

. The party was

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

and republican. Its prominent leaders were

Carlo Rosselli Carlo Alberto Rosselli (16 November 18999 June 1937) was an Italian political leader, journalist, historian, philosopher and anti-fascist activist, first in Italy and then abroad. He developed a theory of reformist, non-Marxist socialism inspir ...

Ferruccio Parri Ferruccio Parri (; 19 January 1890 – 8 December 1981) was an Italian partisan and anti-fascist politician who served as the 29th Prime Minister of Italy, and the first to be appointed after the end of World War II. During the war, he was also ...

Emilio Lussu Emilio Lussu (4 December 1890 – 5 March 1975) was a Sardinian people, Sardinian and Italian writer, anti-fascist intellectual, military officer, Italian resistance movement, partisan, and politician. He is also the author of the novel ''One Yea ...

and

Ugo La Malfa Ugo La Malfa (16 May 1903 – 26 March 1979) was an Italian politician and an important leader of the Italian Republican Party (''Partito Repubblicano Italiano''; PRI). Early years and anti-fascist resistance La Malfa was born in Palermo, Sic ...

. Other prominent members included

Leone Ginzburg Leone Ginzburg (, ; 4 April 1909 – 5 February 1944) was an Italian editor, writer, journalist and teacher, as well as an important anti-fascist political activist and a hero of the resistance movement. He was the husband of the renowned author ...

, Ernesto de Martino,

Norberto Bobbio Norberto Bobbio (; 18 October 1909 – 9 January 2004) was an Italian philosopher of law and political sciences and a historian of political thought. He also wrote regularly for the Turin-based daily '' La Stampa''. Bobbio was a social lib ...

Riccardo Lombardi Riccardo Lombardi (16 August 1901 – 18 September 1984) was an Italian politician. Early life Lombardi was born in Regalbuto, in the province of Enna (now in the province of Catania), in 1901. He studied at the Pennisi College of Acireale. Af ...

Vittorio Foa Vittorio Foa (18 September 1910 – 20 October 2008) was an Italian politician, trade unionist, journalist, and writer. Early life and education Foa was born in Turin in 1910 into a middle-class Jewish family. He attended Liceo Classico Massi ...

and the Nobel-winning poet

Eugenio Montale Eugenio Montale (; 12 October 1896 – 12 September 1981) was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator. In 1975, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for 'for his distinctive poetry which, with great artistic sensitivity, has ...

History

Founded in July 1942 by former militants of

Giustizia e Libertà Giustizia e Libertà (; ) was an Italian anti-fascist resistance movement, active from 1929 to 1945.James D. Wilkinson (1981). ''The Intellectual Resistance Movement in Europe''. Harvard University Press. p. 224. The movement was cofounded by ...

(Justice and Freedom), liberal-socialists and democrats. Ideologically, they were heirs to the liberal socialism of

and to

Piero Gobetti Piero Gobetti (; 19 June 1901 – 15 February 1926) was an Italian journalist, intellectual, and anti-fascist. A radical and revolutionary liberal, he was an exceptionally active campaigner and critic in the crisis years in Italy after the Fir ...

's liberal revolution, whose writings rejected

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

economic determinism Economic determinism is a socioeconomic theory that economic relationships (such as being an owner or capitalist or being a worker or proletarian) are the foundation upon which all other societal and political arrangements in society are based. T ...

and aimed at the overcoming of

class struggle In political science, the term class conflict, class struggle, or class war refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequali ...

and for a new shape of

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, respect for

civil liberty Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...

and for

radical change Radical Change (, CR, stylised with a backwards "R") is a conservative liberal political party in Colombia. After the elections on 12 March 2006, the party became one of the most important in the new Congress, receiving 20 seats in the lower ho ...

in both the social and the economic structure of Italy. From January 1943, it published a clandestine newspaper, '' L'Italia Libera'' (''Free Italy''), edited by

. In the same year, members of the party came into contact with Allied secret services stationed in neutral

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. In particular, this activity was commissioned to

Filippo Caracciolo ''Don (honorific), Don'' Filippo Caracciolo, 8th Prince of Castagneto, 3rd Duke of Melito (4 March 1903 – 16 July 1965), was an Italian nobleman and politician. He was the first Italian President of FIA. Biography Caracciolo was the 8th Pri ...

, had a special relationship with British

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

. Caracciolo tried to avoid Allied bombing on Italy, but most of all he tried to get British support for an Anti-Fascist Committee that was supposed to lead the new government after an anti-Mussolini coup. After the armistice of 8 September 1943, as a central member of the

National Liberation Committee The National Liberation Committee (, CLN) was a political umbrella organization and the main representative of the Italian resistance movement fighting against the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationist forces of the ...

the Action Party actively participated in the

Italian resistance movement The Italian Resistance ( ), or simply ''La'' , consisted of all the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social Republic during the Second World War in Italy ...

with units of Giustizia e Libertà commanded by

. It maintained a clear anti-monarchical position and it was opposed to

Palmiro Togliatti Palmiro Michele Nicola Togliatti (; 26 March 1893 – 21 August 1964) was an Italian politician and statesman, leader of Italy's Italian Communist Party, Communist party for nearly forty years, from 1927 until his death. Born into a middle-clas ...

and the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party (, PCI) was a communist and democratic socialist political party in Italy. It was established in Livorno as the Communist Party of Italy (, PCd'I) on 21 January 1921, when it seceded from the Italian Socialist Part ...

's Salerno Initiative for postwar governance. The party adopted the symbol of a flaming sword and in the immediate post-war period joined the government securing the post of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

for

from June to November 1945. As a result of the internal conflict between the democratic-

reformist Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...

line of

and the socialist line of

, combined with the electoral defeat of 1946, the party folded. Unwillingness of the party members to work with reviving political parties "tainted by association with Fascism" also resulted in the decline of the Action Party. The main group of former members led by

joined the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...

while the La Malfa group (as the Movement for Republican Democracy) entered the

Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party (, PRI) is a political party in Italy established in 1895, which makes it the oldest political party still active in the country. The PRI identifies with 19th-century classical radicalism, as well as Mazzinianism, a ...

. The last secretary general of the Action Party was

Alberto Cianca Alberto Cianca (1 January 1884 – 8 January 1966) was an Italian journalist and anti-fascist politician. He edited several significant publications, including '' Il Mondo'', and served in the Parliament and Senate. Early life and education Cian ...

Prominent members

Italian Parliament

References

Sources

* Website of the Italian Resistance Historical Society
"Il Partito d'Azione"
, including in-depth bios, recent remembrances and selections from party documents. * Historical dictionary entry from Paravia Mondadori Editori, an Italian educational publishing house

. {{Authority control 1942 establishments in Italy 1947 disestablishments in Italy Centre-left parties in Europe Defunct political parties in Italy Defunct socialist parties in Italy Liberal parties in Italy Political parties disestablished in 1947 Political parties established in 1942 Republican parties Social liberal parties Liberal socialism Radical parties in Italy Anti-fascist organisations in Italy

History

Prominent members

Italian Parliament

See also

References

Sources