1921 is celebrated as the birth of the Italian Communist Party, but in reality it was a defeat, a split in the workers' movement, just as fascism was rising.

[In 1921] the conditions for a revolutionary uprising did not exist. As Lenin said, social unrest does not in itself produce revolution. Moreover, Italy was a country where such a rupture would have led to a clash with a bourgeoisie that was well equipped, as it later proved. In short, the Soviet path was not viable in the West, and this is Gramsci.

Neither Gramsci nor Turati were the real protagonists in Livorno [during the 17th Congress of the Italian Socialist Party]. Others were: on the communist side, the intransigence of [[w | Amadeo Bordiga|Bordiga]], and on the other, the maximalists of Serrati. The two greatest figures remain in the background. | Those like me who belong to the generation of '68 did not know the myth of the USSR. I was in Prague that year to show my solidarity with the Spring, and when the tanks arrived, I was among the people demonstrating in the streets. I must be honest: if the PCI had not condemned the invasion, my generation would not have joined the party. In short, the Soviet myth worked differently for different generations. | It should be noted that time does not defeat the fundamental distinction between right and left, as Bobbio explained to us. Nor does it erase the problem of inequality. Consider that a pope like John Paul II said to me after the end of the PCI: “I have always fought against the communists, but now I ask myself: who will defend the poor?” | Il 1921 è celebrato come l'evento della nascita del Pci ma in realtà risulta una sconfitta, una frattura del movimento operaio, proprio quando stava sorgendo il fascismo. | [nel 1921] Non c'erano le condizioni per un'insorgenza rivoluzionaria. Come diceva Lenin la rivolta sociale di per sé non produce la rivoluzione. In più l'Italia era un Paese dove una rottura di quel tipo avrebbe portato a uno scontro con una borghesia che era attrezzata, come poi dimostrò. Insomma, la via sovietica non era praticabile in Occidente, e questo è Gramsci. | Né Gramsci né Turati furono i veri protagonisti a Livorno [durante il XVII Congresso del Partito Socialista Italiano]. Furono altri: dal versante comunista l'intransigenza bordighista e dall'altra i massimalisti di Serrati. Le due figure più grandi restano sullo sfondo. | Chi come me appartiene alla generazione del '68 non ha conosciuto il mito dell'Urss. Io ero a Praga quell'anno pe