Abstract

The essay focuses on the national political strategy of the Pci in the mid 1970s. In particular, it examines the relationship between the Italian Communist Party and the main radical left-wing groups during a crucial period in Italian politics, when the communist leaders were developing a new proposal regarding the political alliance between the major Italian parties, the so called «historic compromise». Through the examination of an internal seminar on political extremism organized by the Pci in January 1975, the article reconstructs the debate among communist national leaders, local cadres and trade union leaders on the attitude the party should adopt towards the extreme left main organizations. The relationship with those groups was indeed strictly connected with the party's analysis of the Italian political equilibrium. Furthermore, the Seminar on extremism marked the beginning of a new phase in the Pci's strategy towards the extra-parliamentary world.