Abstract

The essay reconstructs the criticisms that Salvemini directed towards Bolshevism. These were criticisms that directly stemmed from his social democratic background within the Second International and, as such, focused not on the economic aspect (collectivization) but on the political dimension of communism (dictatorship). It was a dictatorship against which Salvemini asserted the multiple reasons of liberal democracy, foremost among them being the promotion of the fertility of dissent and the exaltation of the virtue of tolerance.