Keywords

• The article provides an account of the much-disputed episode of the dialogue between the Italian Communist Party (Pci) and the German Social Democratic Party (Spd) on the eve of the Ostpolitik. Basing on multi-archival research
• the author provides evidences that the collaboration originated from an Italian initiative
• and was linked to a broader reassessment of Pciâ€
• ™
• s international outlook. Spdâ€
• ™
• s reasons of interest (related to the development of the Ostpolitik) are also considered
• as well as East Germanâ€
• ™
• s critical standpoint. While its importance for the establishment of the Ostpolitik should not be overrated
• the episode is revealing of Pciâ€
• ™
• s views on Cold War
• détente and the role of West European Left during crucial years of change for the European order. New elements that distanced the Italians from Soviet perspectives and from allegiance to a cracked international communist movement were intertwined with substantial flaws in the understanding of the international situation and the setting up of the Partyâ€
• ™
• s strategy
• which were to influence Pciâ€
• ™
• s fortunes also in the following decades. It was also due to these strategic stalemates that the collaboration with Spd
• after assuming a considerable relevance for two years
• eventually lost momentum in a changed international context