ABSTRACT

The pro-Soviet sentiments of Italian Communists did play a highly significant part in the decision to accept the Resolution. The decisive role of the Soviet Union in the anti-Axis struggle had raised it to new heights of popularity among both Communists and noncommunists. Eugenio Reale, who was a Partito Comunista Italiano (PCI) member and Undersecretary of State at the time of the peace conference, recalls trying to convince the Yugoslav Communists to moderate their territorial demands. A very large proportion of those who emigrated to Yugoslavia were Communists, and the PCI seems to have been involved in organizing clandestine emigration from the Friuli. During the early postwar years, the PCI greatly feared a resurgence of the Right under Fascist influence. Fascism had exploited nationalist demands in its struggles against politically progressive forces, which complicated the PCI's attempt to work out a "progressive" position on territorial questions.