ABSTRACT
A characteristic shared, but not acknowledged, by both the dominant mass parties in post-war Italy has been that of being, apparently, always on the defensive. After the chastening defeat of April 1948, the Communist Party retreated into a citadel of meticulous and all-embracing organisation designed to prepare its members to meet every possible eventuality except that of taking office. Its ultimate objective was always to preserve the Party itself as a stronghold of both values and structures which would permanently provide a distinctive and satisfying identity to its members, and give meaning to every aspect of their lives. It is for this reason that it was often referred to as a ‘church’ comparable in many respects to its counterpart in the Catholic Church.
