The monograph by K. F. Misiano, a senior researcher at the Institute of General History of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Historical Sciences, is the first Soviet study of a very important stage in the history of the workers ' and socialist movement in Italy. The need for such a book is long overdue. All those who are interested in the workers ' and socialist movement in Italy have hitherto been forced to use, at best, the translated works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Candeloro and G. Manacorda 1, and often the works of A. Angiolini and A. Labriola 2, covering the history of socialism in Italy from reformist and syndicalist positions. I. V. Grigorieva's work is devoted to the history of the workers ' and socialist movement in Italy during the First International (Moscow, 1966), and K. I. Kirova's monograph is devoted to the revolutionary movement in Italy in 1914-1917 (Moscow, 1962).

The research focuses on the Italian labor movement as an integral part of the national history, taking into account the peculiarity of the socio-economic and political structure of Italy. At the same time, the process of revolutionary influence of the proletariat on the course of socio-political development of the country is traced. The author defines the task of his research as identifying and understanding "the subjective ability of the proletariat to awaken the broad masses - urban and rural-to"thorough historical creativity" 3, to lead them, to master political leadership, to win it back from the bourgeoisie " (p. 17).

This interesting work was realized by the author on the basis of studying and comprehending the works of K. Marx and F. Schulz. Engels and, in particular, the works of V. I. Lenin, in which the problems of the hegemony of the proletariat and the interrelation of democracy and socialism were thoroughly elucidated. The monograph is also permeated by the ideological and theoretical provisions of the works of A. Gramsci and P. Togliatti, which concentrate a critical understanding of the path taken by the Italian socialist movement, its ideological trends in the period under review.

The book is based on critical study

1 J. Candeloro. Trade union Movement in Italy, Moscow, 1953. The Catholic Movement in Italy, Moscow, 1955. Istoriya sovremennoy Italii [History of Modern Italy], Vol. 6, Moscow, 1975; Manacorda. The Italian Labor Movement based on the materials of the Congresses. From its origin to the formation of the Socialist Party (1853-1892). Moscow, 1955.

2 A. Adjiolini. History of Socialism in Italy. Part II. St. Petersburg-1907; Art. Labriola. Reformism and Syndicalism, St. Petersburg, 1907.

3 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 10, p. 19.

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a wide variety of archival materials, published official documents, parliamentary acts, personal funds of political and state figures, memoir literature, as well as newspapers and magazines of various political trends. The historiographical review covers mainly Italian historiography, which has been significantly enriched by the publications of the A. Gramsci Institute and the J. R. R. Tolkien Institute. Feltrinelli.

C. F. Misiano traces the socio-economic development of Italy to the beginning of the XX century. It shows that the country's backwardness, inherited from the incompleteness of the Risorgimento revolutions, did not survive in its "pure form"until the twentieth century. Entering the imperialist stage almost simultaneously with other leading capitalist powers, Italy developed its large-scale industry at the expense of the "agrarian rear", mainly in the South, exploiting and ruining the broad masses of the people, which narrowed the capacity of the domestic market and created an obstacle to overall economic progress. Based on this, the author comes to the conclusion that the revolutionary process in Italy included "two essentially different 'social wars': an incomplete bourgeois, democratic war directed against the reactionary remnants of the past (both in the base and in the superstructure), and an anti-capitalist, proletarian war that paved the way for the future, for the future of the state." to socialism" (p. 67).

The monograph shows that by the end of the 19th century in Italy, the main force capable of actively influencing the development of the revolutionary process was determined - the proletariat, which passed through a difficult period of self-determination.

The author also traces the ways of formation of the socialist party, which adopted its program at the congress in Genoa in 1892. C. F. Misiano gives a brief analysis of it, notes that it ignored the concept of "class struggle", it did not outline the forms of gaining political power, and did not recognize the need to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat. According to its structure, the party was a federation that included socialist sections and circles of Sicilian fasci, resistance leagues and cooperatives, mutual aid societies and other organizations. C. F. Misiano notes that, "having, thus, a relatively broad, motley mass base, the socialist party reflected heterogeneous class demands and ideological ideas, which made it possible for the Socialist party to be able to achieve its goals." it was at the same time its strength and its weakness" (p. 103).

The central place in the monograph is occupied by the characteristics of the struggle of the working class for democracy at the turn of the XIX and XX centuries; C. F. Misiano shows how the offensive of reaction in the last decade of the XIX century. contributed to the activation of the masses. The disaster of the Italian army in Ethiopia in 1896 caused violent protests, and soon the whole of Italy became the scene of class struggle. Then, at the end of the nineteenth century, a parliamentary struggle unfolded, in which extreme reaction was defeated, and the influence of democratic forces in parliament and outside it increased in defense of constitutional freedoms, and finally, "the epilogue of the struggle against the offensive of reaction that did not stop during the 'bloody decade' was the Genoese general strike, which won the right of the worker the right to organize and, moreover, the civil and political rights of the people" (p. 108).

C. F. Misiano's assessment of the tactics and strategy of the Italian Socialist Party (ISP) during this period is noteworthy. The author notes that the Marxist teaching, perceived through the prism of the positivism that prevailed in the country's public thought, was reduced by the socialist leaders to vulgar economic materialism. "Disregarding theory, they narrowed the very concept of political practice (the primacy of which they considered unconditional) to the limits that seemed to them "really possible, achievable." This impoverished the content of the tasks facing the working class, as well as the forms and means of revolutionary action. And since, from the point of view of Italian socialist leaders, a sharp line of demarcation separated the struggle for the democratic transformation of the social system from "directly class socialist tasks," the latter were immeasurably delayed in time" (p.144).

The analysis of the socio-economic, ideological and political reasons for the turn of the ruling circles of Italy to the "liberal" course seems very fruitful. It was driven by "a renewed economic recovery that has intensified the process of transforming the socio-economic system."

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the structure of the country, changing the balance of class and political forces; at the same time, the balance of forces created by the end of the century in the ruling bloc itself was of particular importance. It is the latter factor, i.e., the growth of the specific weight and influence of the capitalist forces of the new formation in the ruling bloc - the bosses of large-scale industry and banks - that could not fail to manifest itself in the political life of the country " (pp. 148-149). These groups gradually became convinced of the expediency of liberal reforms and were directly interested in the "class world"that was so necessary for industrial development. The realisation of their intentions was led by the leader of the liberal wing of the big bourgeoisie, J. R. R. Tolkien. Giolitti. His plan, the author writes, was "to subjugate the working class to the hegemony of the bourgeoisie by ideologically disarming the socialist party, depriving it of the possibility and ability to exercise political leadership of the masses and to show genuine revolutionary initiative" (p.160).

Under these circumstances, what was the ideological and political position of the leaders of the Socialist Party? All of them, without exception, considered it necessary for the proletariat to form an alliance with "all classes and intermediate social strata, including the most developed part of the industrial bourgeoisie", whose interests "at the moment coincide with the interests of the proletariat", as the theoretical journal of Italian socialists Critica Sociale wrote in February 1900 (pp. 162-163).. Therefore, " reckless rebellion "was contrasted with a" reasonable reform policy " that became an end in itself, that is, divorced from a truly revolutionary perspective.

The growing democratic movement in Italy at the beginning of the 20th century was introduced into the" liberal fold " under the hegemony of the bourgeoisie. However, the "liberal course" not only failed to "remove" the old ones, but also, as the book emphasizes, gave rise to new deep contradictions and acute class conflicts. Under these conditions, the workers 'and peasants' movement developed in Italy with unprecedented strength. No matter how much Giolitti maneuvered, he could not reconcile the antagonistic forces. Social and political conflicts in the country escalated and led to a general strike in September 1904. Then Giolitti, following the example of his conservative predecessors, resorted to a "firm hand" policy. A state of siege was declared in Genoa, and troops were sent to the industrial centers.

When GiolItti mobilized the armed forces to resist the "revolutionary madness," he also hoped to master the situation with the help of the" tamed " leaders of the Socialist Party. The book shows an unsightly picture of striking zigzags in the behavior of the leaders of the ISP and the intensified struggle of currents within it at the most crucial moment of the actions of the working masses. The reformist wing, led by Turatti, opposed the "unbridled, savage" class struggle and called not to endanger the "newfound freedoms", not to undermine "cooperation with the intelligent bourgeoisie". The syndicalist leaders, led by A. Labriola, could not lead the mass movement either from the political or practical side. Despite this, the charge of spontaneous revolutionary energy of the masses did not fade. From the end of 1904, and especially in 1905, under the influence of the first Russian Revolution, as the author shows, Italy once again became the scene of major class battles.

Summing up the results of the class struggles of the Italian proletariat in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, C. F. Misiano concludes that the Italian labor movement has significantly strengthened ideologically and organizationally during this time (p.287). The working class instinctively groped and more than once discovered its ability to lead a general democratic movement. Thus, in September 1904, the workers came to the defense of the peasants of the South who were being shot - a spontaneous but objective tendency towards an alliance between the working class and the peasantry was manifested. The desire of the workers to unite their ranks contributed to the creation in 1906 of a single trade union center - the General Confederation of Labor.

At the same time, the book analyzes the weaknesses of the Italian labor movement that were revealed at that time: the discrepancy between the scope and strength of the spontaneous movement and the level of consciousness of the masses, between the spontaneous actions of various groups of workers and the political leadership of these actions. C. F. Misiano has thoroughly investigated the weakness of "the socialist party, which was split into two trends, each of which was unable to develop a political line that united the broad masses who were ready to fight, and most importantly, to show them the right path to the goal" (p. 288). The reformists could not, and did not, put a stop to it.-

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It is a task to involve the peasant masses and the middle strata of the city in concrete political actions, since they did not see them as allies in the struggle for social and political progress. This tactic led to the isolation of the working class. The author emphasizes that the tactics of the syndicalists, who did not recognize the historical legitimacy of the intermediate stages of the struggle, that is, the struggle for democracy, and who considered "direct revolutionary action" to establish a socialist system, were no less doomed to isolation for the working class (p.289). In addition, the syndicalists, based on this tactic, disdained the policy of temporary unions, including ignoring the alliance with the peasantry.

Having paid special attention to the activities of the ISP and its leaders, as well as to the analysis of Giolitti's "liberal course", the author, unfortunately, did not complete the presentation with portrait sketches of such figures as F. Turatti and A. Kuleshov, Antonio and Arturo Labriola, G. Giolitti and S. Sonnino. The question of the final boundary of the study is controversial. It actually ends with the beginning of the second stage of the "liberal course". The monograph does not cover the sharp aggravation of contradictions between the revolutionary and reformist tendencies in the socialist party, which ended with its split, about which V. I. Lenin wrote: "The Party of the Italian Socialist Proletariat, having removed the syndicalists and right-wing reformists from its ranks, has taken the right path." 4 The book also leaves out the collapse of Giolitti's "liberal course", which was undermined by a wave of workers ' strikes.

Two more general comments. It is well known that the beginning of the twentieth century was marked by the policy of bourgeois reformism in such countries as England (D. Lloyd George), the USA (W. Wilson), and Italy (G. Giolitti). In such a" problematic " work as C. F. Misiano's monograph, a comparative description of bourgeois reformism and identification of the specifics of Giolittian reformism in its relation to the active Italian labor movement at the beginning of the XX century would be appropriate. Finally, the author too lapidarily touched upon the origins of the Catholic movement and its transformation into a mass movement by the end of the XIX century, when the first Christian-democratic organizations were created as a counterweight to the socialist ones.

4 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 21, p. 409.

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