Skip to content
— CH. 1 · THE JOURNALIST'S COINING —

Eurocommunism

~4 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
6 sections

  • In the summer of 1975, a Croatian journalist named Frane Barbieri published an article in Belgrade's NIN news magazine. He used the word Eurocommunism to describe a new political trend emerging across Western Europe. This specific moment marked the first known written use of the term by a professional journalist. Before this point, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Arrigo Levi had also been credited with inventing the phrase. Jean-François Revel later mocked these debates, noting that political scientists loved searching for the single author of such labels. The concept itself described parties seeking greater independence from Moscow while operating within democratic systems. Outside Western Europe, observers sometimes called this movement neocommunism instead.

  • A demonstration took place in Helsinki against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. Nicolae Ceaușescu gave a speech in Bucharest explicitly declaring his support for Alexander Dubček and the Czechoslovak leadership. The Italian Communist Party and the Communist Party of Spain firmly denounced the occupation that followed. The French Communist Party publicly criticized a Soviet action for the first time in its history during this period. Romania's leader stood alone among Eastern Bloc nations in rejecting the military intervention. While the Portuguese Communist Party and the South African Communist Party supported the Soviet position, others began to drift away. The crushing of the Prague Spring became a turning point for the communist world as a whole.

  • Giorgio Napolitano served as a prominent figure within the Italian Communist Party until 1991 before becoming President of Italy. Aimo Aaltonen held the leadership post of the Finnish Communist Party until 1965 when he was replaced by trade unionist Aarne Saarinen. A picture of Lavrentiy Beria hung in Aaltonen's office before the change occurred. The Finnish People's Democratic League also changed its leadership with reformist Ele Alenius taking charge. Taisto Sinisalo led a hard-line faction known as Taistoism that split from the main party. In 1984, Eurocommunists expelled the hard-line organizations from the weakened party after gaining a strong majority. Santiago Carrillo wrote Eurocommunism and the State in 1977 while participating in Spain's transition from dictatorship. The Spanish PCE developed liberal possibilist politics during the Spanish Civil War era.

  • Antonio Gramsci wrote extensively about Marxist theory which questioned the sectarianism of the left. Perry Anderson identified these writings as the main theoretical foundation for Eurocommunist strategy. Gramsci encouraged communist parties to develop social alliances to win hegemonic support for social reforms. Early inspirations can also be found in Austro-Marxism and the democratic road to socialism. Eurocommunist parties expressed their fidelity to democratic institutions more clearly than before. They attempted to widen their appeal by embracing public sector middle-class workers. New social movements such as feminism and gay liberation gained prominence within these groups. The movement did not go as far as the Anglosphere-centred New Left movement which abandoned traditional institutions.

  • Enrico Berlinguer met with Santiago Carrillo and Georges Marchais in Madrid in 1977 to lay out fundamental lines. This gathering established the new way that would define the movement across Europe. The Italian Communist Party refused to support the Soviet invasion of Prague in 1968. A declaration regarding the march toward socialism was made in peace and freedom in 1975. Enrico Berlinguer spoke of a pluralistic system in Moscow in front of 5,000 communist delegates. He described intentions to build a socialism necessary and possible only in Italy. Prominent parties influenced by this trend outside of Europe included the Israeli Communist Party and the Japanese Communist Party. Mikhail Gorbachev later referred to Eurocommunism as a key influence on glasnost and perestroika in his memoirs.

  • Ernest Mandel wrote From Stalinism to Eurocommunism: The Bitter Fruits of Socialism in One Country to attack the movement. He viewed Eurocommunists as nationalist movements who abandoned internationalism alongside the Soviet Union. Enver Hoxha published Eurocommunism is Anti-Communism to argue that the trend resulted from Nikita Khrushchev's policy of peaceful coexistence. Henry Kissinger warned that a West European communist ruled country might lead to total redefinition of the post-World War II order. Critics alleged that Eurocommunist parties showed a lack of courage in breaking off from the Soviet Union definitively. The Italian Communist Party took this step in 1981 after the repression of Solidarność in Poland. Many critics observed that these parties always claimed to be different while remaining very similar to social democracy or Soviet communism.

Common questions

Who first used the word Eurocommunism in a professional journal?

Frane Barbieri published an article using the term Eurocommunism in Belgrade's NIN news magazine during the summer of 1975. This specific moment marked the first known written use of the word by a professional journalist.

When did the Italian Communist Party refuse to support the Soviet invasion of Prague?

The Italian Communist Party refused to support the Soviet invasion of Prague in 1968. This refusal occurred after Nicolae Ceaușescu gave a speech in Bucharest declaring his support for Alexander Dubček and the Czechoslovak leadership.

What year did Enrico Berlinguer meet Santiago Carrillo and Georges Marchais in Madrid?

Enrico Berlinguer met with Santiago Carrillo and Georges Marchais in Madrid in 1977 to lay out fundamental lines for the movement. This gathering established the new way that would define Eurocommunism across Europe.

Which leader held the Finnish Communist Party until 1965 before being replaced by Aarne Saarinen?

Aimo Aaltonen held the leadership post of the Finnish Communist Party until 1965 when he was replaced by trade unionist Aarne Saarinen. Taisto Sinisalo later led a hard-line faction known as Taistoism that split from the main party.

Who wrote From Stalinism to Eurocommunism: The Bitter Fruits of Socialism in One Country?

Ernest Mandel wrote From Stalinism to Eurocommunism: The Bitter Fruits of Socialism in One Country to attack the movement. He viewed Eurocommunists as nationalist movements who abandoned internationalism alongside the Soviet Union.

See all questions about Eurocommunism →

All sources

30 references cited across the entry

  1. 1bookIn Search of EurocommunismMacmillan Press — 1981
  2. 2bookWhich Socialism, Whose Détente? : West European Communism and the Czechoslovak Crisis of 1968Maud Bracke — Central European University Press — 2007
  3. 3journalThe Myths of EurocommunismJean-François Revel — 1978
  4. 4dictionaryDefinition of EurocommunismMerriam-Webster
  5. 5magazineThe Antinomies of Antonio GramsciPerry Anderson — 1976
  6. 6journalThe Quandary of Multiple States as an Internal and External Limit to Marxist Thought: From Poulantzas to KarataniBaraneh Emadian — 2019-01-02
  7. 7journalEurocommunism as Current Events and Contemporary History: A Critical BibliographySarah Bernstein et al. — 1 May 1980
  8. 8magazineNicos Poulantzas Was a Vital Theorist of Democratic SocialismClyde W. Barrow — 24 January 2023
  9. 9magazineThe Verbal Revolution. How the Prague Spring broke world communism's main springChristopher Hitchens — 25 August 2008
  10. 10webThe Effects of the Prague Spring in EuropeErkki Tuomioja — 2008
  11. 11webWestern CPs Condemn Invasion, Hail Prague SpringKevin Devlin — Blinken Open Society Archives
  12. 12webProfiliert, aber kaum populärHeinz Gstrein — 14 July 1978
  13. 13bookDangerous Citizens: The Greek Left and the Terror of the StateNeni Panourgiá — Fordham University Press — 2009
  14. 14webKai Hirvasnoro - Juttuarkisto: Ele Aleniuksen haastattelu
  15. 15bookRadical Left Parties in EuropeLuke March — Routledge — 2012
  16. 16journalEurocommunism: Between East and WestKevin Devlin — 1979
  17. 17webPolitical and Pressure GroupsMagill — 2 October 1977
  18. 18bookForging Democracy: The History of the Left in Europe, 1850-2000George Eley — Oxford University Press — 2002
  19. 19bookThe Russian Revolution and the Danish Labour MovementMorten Thing — 1989
  20. 20bookParties and Party Systems in Liberal DemocraciesEric S. Einhorn et al. — Taylor & Francis — 2023
  21. 21webJef Turf. Een politieke identiteit van een communist. Hoofdstuk 3: De activiteiten van Turf 1970-1980Susan De Coninck — 2002
  22. 22magazineThe Italian road to SocialismGiorgio Amendola — November–December 1977
  23. 23bookAtlantic, Euratlantic or Europe-America?: The Atlantic Community and the European Idea from Kennedy to NixonLaura Fasanaro — Soleb — 2011
  24. 24bookA History of Modern IsraelColin Shindler — Cambridge University Press — 2013
  25. 25bookThe Mexican Left, the Popular Movements, and the Politics of AusterityBerry Carr — 1986
  26. 26bookSelected Writings on the State and the Transition to SocialismNikolai Bukharin — M. E. Sharpe — 1982
  27. 27webEl PCE recupera el leninismo al cumplirse el centenario de la Revolución de Octubre3 December 2017
  28. 28journalE. H. Carr — A Personal MemoirTamara Deutscher — January–February 1983
  29. 29webEurocommunism is Anti-CommunismEnver Hoxha — 1980
  30. 30bookThe Cambridge History of the Cold WarSilvio Pons — Cambridge University Press — 2010