Unitary Socialist Party (Italy, 1949)
The Unitary Socialist Party (Italian: Partito Socialista Unitario; PSU) was a social-democratic political party in Italy that existed from 1949 to 1951.
Unitary Socialist Party Partito Socialista Unitario | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Giuseppe Romita |
| Founded | December 7, 1949 |
| Dissolved | May 1, 1951 |
| Merger of | Right-wing of the PSI Part of Union of Socialists Left-wing of the PSLI |
| Merged into | Socialist Party (Italian Section of the Socialist International) |
| Ideology | Social democracy |
| Political position | Left |
| International affiliation | Socialist International |
| Colours | Red |
The party was founded by moderate members of the Italian Socialist Party, who had unsuccessfully tried to stop the collaboration of their former party with the Italian Communist Party, and some leftist members of the Italian Socialist Workers' Party (Partito Socialista dei Lavoratori Italiani; PSLI), who sought a rupture with Italian Christian Democracy and NATO. The party was led by a former Minister of Interior, Giuseppe Romita.
There were 15 MPs who joined the party.
The goal of the party, which considered itself as transitional, was to reunite all Italian Socialists in order to overrun both the Communists and the Christian Democrats. The project had strong international support through the Socialist International: the French SFIO and the British Labour Party, at that time both in government, liked the idea of their Italian counterpart defeating parties funded by the USSR and the United States respectively.
However, the project was undoubtedly too ambitious, and it quickly stalled. On 1 May 1951, the party fused with the PSLI, led by Giuseppe Saragat, to give birth to the Italian Democratic Socialist Party (Partito Socialista Democratico Italiano; PSDI).
