The Italian Socialist Party (PSI) was a socialist political party in Italy that was active from 1892 to 1994. The party was founded in Genoa by Filippo Turati, Andrea Costa, and Anna Kuliscioff, and it initially supported revolutionary socialism, making it a far-left party. After World War I, the party was split between orthodox socialists (who had opposed the war) and supporters of national syndicalism (who had supported the war), the latter of which were expelled, going on to form the National Fascist Party under former PSI leader Benito Mussolini. In 1921, the left-wing of the party also split, forming the Communist Party of Italy. In 1925, after the fascist seizure of power, the PSI and all other parties were banned, and it operated underground until after the end of World War II.
In 1948, the party's alliance with the Italian Communist Party led to its moderate social democratic wing forming the Italian Democratic Socialist Party. In 1956, the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian Revolution put an end to the PSI-PCI alliance, and, starting in 1963, the PSI participated in center-left coalition governments with Christian Democracy, the PSDI, and the Italian Republican Party. These governments established the modern Italian welfare state, but, during the 1960s and 1970s, the PCI grew larger than the PSI. In 1972, it won just 10% of the vote, and it was not until Bettino Craxi became party leader in 1976 that its fortunes began to shift.
Craxi abandoned the party's socialism and working-class roots in favor of turning the PSI into a modern social democratic party that could also appeal to white-collar and public sector employees. The PSI became heavily involved in corruption, illegal party-funding, and big state-owned businesses, and Craxi served as Prime Minister from 1983 to 1987, becoming the PSI's first prime minister.
In 1992, the arrest of Milan party official Mario Chiesa led to the start of an investigation into political corruption, leading to the Tangentopoli scandal. From 1992 to 1993, PSI regional, provincial, and municipal deputies, MPs, mayors, and even ministers were implicated in the scandal, and Craxi was forced to resign as party secretary. From 1992 to 1993, most of the party's members left politics, and three PSI deputies even committed suicide. On 13 November 1994, the party was disbanded due to almost all of its longtime leaders being forced to leave politics. Its immediate successor was the Italian Socialists, but some PSI members joined Forza Italia and The Daisy. The Democratic Party of Italy, founded in 2007, merged together the Democrats of the Left (the former Communist Party) and The Daisy (former Christian Democrats and Socialists), succeeding all of the old parties.
Refoundation[]
The Italian Socialist Party (PSI) was re-founded in 2007 as the merger of the Italian Democratic Socialists, The Italian Socialists, and several minor social democratic parties. Until October 2009, it was simply known as the Socialist Party (PS), but it later renamed itself to the "Italian Socialist Party" to recall the history of the previous PSI. Its strongholds were in southern and central Italy, and it was a minor political party in the country, as many former Socialists were, by that point, members of either Forza Italia or the Democratic Party of Italy, the two main parties in the country. The PSI's strongest support base was Basilicata, where it won 7.5% of the vote in the 2013 regional election. In 2017, the party allied with the Federation of the Greens and Civic Area to contest the 2018 general election, but the list won just .6% of the vote and no seats in the Parliament.
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