Between Europeanism and Third-Worldism: Purtugal and Carnation revolution viewed by Italian left.

di Filippo Frangioni
in Memoria e Ricerca n.s. 44 (2013), p. 143

On the 25 April of 1974 the Carnation revolution overthrew the Portuguese authoritarian dictatorship: an unexpected revolution for the European left, including the Italian left. This article deals with the relevance of Portuguese events for the Italian left political cultures, especially the Communist party, the Socialist party and a New Left group, Lotta Continua. The different points of view on the Portuguese revolution – the consequences of decolonization, the European integration process, the dilemmas of Détente and Cold War – caused an overlapping of patterns and interpretations. It is proposed to observe this process by following a continuous oscillation between Europeanism and Third Worldism. Keywords: Italian left, Portugal, Europeanism, Third-Worldism, decolonization, Cold War.