"Original Errors"

No barbs from their domestic enemies have stung Italy's Christian Democratic politicians so much as recent stories in the U.S. press about the menace of Communism in Italy. Most resentful of all was Party Chief Alcide de Gasperi, who considered the reports exaggerated--many of them were--as well as reflections on his eight years as Italy's postwar Premier.

Communism's strong foothold in Italy today, commented De Gasperi testily, grew largely out of "the Roosevelt climate" and Allied policy at the end of World War II. Last week, at the behest of the United Press correspondent in Rome, De Gasperi explained:

"Common and perhaps inevitable errors were committed in the conduct of the war in Italy . . . It seems to me above all that the initial error was that of under-evaluating the Italian campaign, neglecting its political consequences . . . Churchill . . . announced . . . that in the case of a victorious breakthrough in the Po Valley, the Allies would drive towards Vienna . . . But Roosevelt and his counselors did not have the same vision of the political importance of this strategy, and the withdrawal . . . of several divisions from the Army of Italy for the landings on the French Riviera so weakened the Army that Northern Italy could not be liberated for eight months . . . When the collapse of German resistance finally occurred in the spring, it was too late: the Russian armies had occupied Vienna, Hungary and the Balkans, Tito was installed in Istria as far as Trieste, and in Italy Communism had time and opportunity to present itself as an ally of democracy and a factor in national independence.

"Inside Italy in the first period after the war, we had to collaborate with the Communists just as the Western Allies were collaborating with Russia . . . Allied authorities in Italy favored the insertion of proCommunists into the new administrative setup. At that time, was the hope for a democratic evolution of Communism in Italy exaggerated? Certainly. But was this surprising when this was also the international climate? . . . Thus the evil totalitarian plant had time to grow roots, watering itself on illusions and false hopes.

"In a later postwar stage, certainly the contribution of the U.S. to the economic reconstruction of Europe and in particular of Italy had decisive value in maintaining the free regime, and it is just that this should be recognized . . . but no one can pretend that this entirely annulled the consequences of the original errors."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.