Antonio Gramsci

Letter to Palmiro Togliatti

1926
Source: Gramsci a Roma, Togliatti a Mosca, edited by Chiara Daniele. Giulio Einaudi Editore,
Turin, 1999
Translated: by !itchell Abidor
Co"y#e$t: Creati%e Commons &Attribute ' ShareAli(e) mar*ists.or+ 2,,-.
.ctober 26, 1926
Dearest Ercoli:
/ recei%ed your letter o$ the 10th. /1m res"ondin+ on a "ersonal basis, thou+h satis$ied that /
e*"ress the o"inion o$ the other comrades.
2our letter seems to me too abstract and schematic in its reasonin+. .ur "oint o$ de"arture 3
4hich seems to me to be accurate 3 is that in our countries there e*ist not only "arties 3
understood as technical or+ani5ations 3 but also the +reat 4or(in+ masses, "olitically strati$ied
in a contradictory 4ay, but on a 4hole inclinin+ to4ards unity. Amon+ the most ener+i5in+
elements o$ the unitary "rocess is the e*istence o$ the 6SS7, combined 4ith the real acti%ity o$
the C86SS7 and the 4ide9s"read con%iction that the 6SS7 is on the road to socialism. /nso$ar
as our "arties re"resent the entire com"le* o$ acti%ities o$ the 6SS7 they ha%e a determinin+
in$luence on all "olitical strata, re"resentin+ the unitary tendency "ro+ressin+ on a historical
terrain $undamentally $a%orable, des"ite the contrary su"erstructures.
:ut there1s no need to belie%e that this element, 4hich ma(es o$ the C86SS7 the most "otent
mass or+ani5er that has e%er a""eared in history, has already ac;uired a stable and decisi%e
$orm: on the contrary. /t is still unstable. <e shouldn1t $or+et that the 7ussian 7e%olution has
already been in e*istence $or nine years, and that its current acti%ity is an amal+amation o$
"artial "olitical and +o%ernmental acts that only a hi+hly de%elo"ed theoretical and "olitical
consciousness can +ras" as a 4hole and in its o%erall mo%ement to4ards socialism. =ot only
$or the +reat laborin+ masses, but $or a notable "art o$ the members o$ the 4estern "arties 3
4ho are di$$erentiated $rom the masses only by the radical initial ste" to4ards a de%elo"ed
"olitical consciousness 4hich is entry into the 8arty 3 the o%erall mo%ement o$ the 7uss. 7e%.
is concretely re"resented by the $act that the 7ussian "arty ad%ances in a unitary $ashion that
the re"resentati%e men that the masses (no4 and ha%e +otten used to (no4in+ 4or( and mo%e
$or4ard to+ether. The ;uestion o$ unity, not only o$ the 7.8., but o$ the #eninist nucleus, is
there$ore a ;uestion o$ the +reatest im"ortance on an international le%el. And from the point of
view of the masses this is the also the most im"ortant ;uestion in this historical "eriod o$ an
intensi$ied, inconsistent "rocess to4ards unity.
/t is "ossible and "robable that unity can1t be "reser%ed, at least in the $orm it 4as in the "ast. /t
is also true that nonetheless the 4orld 4ill not colla"se, and that it is necessary to "re"are the
comrades and the masses $or the ne4 situation. This doesn1t ta(e a4ay $rom that 4hich is our
absolute obli+ation, 4hich is to ener+etically dra4 to the attention o$ the "olitical
consciousness o$ the 7ussian comrades the dan+ers and 4ea(nesses that their attitudes are
about to cause. <e1d be "oor and irres"onsible re%olutionaries i$ 4e "assi%ely allo4ed the
$ul$illin+ o$ a fait accompli by >usti$yin+ their necessity a priori.
That the $ul$illin+ o$ such an obli+ation on our "art 4ould 3 in a subordinate 4ay 3 also be
use$ul to the .""osition should only 4orry us u" to a certain "oint. /n $act, it is our ob>ecti%e to
contribute to the creatin+ and maintainin+ o$ a unitary "lan in 4hich the di%erse tendencies and
"ersonalities could +ather and meld to+ether ideolo+ically as 4ell. :ut / don1t thin( that in our
letter 3 4hich ob%iously must be read in its entirety and not in bits and "ieces 3 there is the
least dan+er o$ 4ea(enin+ the "osition o$ the ma>ority o$ the CC. /n any case, ta(in+ into
account the "ossibility o$ such an a""earance, in an attached letter /1%e authori5ed you to
modi$y the $orm. 2ou can ;uite 4ell se"arate the t4o "arts and "lace our a$$irmation o$ the
?res"onsibility@ o$ the .""osition at the be+innin+ our a$$irmation. This mode o$ reasonin+ o$
yours has made a %ery distressin+ im"ression on me.
And /1d li(e to say to you there is not in us the least shado4 o$ alarmism, but only a 4ell9
thou+ht out and cold re$lection. <e are sure that in no 4ay 4ill the 4orld colla"se. :ut it
seems to me that it 4ould be $oolish to mo%e $or4ard only i$ the 4orld were about to colla"se.
=e%ertheless, no "hrases s"o(en can turn us $rom the idea that 4e are $ollo4in+ the correct line
3 the #eninist line 3 in the 4ay 4e consider the 7ussian ;uestion. The #eninist line consists in
$i+htin+ $or the unity o$ the 8., but not only $or e*ternal unity, but $or a unity a bit more
intimate, one that consists in there not bein+ in the 8. t4o "olitical lines com"letely di%er+ent
on all ;uestions . <hen dealin+ 4ith thin+s ha%in+ to do 4ith the ideolo+ical and "olitical
direction o$ the /ntern., 4ith that 4hich concerns the he+emony o$ the "rolet., that is the social
content o$ the state, not only in our countries, but also in 7ussia, the unity o$ the 8. is the
e*istential condition.
2ou con$use the international as"ects o$ the 7ussian Auestion 3 4hich are a re$lection o$ the
historical $act o$ the ties o$ the laborin+ masses 4ith the $irst socialist state 3 and the "roblems
o$ international or+ani5ation in the area o$ unions and "olitics. The t4o orders o$ $act are
strictly coordinated, but ne%ertheless distinct. The di$$iculties that are encountered, and 4hich
4ere constituted on the most restricted or+ani5ational le%el, de"end on the $luctuations
occurrin+ on the lar+er "lain o$ the idea s"read amon+ the masses o$ the reduction o$ the
"resti+e o$ the 7.8. in some "o"ular areas. As a method 4e ha%e only sou+ht to s"ea( o$ the
more +eneral as"ects. <e 4anted to a%oid $allin+ into the scholasticism 4hich too o$ten
sur$aces in some documents o$ other "arties, and that remo%e all seriousness $rom their
inter%entions.
/t thus isn1t true 3 as you say 3 that 4e are too o"timistic about the real :olshe%i5ation o$ the
4estern 8. The "rocess o$ :olshe%i5ation is so slo4 and di$$icult that e%ery obstacle, ho4e%er
small, sto"s it or slo4s it do4n. The 7ussian discussion and the ideolo+y o$ the .""ositions
"lay a +reater role in this slo4in+ do4n and haltin+ inso$ar as the .""ositions re"resent in
7ussia all the old "re>udices o$ class cor"oratism and syndicalism that 4ei+h on the traditions
o$ the 4estern "roletariat and slo4 do4n their ideolo+ical and "olitical de%elo"ment. .ur
remar(s 4ere totally a+ainst the .""ositions. /t1s true that the crises o$ the 8. and also o$ the
7.8. are lin(ed to the ob>ecti%e situation, but 4hat does that meanB 8erha"s that 4e should thus
end the stru++le and sto" our e$$orts to $a%orably modi$y the sub>ecti%e elements. :ut
:olshe%ism also consists "recisely in (ee"in+ one1s head and in bein+ ideolo+ically and
"olitically $irm in di$$icult situations as 4ell. 2our remar( is thus idle and %oid o$ any %alue,
li(e that contained in "oint C, since 4e s"o(e o$ the +reat masses and ob%iously not o$ the
"roletarian %an+uard. Subordinately, there$ore, the di$$iculty also e*ists $or this, 4hich is not an
idle ;uestion but is tied to the masses and it e*ists all the more inso$ar as re$ormism 3 4ith its
tendency to4ards class cor"oratism: that is to say to the non9com"rehension o$ the leadin+ role
o$ the %an+uard, a role 4e must "reser%e e%en at the "rice o$ sacri$ices 3 is much better rooted
in the 4est than it 4as in 7ussia. 2ou $or+ot the technical conditions in 4hich the 4or( o$
many "arties de%elo"ed, 4hich don1t "ermit the di$$usion o$ the most ele%ated theoretical
;uestions other than in small circles o$ 4or(ers. All o$ your reasonin+ is corru"ted by
?bureaucratism:@ today, nine years a$ter .ctober 191- it is no lon+er the fact of the seizing of
power by the Bolsheviks 4hich can re%olutioni5e the 4estern masses 3 because this has already
been ta(en into account and has "roduced its e$$ects today ideolo+ically and "olitically the
con%iction is acti%e &i$ it e*ists) that once "o4er is sei5ed the "roletariat can construct
socialism. The authority o$ the 8. is lin(ed to this con%iction, 4hich can1t be inculcated in the
+reat masses 4ith scholastic "eda+o+ical methods, but only throu+h re%olutionary "eda+o+y,
that is by the political fact that the 7.8. is its entirety is "ersuaded and $i+hts unitarily.
/1m sincerely sorry that our letter 4asn1t understood by you in the $irst "lace, and that you, on
the outline o$ my "ersonal letter didn1t see( to better understand. .ur letter 4as in its entirety a
re;uisition a+ainst the .""ositions one not done in dema+o+ic terms, and "recisely $or this
reason more e$$ecti%e and serious. / as( you to include 4ith the "roceedin+s, aside $rom the
/talian te*t o$ the letter and my "ersonal letter, this one as 4ell.
Cordial +reetin+s.
Antonio