The Manifesto of 101

Following the Soviet invasion of Hungary in October 1956, the Budapest uprising and its ruthless repression by the U.S.S.R. Red Army, a document expressing strong dissent from the Soviets was subscribed by 101 Italian Communist intellectuals. The document (known as "Il Manifesto dei 101"- "The Manifesto of 101") was drafted by philosopher Lucio Colletti, historians Luciano Cafagna, Alberto Caracciolo and Francesco Sirugo, all Italian_Communist_Party (P.C.I.) members, co-signed by 97 more intellectuals, among whom was historian Renzo De Felice and strongly endorsed by Antonio Giolitti, P.C.I. leading personality and member of parliament. The "manifesto", submitted to the Direction Bureau of the P.C.I. with the intent of initiating an internal debate on the Budapest events, was leaked to the press and provoked a brutal reaction by the Party’s leadership and the Direction Bureau; any debate attempt was rejected while the document's authors, labelled as "traitors", were threatened with heavy political consequences. First worried by the public diffusion of the "manifesto" then more seriously intimidated by the Party leadership's reaction, a few of the signatories retracted their adhesion while others, who refused to do so, resigned. MP Antonio Giolitti left the following year, in 1957. This episode of dissent will be followed by a more general re-thinking on the legitimacy of Communism and its compatibility with democracy and intellectual freedom. Among the Manifesto's promoters, some (Cafagna, De Felice, Sirugo, Colletti) will end up, although at different stages, cutting ideological ties with Communism for the rest of their lives.