Establishment San Marino is a
European microstate, the third smallest in Europe, with an area of just 61 square kilometers (24 square miles). Despite its small size and tiny population, the tiny nation — wholly surrounded by
Italy — was the home of a
communist political party from 1921, the Communist Party of San Marino, , or PCS. The organization was established as a section of the
Communist Party of Italy (PCI). The party's first two decades were spent in the political underground, as San Marino was dominated, like Italy, by the
fascist movement in the form of the
Sammarinese Fascist Party, which held all 60 of the seats in the country's
unicameral parliament from the election of 1923 until the end of the
Second World War in 1945. The party was refounded in 1940 under the leadership of
Ermenegildo Gasperoni (1906–1994).
Period of coalition government The PCS was a governing party of San Marino in coalition with the
Socialist Party of San Marino (PSSM) from 1945 until March 1957.
Crisis of 1957 Following events in the
Eastern Bloc in 1956, some of the socialist deputies abandoned the coalition. On September 18, 1957, the coalition lost its majority when a socialist deputy crossed over to the opposition, reducing the number of pro-coalition deputies to 29. The tenure of the assembly ended on October 1, 1957, placing the government in constitutional limbo. The Christian Democratic deputies refused to attend session; instead, they occupied a factory in Rovereta and set up a provisional government there. The Italian and U.S. government pledged support to the provisional government, whilst the communist-socialist coalition (with support of Italian communists) sought to resist the attempt to establish a provisional government.
Years of opposition After the failed attempt at a coup in 1957, the PCS remained an opposition party in San Marino, excluded from the government coalition. The new non-communist government won reelection in September 1959, with the PCS's parliamentary delegation falling to 16 members, joined by 8 Socialists.
Return to government In 1978 the PCS returned to government as part of a coalition with the Socialist Party and a new organization formed three years earlier, the
Unitary Socialist Party (PSU). This made San Marino in 1978 the only country in
Western Europe with a Communist Party as a participant in a governing coalition. These were joined by 9 Socialists, and 8 members of the SUP — a total of 32 of the 60 seats as part of a new Communist-Socialist unity government. This body selected a 10-member Executive Committee from its ranks to handle daily party governance. Barulli was replaced in turn as General Secretary by
Gilberto Ghiotti in 1984, with Ghiotti remaining in power until the end of the party in 1990. The party's former hammer-and-sickle logo was dropped at this time, replaced by a drawing of a dove by
Pablo Picasso. == Congresses ==