Abstract

This article examines the origins of the Historical Compromise proposal, only partly linked to the reactions to Pinochet’s coup. The proposal for a strategic alliance between the Communist Party (PCI) and the Christian Democrats (DC) in Italy had some electoral success, but divided the left-wing parties. The “national solidarityµ governments were something quite different from the Historical Compromise proposal. And, above all, the analysis of DC – thinking that this party (historically linked to the United States) could abandon its traditional anti-communism – was wrong.