A Little Matter of Castling

Last week the balance of political power in Italy suddenly swung to the Left. This was due not so much to Italy's difficulties, although since the fall of Mussolini lire circulation has doubled, the Italian national debt quadrupled (according to the British Ministry of Economic Warfare). It is due mainly to the passage of time which has given the muddied political waters of invaded Italy a chance to clarify. From political confusion some political groups began to settle out.

Shrewd Palmiro Togliatti, Russian-trained leader of Italy's Communists, and cautious Pietro Nenni, secretary general of the Socialists, sat down chummily, hatched an "alliance" of their two parties--a new version of the Popular Front. The surprise move gave them Italy's biggest bloc of voters, bigger than the important Christian Democrats (Catholic Centrist Party).

Said the Socialist Avanti: "We want to hurry up and strengthen the vast movement of union among the working classes and to isolate through counteraction the Fascist minority and reactionary forces behind the scenes."

Said the Communist Unit a: "All honest Italians bound to the working classes and . . . the Catholic intellectuals who are . . . guiding the Christian Democrats, are urged to collaborate with us."

Almost at once, alarmed Italian monarchists and republicans launched a heavy, attack on the Communist-supported coalition cabinet of Liberal Premier Ivanoe Bonomi, threatened to overthrow it.

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