Ekaterina P. Naumova

The article is a study of the role and importance of the Italian Action Party (Partito d’Azione, PdA) in the formation of the country's managerial elite. The article analyzes the most significant aspects of the PdA's activities that influenced the political processes of Italy during the period of armed resistance against fascism and Nazism, as well as in the first post-war years, when the legal foundations of the country's democratic development were laid. The author tried to determine the degree of involvement of the PdA and its leaders in the political life of the country. He deliberately introduced into the text of the article a large number of names – representatives of the intellectual elite, who are widely known in Italy. The author concludes that the PdA had a great impact on the professional competence and effectiveness of the party, political and managerial elite of Italy in the 40s, as well as on the formation of a new intellectual and ideological elite of the country.

The article presents a study of the role of the press as the primary tool for organizational development and ideological consolidation of the Action Party (Partito d’Azione, PdA) in Italy during its formative period (1942–1944).

The first part details the party's historical origins, its organizational formation within the left wing of the anti-fascist movement, and the creation of its official printed organ—the newspaper “L’Italia Libera” (January 1943). The article analyzes the key functions of the party press (informational, mobilizational, ideological, organizational-coordinating, and consolidating) and the methods of underground publishing that allowed it to adapt to the conditions of secrecy, repression, war, and resource scarcity: a decentralized network of printing houses, “safe houses,” a strict secrecy regime, and a specialized editorial team. Based on archival materials, the PD's programmatic statements, memoirs, and underground publications, the authors demonstrate how “L’Italia Libera” shaped the party's ideological image, heroized its fighters, debunked the myths of the fascist regime, and proposed an alternative for Italy's post-war political structure. The research emphasizes that the printed organ became the main tool for the PD's organizational development, contributing to its transformation into one of the leading forces of the Italian Resistance.