group system, the development of the
_partiti populari_ which compose collectively the Extreme Left, i.e.,
the Republicans, the Radicals, and the Socialists, is an interesting
political phenomenon.[575] The Republicans are not numerous or well
organized. Quite impotent between 1870 and 1890, they gained no little
ground during the struggle against Crispi; but the rise of socialism
has weakened them, and the party may now be said to be distinctly in
decline. To employ the expressive phrase of the Italians, the
Republicans are but _quattro noci in un sacco_, four nuts rattling in
a bag. The Radicals are stronger, and their outlook is much more
promising. They are monarchists who are dissatisfied with the
misgovernment of the older parties, but who distrust socialism. They
draw especially from the artisans and lower middle class, and are
strongest in Lombardy, Venetia, and Tuscany.

[Footnote 575: For an exposition of party
conditions during the past decade see A. Labrioli,
Storia di dieci anni, 1899-1909 (Milan, 1910).]

*443. The Rise of Socialism.*--In not a few respects the master fact of
Italian politics to-day is the remarkable growth of the Socialist
party. The origins of the socialist movement in Italy may be traced to
the Congress of Rimini in 1872, but during a considerable period
Italian socialism was scarcely distinguishable from Bakuninian
anarchism, and it was not before 1890 that the line between the two
was drawn with precision. In 1891 was founded the collectivist journal
_Critica Sociale_, and in the same year was held the first Italian
congress which was distinctively socialist. In 1892 came the final
break with the anarchists, and since this date socialism in Italy (p. 400)
has differed in no essential particulars from its counterpart in
other countries. Between 1891 and 1893 the new party was allied with
the Right, but Crispi's relentless policy of repression in 1894 had
the effect of driving gradually the radical groups, Republicans,
Radicals, and Socialists, into co-operation, and it is to this period
that the origins of the present coalition of the groups of the Extreme
Left are to be traced. During the years 1895-1900 the Socialists
assumed definitely the position of the advanced wing of a great
parliamentary party, with a very definite programme of political and
social reform. This "minimum programme," as it was gradually given
shape, cam