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Neo-Fascist and Far Left Terrorists in Italy: Some Biographical Observations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2009

Leonard Weinberg  and
William Lee Eubank
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Extract

In recent years a good deal of concern has been expressed about the phenomenon of political terrorism in Italy. The mass media have directed our attention to spectacular acts of international terrorism committed on Italian soil by groups, largely from the Middle East, which have used the country as a teatro in which to stage their operations against targets of opportunity. Scholars and journalists have also drawn our attention to the problem of domestic terrorism. The kidnapping and assassination of the former Prime Minister Aldo Moro in 1978 may serve as the most dramatic example. It seems fair to say that much of this publicity has been focused on the Left. The attempts by various leftist groups, the Red Brigades (BR), Front Line (PL), Worker Autonomy (AO) and others, to use terrorist violence as a means of bringing about a Communist revolution was a source of apprehension in the Western world from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. Allegations that the revolutionary groups were aided by the Soviets or other Warsaw Pact nations, as part of an effort to destabilize the Western democracies, did much to heighten the concern.

Type
Notes and Comments
Information
British Journal of Political Science , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , October 1988 , pp. 531 - 549
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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References

1 Pasquino, Gianfranco, ‘Differenze e Somiglianze: Per Una Ricerca Sul Terrorismo Italiano’, in della Porta, Donatella and Pasquino, Gianfranco, eds, Terrorismo e violenza politica (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1983), pp. 239–40.Google Scholar

2 See for example, Wasmund, Klaus, ‘The Political Socialization of West German Terrorists’, in Merkl, Peter, ed., Political Violence and Terror (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986), pp. 191–228Google Scholar; Russell, Charles A. and Miller, Bowman H., ‘Profile of A Terrorist’, in Freedman, Lawrence and Alexander, Yonah, eds, Perspectives on Terrorism (Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 1983), pp. 45–60Google Scholar; Rubenstein, Richard E., Alchemists of Revolution (New York: Basic Books, 1987), pp. 65–85.Google Scholar

3 Hoffman, Bruce, Right-Wing Terrorism in Europe (Santa Monica, Calif.: Rand Corporation, 1984), pp. 15–20Google Scholar; Merkl, Peter, ‘Rollerball or Neo-Nazi Violence?’Google Scholar in Merkl, , ed., Political Violence and Terror, pp. 229–55Google Scholar; Zimmerman, Ekkart, ‘Terrorist Violence in West Germany: Some Reflections on Recent Literature’ (a paper presented at the XIII World Congress of the International Political Science Association, Paris, 1985)Google Scholar; and Weinberg, Leonard, ‘The Radical Right and Varieties of Right-Wing Politics in The United States’ (a paper presented at the tenth annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology, San Francisco, 1987).Google Scholar

4 It is true that Italy has French, Austrian and Slovenian minorities located in regions (Val d'Aosta, Trentino–Alto Adige, Friuli–Venezia Giulia) that enjoy certain constitutional protections. But these groups are hardly comparable in size or cultural background to the millions of extra-European immigrants or guest workers from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia to be found in West Germany and France.

5 Sartori, Giovanni, ‘European Political Parties: The Case of Polarized Pluralism’, in LaPalombara, Joseph and Weiner, Myron, eds, Political Parties and Political Development (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1966), pp. 137–76.Google Scholar

6 For a history of the MSI see Rosenbaum, Petra, Il nuovo fascismo (Milan: Feltrinelli, 1975)Google Scholar; and Weinberg, Leonard, After Mussolini (Washington, DC: University Press of America, 1979).Google Scholar

7 Quoted in Salierno, Giulio, Autobiografia di un picchiatore fascista (Turin: Einaudi editore, 1976). p. 86.Google Scholar

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11 See the report of Tina Anselmi, President of the parliamentary investigating committee on Propaganda Due. published as a special supplement, Il complotto di Licio Gelli in L'Espresso, 20 05 1984, pp. 37–43.Google Scholar

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13 The newspapers from which the information was obtained were La Stampa and La Repubblica. The court records include: Luigi Gennaro, Guidice Istruttore, Ordinanza/Sentenza N 2736/80A (Tribunale di Roma); di Firenze, Corte D'Assise D'Apello, Sentenza (12 12 1978)Google Scholar, Sentenza (9 04 1976)Google Scholar, and Sentenza (11 11 1977)Google Scholar. These records provided biographical information about some members of Third Position, New Order, National Vanguard and the National Revolutionary Front.

14 The newspaper accounts were taken once again from La Stampa and La Repubblica. The court records from which information was obtained were as follows: Francesco Amato, Giudice Istruttore, Ordinanza/Sentenza N/1067/79, Tribunale di Roma; Giudice Istruttore, Sentenza/Ordinanza 231/83, Tribunale Civile E Penale di Milano; Giudice Istruttore, Ordinanza N228/81, Tribunale Civile E Penale di Milano; Publicco Ministero, Requisitoria N921/80F, Procura della Repubblica in Milano; Ferdinando Imposimato, Giudice Istruttore, Ordinanza/Sentenza N 54/80A, Tribunale di Roma; Giudice Istruttore, Ordinanza/Sentenza 490/81F, Tribunal Civile E Penale di Milano; di Torino, Corte D'Assise, Sentenza N 17/81 (28 07 1981)Google Scholar; Di Milano, Corte D'Assise D'Appello, Sentenza N 70/80 (9 04 1981)Google Scholar; and di Firenze Sentenza, Corte D/Assise (24 04 1983).Google Scholar

15 De Felice, Renzo, Mussolini il fascista: la conquista del potere (Turin: Einaudi editore, 1966), p. 7.Google Scholar