Years of Lead: Italy

The Years of Lead was a period of socio-political turmoil in Italy (WP) instigated by the Gladio program, designed to stop Communists from taking power in Italy. As early as 1948, when Italian communists won 40% of the popular vote, Gladio operatives requested an Italian coup to prevent a communist government from being elected. President Truman said no, and the Gladio operatives were forced to seek alternative means of achieving that goal. Their weapon of choice was early on, Nazi party operatives, and later neofascist organizations, which set in motion a wave of bombings and assassinations that grew in frequency until they became noticed by the media in the late 1960s into the early 1980s. The press came up with many names to describe this new phenomenon, among them Anni di piombo, referring to the vast number of bullets fired.

There was widespread social conflict and unprecedented acts of terrorism carried out ostensibly by both right- and left-wing paramilitary groups. Although much of the left-wing violence was false flag (WP) operations carried out by rightwing groups, it seems likely that at least some of them were attacks by real leftists: reprisals inspired by vengeance against the ostensible right wing groups, inspired by the right wing groups' resolve to commit propaganda of the deed (WP), inspired in the same way by the false flag operations, some combination of these, or less well-conceived copycats of these.

Vincenzo Vinciguerra, the Peteano bomber, claims that right wing groups collaborating with Gladio were forbidden to murder any member of any government body, which would mean that the assassinations of single members of government bodies ostensibly leftist were in fact by leftists. However, the very bombing for which he was convicted, as it resulted in the deaths of policemen, was an exception; his explanation was that it was a reprisal against the established Gladio order, for subverting the right-wing's aims. The fact that the right wing operatives of Gladio tended to get away, while Vinciguerra was caught, may be evidence of Gladio's reaction to this diversion from their established order.

Between 1969 and 1981, nearly 2,000 murders were attributed to political violence in the form of bombings, assassinations, and street warfare between rival militant factions. Although political violence has decreased substantially in Italy since that time, instances of sporadic violent crimes continue because of the re-emergence of Wikipedia:anti-immigrant, neo-fascist (WP), and Wikipedia:militant communist |(WP) groups.

The effect on politics, especially leftists, socialists, anarchists, and the communist party in Italy and worldwide can not have been anything other than profound, but at least one direct consequence can be shown. The assassination of the Christian Democratic (DC) leader Wikipedia:Aldo Moro in 1978 ended the strategy of Wikipedia:historic compromise between the DC and the Wikipedia:Italian Communist Party (PCI). The assassination was carried out by the Second Red Brigade, led by Wikipedia:Mario Moretti.

Overview

It was characterized by widespread social conflict and unprecedented acts of terrorism carried out by both right- and left-wing paramilitary groups. An attempt to integrate the Wikipedia:neo-fascist Wikipedia:Italian Social Movement (MSI) into the Tambroni government led to rioting and was short-lived. The Christian Democrats (DC) were instrumental in the Socialist party gaining power in the 1960s and they created a coalition.

The Wikipedia:left-wing Wikipedia:autonomist movement lasted from 1968 until the end of the 1970s. The "years of lead" began with the shooting death of Antonio Annarumma in 1969 and the Wikipedia:Piazza Fontana bombing. These events are attributed to the far-right, the far-left, and the secret services, depending on the source.

The Strategy of Tension

The Wikipedia:strategy of tension (strategia della tensione) was a collusion between foreign and domestic government, secret government, intelligence service and paramilitary groups to, among other things, portray a Wikipedia:state of emergency, a government at the mercy of extremist groups, in order to induce enough fear in the populace that they would accept Wikipedia:emergency laws.

Organizations positively identified as involved included: the United States intelligence services via Gladio, a NATO (WP) secret anti-communist structure; the P2 masonic lodge, discovered in 1981 following the arrest of its leader Wikipedia:Licio Gelli; fascist "black terrorism" organizations such as Ordine Nuovo (WP) or Avanguardia Nazionale and the Italian secret service (SISMI).

Despite repeated denials of its authenticity the existence of several copies of Wikipedia:US Army Field Manual 30-31B, some of them found in possession of key figure of pro-U.S. and far-right eversive figures (such as Wikipedia:Licio Gelli), are hard to discount as fabrications.

This theory re-emerged in the 1990s, following Prime Minister Wikipedia:Giulio Andreotti's recognition of the existence of Gladio before the Parliamentary assembly on 24 October 1990. Juridical investigations into the Piazza Fontana bombing and the Bologna massacre and several parliamentary reports pointed towards such a deliberate strategy of tension. Milan prosecutor Wikipedia:Guido Salvini indicted a U.S. Navy officer, Wikipedia:David Carrett, for his role in the Piazza Fontana bombing. He also surprised Carlo Rocchi, a CIA operative in Italy, in 1995 while searching for information concerning the case in the mid-1990s.

In 2000, a Parliamentary Commission report from the Wikipedia:Olive Tree, a left-of-center coalition, concluded that the strategy of tension had been supported by the United States to "stop the PCI, and to a certain degree also the PSI, from reaching executive power in the country".

Terrorism victims memorial established

On May 4, 2007 the Italian Parliament declared May 9 as a memorial day dedicated to the victims of terrorism. The office of the President, Giorgio Napolitano, presented a book on this occasion, listing the names of the victims of terrorism:

• Per le vittime del terrorismo nell’Italia repubblicana – Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato Libreria dello Stato – Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato S.p.A. – I.S.B.N. 978-88-240-2868-4

Asylum

France

The Wikipedia:Mitterrand doctrine, which was established in 1985 by Wikipedia:François Mitterrand, stated that Italian far-left terrorists who fled to France and who were convicted of violent acts in Italy, excluding "active, actual, bloody terrorism" during the "Years of Lead", would receive asylum and would not be subject to extradition to Italy. They would be integrated into French society.

The act was announce on April 21, 1985, at the 65th Congress of the Human Rights League (LDH), stating that Italian criminals who had given up their violent pasts and had fled to France would be protected from extradition to Italy:

Italian refugees... who took part in terrorist action before 1981... have broken links with the infernal machine in which they participated, have begun a second phase of their lives, have integrated into French society... I told the Italian government that they were safe from any sanction by the means of extradition.

Nicaragua

Some Italian far left activists found political asylum in Wikipedia:Nicaragua.

Chronology

1969

Public protests

Public protests shook Italy during 1969, with the Wikipedia:autonomist student movement particularly active, leading to the occupation of the Wikipedia:Fiat automobile factory in Wikipedia:Milan. Wikipedia:Mario Capanna of the Wikipedia:New Left movement, was prominent at the time, along with members of Wikipedia:Potere Operaio and Wikipedia:Autonomia Operaia (Wikipedia:Antonio Negri, Wikipedia:Oreste Scalzone, Wikipedia:Franco Piperno), and Wikipedia:Lotta Continua (Wikipedia:Adriano Sofri).

Death of Antonio Annarumma

On November 19, 1969, Wikipedia:Antonio Annarumma, a Milanese policeman, was assassinated during a riot of far-left demonstrators. He was the first public official to die in the ensuing wave of violence referred to as "The Years of Bullets".

Piazza Fontana bombing

The Monument to Wikipedia:Victor Emmanuel II, the Wikipedia:Banca Nazionale del Lavoro in Rome and the Wikipedia:Banca Commerciale Italiana and the Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Wikipedia:Milan were bombed in December.

Local police arrested 80 or so suspects from left-wing groups, including Giuseppe Pinelli (WP), an anarchist initially blamed for the bombing, and Wikipedia:Pietro Valpreda. Their guilt was denied by left-wing members, especially by members of the Wikipedia:student movement, then prominent in Milan's universities, as they believed that the bombing was carried out by fascists. Following the death of Giuseppe Pinelli, who "accidentally fell out of a window" on December 15 while in police custody, the radical left-wing newspaper Lotta Continua started a campaign accusing police officer Wikipedia:Luigi Calabresi of Pinelli's murder. The accusation of wrongful death at the hands of the police was eventually determined to be false by the state, but only after many years of investigation.

Meanwhile, the anarchist Valpreda and five others were convicted and jailed for the bombing. They were later released after three years of Wikipedia:preventive detention. Over a 36-year period, numerous suspects were investigated, with no convictions. The identity of the perpetrators remains unknown to this day.

The Wikipedia:Red Brigades, the most prominent far-left terrorist organization, conducted a secret internal investigation that paralleled the official inquiry. They ordered that the inquiry remain secret, because of the unfavorable light that it could shed on other terrorist organizations. The inquiry was discovered after a fire-fight between Red Brigade forces and Italian police (carabinieri) at Robbiano di Mediglia in October 1974. The cover-up was exposed in 2000, by President Giovanni Pellegrino.

1970

Borghese coup

In December, a neo-fascist coup, dubbed the Wikipedia:Golpe Borghese, was planned by several far-right leaders and supported by members of the Wikipedia:Corpo Forestale dello Stato, along with the right-aligned entrepreneurs and industrialists. The "Black Prince", Wikipedia:Junio Valerio Borghese, took part in it. The coup, called off at the last moment, was discovered by the press, and publicly released a few months later.

1971

Assassination of Alessandro Floris

On March 26, 1971 Wikipedia:Alessandro Floris was assassinated in Genoa, by a unit of the Wikipedia:Gruppo XXII Ottobre, a far-left terrorist organization. An amateur photographer had taken a photo of the killer that enabled police to identify the terrorists. The group was investigated and more members arrested. Some fled to Milan and joined the "Wikipedia:Gruppi di Azione Partigiana” (GAP) and later the Red Brigades.

The Red Brigade considered the group Gruppo XXII Ottobre its predecessor and in April 1974, it kidnapped Judge Wikipedia:Mario Sossi in an effort to free the arrested member. The effort was unsuccessful. Years later, the Red Brigade killed the judge Wikipedia:Francesco Coco on June 8, 1976 out of revenge, along with his two police escorts, Wikipedia:Giovanni Saponara and Wikipedia:Antioco Deiana.

1972

Assassination of Luigi Calabresi

On May 17, 1972, police officer Luigi Calabresi, recipient of the gold medal of the Italian Republic for civil valor, was assassinated in Milan. Authorities initially focused on suspects in Lotta Continua, before detaining two neo-fascist activists, Gianni Nardi and Bruno Stefano, along with the German Gudrun Kiess, in 1974. They were ultimately released. Sixteen years later, Wikipedia:Adriano Sofri, Wikipedia:Giorgio Petrostefani, Wikipedia:Ovidio Bompressi, and Wikipedia:Leonardo Marino were arrested in Milan for confessing to the murder by Leonardo Marin. Their highly controversial trial finally established their guilt in the organizing and carrying out the murder.

Peteano bombing

On May 31, 1972, three Italian police were killed in Wikipedia:Peteano in a bombing, blamed on Lotta Continua. Officers of the carabinieri were later indicted and convicted for manipulating the investigation in false directions. Judge Casson identified Ordine Nuovo member Wikipedia:Vincenzo Vinciguerra as the culprit who had planted the Peteano bomb.

The neo-fascist terrorist Vincenzo Vinciguerra, arrested in the 1980s for the bombing in Wikipedia:Peteano, declared to magistrate Wikipedia:Felice Casson that this Wikipedia:false flag attack had been intended to force the Italian state to declare a Wikipedia:state of emergency and to become more authoritarian (WP). Vinciguerra explained how the Wikipedia:SISMI military intelligence agency had protected him, allowing him to escape to Franquist Spain.

Casson's investigation revealed that the right-wing organization Ordine Nuovo had collaborated with the Italian Military Secret Service, SID (Servizio Informazioni Difesa). Together, they had engineered the Peteano terror and then wrongly blamed the militant extreme Italian left, the Red Brigades. He confessed and testified that he had been covered by an entire network of sympathizers in Italy and abroad who had ensured that after the attack he could escape. "A whole mechanism came into action", Vinciguerra recalled, "that is, the Carabinieri, the Minister of the Interior, the customs services and the military and civilian intelligence services accepted the ideological reasoning behind the attack."

1973

The Primavalle Fire

An April 16, 1973 attack by members of Wikipedia:Potere Operaio on the house of neo-fascist MSI militant Mario Mattei resulted in his two sons, ages 20 and 8, being burned alive.

Milan Police command (Questura di Milano) bombing

During a 17 May 1973 ceremony honoring Luigi Calabresi, in which the Interior Minister was present, Wikipedia:Gianfranco Bertoli, an Wikipedia:anarchist, threw a bomb that killed four and injured 45.

In 1990, it was discovered that Bertoli, who had been convicted of the bombing, was an SID informant and member of Gladio. The secret services claimed that this was only a coincidence. A magistrate investigating the assassination attempt of Mariano Rumor found that Bertoli's files were incomplete. General Wikipedia:Gianadelio Maletti, head of the SID from 1971 to 1975, was convicted in absentia in 1990 for obstruction of justice in the Mariano Rumor case.

1974

Piazza della Loggia bombing

In May 1974, a bomb exploded during an anti-fascist demonstration in Wikipedia:Brescia, killing eight and wounding over 90. In 2005, the Court of Cessation issued an arrest warrant against Wikipedia:Delfo Zorzi, a former Ordine Nuovo member currently living in Japan.

Attempted neo-fascist coup

Count Wikipedia:Edgardo Sogno revealed in his memoirs that in July 1974, he visited the Wikipedia:Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) station chief in Rome to inform him of preparations for a neo-fascist coup. Asking what the United States (US) government would do in case of such a coup, Sogno wrote that he was told, "the United States would have supported any initiative tending to keep the communists out of government." General Maletti declared, in 2001, that he had not known about Sogno's relationship with the CIA and had not been informed about the coup, known as Wikipedia:Golpe bianco (White Coup), led by Wikipedia:Randolfo Pacciardi.

Bombing of Italicus train

On August 4, 1974, 12 died and 105 were injured in the bombing of the train Italicus Roma-Brennero express at San Benedetto Val di Sambro.

Arrest of Vito Miceli

General Wikipedia:Vito Miceli, chief of the Wikipedia:SIOS military intelligence agency in 1969, and head of the SID from 1970 to 1974, was arrested in 1974 on charges of "conspiracy against the state." Following his arrest, the Italian secret services were reorganized by a 24 October 1977 law in an attempt to reassert civilian control over the intelligence agencies. The SID was divided into the current Wikipedia:SISMI, the Wikipedia:SISDE, and the Wikipedia:CESIS, which was to directly coordinate with the Wikipedia:Prime Minister of Italy. An Wikipedia:Italian Parliamentary Committee on Secret services control (Copaco) was created at the same time.

Arrest of Red Brigade leaders

In 1974, some leaders of the Red Brigades, including Wikipedia:Renato Curcio and Alberto Franceschini, were arrested, but new leadership continued the war against the Italian right-wing establishment with increased fervor.

The year before, Wikipedia:Potere Operaio had disbanded, although Wikipedia:Autonomia Operaia carried on in its wake. Lotta Continua also dissolved in 1976, although the magazine struggled on for several years. From remnants of Lotta Continua and similar groups, the terror organization Wikipedia:Prima Linea emerged.

1976

Prima Linea: an emerging terrorist organization

On April 29, 1976, Wikipedia:Enrico Pedenovi was killed in Milan by the organization Wikipedia:Prima Linea. This was the first assassination conducted by Prima Linea.

1977

On March 12, a Turin policeman Wikipedia:Giuseppe Ciotta was killed by far-left terrorist organization, Wikipedia:Prima Linea.

On May 14, in Milan, some activists from a far-left organization pulled out their pistols and began to fire on the police, killing policeman Wikipedia:Antonio Custra. A photographer took a photo of an activist shooting at the police. This year was called the time of the "P38", referring to the Wikipedia:Walther P38 pistol.

1978

Aldo Moro Assasination

On March 16, Aldo Moro was kidnapped by the Wikipedia:Red Brigades, and five of his bodyguards killed. The Red Brigades were a militant leftist group, then led by Wikipedia:Mario Moretti. Aldo Moro was a left-leaning Christian Democrat who served several times as Prime Minister. Before his murder he was trying to include the Wikipedia:Italian Communist Party (PCI), headed by Wikipedia:Enrico Berlinguer, in the government through a deal called the Wikipedia:Historic Compromise. The PCI was the largest communist party in western Europe. This was largely because of its non-extremist and pragmatic stance, its growing independence from Moscow and its new eurocommunist doctrine. The PCI was especially strong in areas such as Wikipedia:Emilia Romagna, where it had stable government positions and mature practical experience, which may have contributed to a more pragmatic approach to politics. The Red Brigades were fiercely opposed by the Communist Party and Wikipedia:trade unions, a few left-wing politicians even used the condescending expression "comrades who do wrong" (Compagni che sbagliano). The circumstances surrounding Aldo Moro's murder have never been made clear, but the consequences included that fact that PCI did not gain executive power.

Investigative journalist Wikipedia:Carmine Pecorelli was assassinated on March 20, 1979. In a May 1978 article, he had drawn connections between Aldo Moro's kidnapping and Gladio.

Moro's assassination was followed by a large clampdown on the social movement, including the arrest of many members of Wikipedia:Autonomia Operaia, including , Wikipedia:Oreste Scalzone and political philosopher Wikipedia:Toni Negri.

1979

A year with more assassinations

On January 19, Turin policeman Wikipedia:Giuseppe Lorusso was killed by the Prima Linea organization.

On January 29, Wikipedia:Emilio Alesandrini was killed in Milan by Prima Linea.

On March 9, university student Wikipedia:Emanuele Iurilli was killed in Turin by Prima Linea.

On July 13, in Wikipedia:Druento (a town near Turin), policeman Wikipedia:Bartolomeo Mana was killed by Prima Linea.

On July 18, Wikipedia:Carmine Civitate was killed in Turin, by Prima Linea.

On September 21, Wikipedia:Carlo Ghiglieno was killed in Turin by a group of Prima Linea.

1980

More assassinations

On February 5, in Monza, Paolo Paoletti was killed by Prima Linea.

On February 12, in Rome, at the "La Sapienza" University, Vittorio Bachelet, vice-president of the Superior Council of Magistrates and former president of the Roman Catholic association Wikipedia:Azione Cattolica, was killed by the Red Brigades.

On March 19, in Milan, Judge Guido Galli was killed by a group of Prima Linea.

On April 10, in Turin, Wikipedia:Giuseppe Pisciuneri a Mondialpol guard, was killed by Wikipedia:Ronde Proletarie.

On August 2, a bomb killed 85 people and wounded more than 200 in Bologna. Known as the Wikipedia:Bologna massacre, the blast destroyed a large portion of the city's railway station. This was found to be a fascist bombing, mainly organized by the Wikipedia:NAR, who had ties with the Roman criminal organization Wikipedia:Banda della Magliana.

1981

On December 17, 1981 Wikipedia:James L. Dozier, an American general and the deputy commander of NATO's South European forces based in Verona, was kidnapped by Red Brigades. He was freed in Wikipedia:Padua on January 28, 1982 by the Wikipedia:Nucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza (NOCS), an Italian police anti-terrorist task force.

1982

The Salerno Massacre

On October 21, 1982, a group of Red Brigade terrorists attacked a bank in Turin, killing two guards, Wikipedia:Antonio Pedio and Wikipedia:Sebastiano d'Alleo.

On August 26, 1982, a group of Red Brigade terrorists attacked a military troop convoy, in Wikipedia:Salerno. In the attack, Corporal Wikipedia:Antonio Palumbo and policemen Wikipedia:Antonio Bandiera and Wikipedia:Mario De Marco were killed. The terrorists escaped.

1984

On December 23, 1984, a bomb in a train between Florence and Rome killed 16 and wounded more than 200. In 1989 , the mafiosi Wikipedia:Giuseppe Calo and four others defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment for the bombing. According to prosecutors, the far-right organizations conspired with the mafia and the Wikipedia:Camorra to carry out the attack.

1987

On March 20, 1987, Wikipedia:Licio Giorgieri, a general in the Italian Air Force, was assassinated by the Red Brigades in Rome.

1988

On April 16, Senator Roberto Ruffilli was assassinated in an attack by a group of Red Brigades in Forlì.

Continued violence

In the late 1990s - early 2000s, a resurgence of Wikipedia:Red Brigade terrorism led to the assassination of labour law consultants and experts, Wikipedia:Massimo D'Antona and Wikipedia:Marco Biagi.

On May 20, 1999, Wikipedia:Massimo D'Antona, consultant of the Work Ministry, was assassinated in an attack by a group of terrorists of the Red Brigade, group BR-PCC, in Rome.

On March 19, 2002, Wikipedia:Marco Biagi, consultant of the Work Ministry, was assassinated in an attack by a group of terrorists of the Red Brigade, in Bologna.

On March 2, 2003, Wikipedia:Emanuele Petri, state policeman, was assassinated by a group of terrorists of the Red Brigade, near Wikipedia:Castiglion Fiorentino.

In 2005 some suspected terrorists were arrested, known as the New Red Brigade (Nuove Brigate Rosse). On 13 June the court in Milan (corte d'Assise) condemned 14 terrorists. The leader was sentenced to 15 years in jail. Three suspected terrorists were found not guilty.

See also

This article contains content from Wikipedia. Current versions of the GNU FDL article Years of Lead: Italy on WP may contain information useful to the improvement of this article

WP

• Wikipedia:History of the Italian Republic
• Red Brigades Wikipedia:Red Brigades
• Wikipedia:Prima Linea
• Gruppo XXII Ottobre
• Ordine Nuovo (WP)
• Wikipedia:Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari

Bibliography

• Anna Cento Bull and Adalgisa Giorgio (dir.) Speaking Out and Silencing: Culture, Society and Politics in Italy in the 1970s (2006) ISBN 978-1-904350-72-9
• Giovanni Fasanella Wikipedia:Giovanni Pellegrino : La guerra civile. A book of President of anti-terrorism Commission of Italian Parliament.
• Per le vittime del terrorismo nell’Italia repubblicana – Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato Libreria dello Stato – Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato S.p.A. – I.S.B.N. 978-88-240-2868-4 -Edited from The office of Republic President

External links

• a very helpful font of chronological notices about terrorism in Italy with a lot of chronological information
• Italy's Invisible Government, Rosella Dossi, CERC (Contemporary Europe Research Centre, University of Melbourne)