Years of Lead

The Years of Lead were a period of political violence and terrorism in Italy, generally dated from the late 1960s through the 1980s. Left-wing and far-right groups, alongside state actors, shaped the violence.

Strategy of tension: A political strategy that uses violence and fear to destabilize society and encourage authoritarian responses. Bombings attributed to left-wing groups were sometimes linked to far-right efforts to provoke political instability.
Piazza Fontana bombing: A 1969 bomb attack at a bank in Milan that killed 17 people and injured 88. The bombing is widely treated as the opening episode of the Years of Lead.
Years of Lead (Germany): A label for periods of political violence in West Germany, especially the 1970s. The German case shared Cold War radicalization but involved different organizations and political circumstances.
Historic Compromise: A proposed political accommodation between Italy’s Christian Democrats and Communists in the 1970s. The Red Brigades opposed the rapprochement, and Moro’s kidnapping struck at its political prospects.
Red Brigades: An Italian Marxist-Leninist armed organization that carried out kidnappings, assassinations, and other attacks. Its actions, including the kidnapping and killing of Aldo Moro, became defining episodes of left-wing terrorism.
Bologna massacre: A 1980 bombing of Bologna’s railway station that killed 85 people and injured more than 200. The attack was attributed to neo-fascist militants and stands among the period’s deadliest atrocities.
Italian Communist Party: A major Italian political party that was the largest communist party in Western Europe during much of the Cold War. Its growth and possible participation in government formed the backdrop to armed groups’ revolutionary opposition.
Pentiti: Former members of criminal or terrorist organizations who cooperate with authorities, often in exchange for reduced sentences. Cooperation by former militants helped investigators dismantle armed organizations.
Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari: An Italian neo-fascist terrorist group active from 1977 to 1981. Its attacks exemplified the far-right violence that accompanied the period.
Peteano massacre: A 1972 car-bomb attack near Peteano that killed three Italian carabinieri. The investigation exposed the role of far-right militants and misconduct by a state official.

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