NationStates Jolt Archive

27 years ago a bomb, placed by neofascists Valerio Fioravanti and Francesca Mambro at the Bologna Central Station, killed 85 people and wounded more than 200.

The bomb exploded at 09.25 CET (08.25 GMT) , on August the 2nd, 1980.

After various trials, while the material executors have been sentenced to life in prison in 1995, the political level responsible for the attack hasn't been yet discovered.



(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strage_di_Bologna)

what a curious story.

does the italian "man on the street" have a feeling about what really happened, why, and who arranged it?

why were the mason and the sismi involved in obstruction of justice? what did they get out of it? are they so sympathetic to neo-fascism?

did this terrible crime achieve any of its ends? did it move italy closer to fascism?

From everything I've heard, fascists and their descendants suck and awful lot. Not a decent bone in in some of their bodies.

what a curious story.

does the italian "man on the street" have a feeling about what really happened, why, and who arranged it?

why were the mason and the sismi involved in obstruction of justice? what did they get out of it? are they so sympathetic to neo-fascism?

did this terrible crime achieve any of its ends? did it move italy closer to fascism?

The general feeling of many people is summarized by the slogan "Brescia, Bologna, Piazza Fontana: mano fascista, regia democristiana", meaning that the "strategia della tensione", of which the bombings of Piazza della Loggia (Brescia), Bologna Central Station and Piazza Fontana (Milano) were a part of a plan devised by the right-wing sector of the Democrazia Cristiana party.

DC ruled Italy continuously since the proclamation of the Republic, forming both centre-left alliances (with the Socialist Party) and centre-right alliances (with the Liberal Party and the neofascist MSI), until the DC itself split in the wake of the "Mani Pulite" corruption scandal.

Back in the '70s, the right-wing of the DC was under the pressure of the left-wing of the same party. Italy's political opinion was steering clear left, and more so after 1968 (student's movement) - the PSIUP/PSI (socialist parties) and the PCI (communist party, the strongest communist party in the West) were steadily gaining momentum since the early '60s - actually, between 1976 and 1984 the PCI even got the relative majority (about 35% of the polls iirc).

The left-wing of the DC had managed, during the '60s, to get the upper hand on the right-wing, with the centre-left coalitions with the PSI (socialist party) and the Fanfani cabinets. Some, and between them Moro (who was kidnapped and killed by the BR in 1978), even began thinking about the "compromesso storico" ("historical compromis"): that is, a "grosse Koalition" between DC, PSI/PSIUP and PCI, thus taking for the first time a communist party in the executive of a NATO country.

*theory follows*

Some (and I'm included) think that at this time, the DC right-wingers devised then a plan (afterwards called by journalists "strategia della tensione", "stress strategy") to prevent the forming of such centre-left alliance. Very likely, parts of the the Italian military and civilian secret services were involved, alongside with the stay-behind "Gladio" NATO organisation, the P2 mason lobby led by Licio Gelli, the Triple-A, and some support of at least part of the CIA.

The concept of the "strategia della tensione" was to discredit the left-wing political forces, by having neofascist terrorists bombing various places (the most infamous attacks were in Piazza Fontana-Milan, the Bologna Massacre, the bombing of the "Italicus" and the "809" trains), and blaming them on the left-wingers (an action called "depistaggio").

The hope was that the Italians would have been scared by the "red fear" and would vote for the right-wing parties, or even support gladly a right-wing coup - like the Greek and Chilean coups of about the same years.

As a matter of fact, the final blow to the idea of the "compromesso storico" was given not by fascist bombings, but by the kidnapping and killing of the DC president, left-winger Aldo Moro, by the "Brigate Rosse" (Red Brigades), self-styled "fighting communist party" - although

*end of theory here*

What is for sure, is that many italians actually believe that this is the real story of the "Anni di Piombo" (the Years of Lead), and of stay-behind pro-NATO operations in Italy during that years; however, there has been no definitive omni-comprehensive trial about it.
The trial for the Bologna massacre ended with life sentences for two neofascists.
The trial for the Piazza Fontana massacre ended without the culprit being identified, although the judges formerly had indicated neofascist Delfo Zorzi (now living in Japan as Hagen Roi) as the material executor and even in the definitive sentence it is said that the bombing was executed by neofascists.
The trial for the kidnapping and killing of Moro ended with life sentences for some of the Red Brigades, although other trials about its side-events indicated that some in the italian secret service and police forces (and with no commie sympathies) knew or had some hint about where Moro was being held.

not to be too too shallow but....

this would be a great setting for a fictional italian political thriller. there are just so many strong elements and spaces to insert created characters.

there is so much good vs evil from many different perspectives.

not to be too too shallow but....

this would be a great setting for a fictional italian political thriller. there are just so many strong elements and spaces to insert created characters.

there is so much good vs evil from many different perspectives.

...yeah, most of our history is full of good settings for political thrillers. Sadly.

Anyway, to catch a glimpse of what the Anni di Piombo looked like, try watching "Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto" (en.tit. "Investigation of a citizen above suspicion").
About "depistaggio" and another unsolved italian mystery (the downing of a civilian plane near Ustica), "Il muro di gomma" ("The invisible wall").
About the kidnapping and killing of Aldo Moro, I recommend "Piazza delle Cinque Lune" ("Five Moons Plaza") and "Buongiorno, notte" ("Good morning, night").
About the killing of journalist Walter Tobagi by a BR fraction, "Una fredda mattina di maggio" ("One cold May morning").
About the Vatican, bankers and masons, "Un eroe borghese" ("Ordinary hero") and "I banchieri di Dio" ("The God's bankers - The Calvi Affair").

Once again I'm embarrassed by how much more of American political history I know than of my own country's and how my knowledge of other countries', like Italy's, political history is almost non-existant.

The fact that these threads get hardly any replies means I'm obviously in the majority with this, but that doesn't exactly make one feel better. :/

Pretty much the only thing about Italian politics is that they had about 368778 different governments since the end of WWII and that the Communist Party features prominently which I always thought was pretty cool.
Very likely, parts of the the Italian military and civilian secret services were involved, alongside with the stay-behind "Gladio" NATO organisation, the P2 mason lobby led by Licio Gelli, the Triple-A, and some support of at least part of the CIA. "The Triple-A"? What's that? Because I'm pretty sure it's not what I know under that name.

The general feeling of many people is summarized by the slogan "Brescia, Bologna, Piazza Fontana: mano fascista, regia democristiana", meaning that the "strategia della tensione", of which the bombings of Piazza della Loggia (Brescia), Bologna Central Station and Piazza Fontana (Milano) were a part of a plan devised by the right-wing sector of the Democrazia Cristiana party.Yet more indications supporting my theory that all christian-democrat parties are, in essence, criminal organisations.

Yay.

not to be too too shallow but....

this would be a great setting for a fictional italian political thriller. there are just so many strong elements and spaces to insert created characters.

there is so much good vs evil from many different perspectives.

there is an award winning political comedy set during the strategy of tension, though based on events in an earlier bombing -accidental death of an anarchist by daniel fo.

"The Triple-A"? What's that? Because I'm pretty sure it's not what I know under that name.

a death squad from argentina that took part in the dirty war, i think. they've been linked to other fascist activities in europe and elsewhere too.