The Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari ( en, Armed Revolutionary Nuclei), abbreviated NAR, was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration sent ...

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

organization active during the Years of Lead from 1977 to November 1981. It committed 33 murders in four years, and had planned to assassinate

Francesco Cossiga Francesco Maurizio Cossiga (; sc, Frantziscu Maurìtziu Còssiga, ; 1928 – 2010)
. was an Italian pol ...

Gianfranco Fini Gianfranco Fini (born 3 January 1952) is an Italian politician who served as the president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2008 to 2013. He is the former leader of the far-right Italian Social Movement, the conservative National Allianc ...

and

Adolfo Urso Adolfo Urso (born 12 July 1957 in Padua, Veneto) is an Italian politician and journalist. Biography Son of Sicily, Sicilian parents, after studying in Acireale and Catania, Urso graduated in sociology at the Sapienza University of Rome, "La Sa ...

. The group maintained close links with the ''

Banda della Magliana The Banda della Magliana (, ''Magliana Gang'') is an Italian criminal organization based in Rome. It was founded in 1975. Given by the media, the name refers to the original neighborhood, the Magliana, of some of its members. The ''Banda della ...

'', a Rome-based criminal organization, which provided such logistical support as lodging, false papers, weapons, and bombs to the NAR. In November 1981, it was discovered that the NAR hid weapons in the basements of the Health Ministry. The first trial against them sentenced 53 persons on 2 May 1985 on charges of terrorist activities.

Ideology

The late seventies were a time of political violence in the form of bombings, assassinations, and street warfare between rival militant factions. Young neo-fascists saw the state-sanctioned far-right political party MSI as betraying them, through inaction in the face of attacks by political opponents and the police such as the

Acca Larentia killings The Acca Larentia massacre was the journalistic name given to a double homicide that occurred in Rome on 7 January 1978. Five teenagers of the youth wing of the Italian Social Movement were ambushed while leaving the local party headquarters ...

. Influenced by leftist movements, a large group of far-right youths, including Fioravanti and his close associates, moved from street-fighting to terrorism. Unlike their left-wing counterparts, they emphasised personal qualities like spontaneity and willingness to fight, even in a lost cause, over political objectives. Fioravanti has said, "About defeat we never cared, we are a generation of losers, always on the side of the defeated."

Members

The NAR were directed by former

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in film, movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associ ...

Valerio Fioravanti Giuseppe Valerio "Giusva" Fioravanti (born 28 March 1958) is an Italian former terrorist and actor, journalist and human rights activist, who, with Francesca Mambro, was a leading figure in a Far-right politics, far-right terrorism, terrorist gro ...

, his brother Cristiano Fioravanti, Dario Pedretti,

Francesca Mambro Francesca Mambro (born 25 April 1959) is an Italian activist and former terrorist, who was a leading member of the far-right Italian Armed Revolutionary Nuclei (NAR). She was arrested in Rome in March 1982 for complicity in the Bologna bombing o ...

and

Alessandro Alibrandi Alessandro Alibrandi (12 June 1960 – 5 December 1981) was an Italian neofascist terrorist who was active in the organization ''Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari'' ( Armed Revolutionary Nuclei). He was killed during a firefight with the police in Rom ...

, who were previous militants of the

Italian Social Movement The Italian Social Movement ( it, Movimento Sociale Italiano, MSI) was a neo-fascist political party in Italy. A far-right party, it presented itself until the 1990s as the defender of Italian fascism's legacy, and later moved towards national ...

(MSI). Other important members included:

Luigi Ciavardini is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...

Gilberto Cavallini Gilberto is the Iberian and Italian version of the originally Norman-French given name '' Gilbert'', used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish languages. In Galician, it's spelled Xilberto or Xilberte. ''Gilbert'' is ultimately derived from the Ger ...

, Stefano Soderini, Franco Anselmi,

Giorgio Vale Giorgio may refer to: * Castel Giorgio, ''comune'' in Umbria, Italy * Giorgio (name), an Italian given name and surname * Giorgio Moroder, or Giorgio, Italian record producer ** ''Giorgio'' (album), an album by Giorgio Moroder * "Giorgio" (son ...

Massimo Carminati Massimo Carminati (; born 31 May 1958), allegedly nicknamed "the last king of Rome", is an Italian underworld figure and former member of far-right terrorist group Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari and criminal gang Banda della Magliana, which were at ...

, Claudio Bracci, Stefano Bracci, Mario Corsi a.k.a. "Marione" (''Big Mario''), Stefano Tiraboschi,

Lino Lai Lino may refer to: * Lino, short for linoleum, a common flooring material * Lino, slang for linesman, the former name (still in widespread common use) for an assistant referee in football * Lino, slang for a habitual user of the narcotic cocaine ...

, Paolo Pizzonia,

Patrizio Trochei Patrizio is an Italian language, Italian male personal name. It is the Italian form of Patrick (given name), Patrick. * Patrizio Bertelli (born 1946), Italian businessman * Patrizio Bianchi (born 1952), Italian economist and politician * Patrizio ...

, Walter Sordi, Marco Mario Massimi, Pasquale Belsito,

Fiorenzo Trincanato Fiorenzo is a masculine Italian given name. The feminine derivative is Fiorenza. Notable people with the name include: * Fiorenzo (African saint), 5th-century North African bishop and saint *Fiorenzo Aliverti (born 1957), Italian cyclist *Fiore ...

, Andrea Vian. In 1980, NAR member

became the leader of ''

Terza Posizione Terza Posizione ( en, Third Position) was a short-lived neo-fascist political movement founded in Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map ...

'', which was used as a front for the NAR.

Actions

1980 Bologna massacre

The 1980 bombing of the Bologna main train station, which killed 85 people, was part of the

strategy of tension A strategy of tension ( it, strategia della tensione) is a policy wherein violent struggle is encouraged rather than suppressed. The purpose is to create a general feeling of insecurity in the population and make people seek security in a strong go ...

and intended to cast blame on militant leftist groups. NAR members

and

were convicted of the bombing.

Weapons cache in the Health Ministry

On 25 November 1981, Italian authorities discovered a weapons cache in the basements of the Health Ministry. According to the ''

'' ''

pentito ''Pentito'' (; lit. "repentant"; plural: ''pentiti'') is used colloquially to designate collaborators of justice in Italian criminal procedure terminology who were formerly part of criminal organizations and decided to collaborate with a public ...

'', Maurizio Abbatino, NAR member

was the only one who could freely access the weapons cache. Massimo Carminati not only held close links with the ''Banda della Magliana'', but also with

SISMI Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare (abbreviated SISMI, ''Military Intelligence and Security Service'') was the military intelligence agency of Italy from 1977–2007. With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services app ...

secret agents, in particular General

Pietro Musumeci Pietro Musumeci (born 18 May 1920) was a general and deputy director of Italy's military intelligence agency, SISMI. Musumeci was born in Catania on 18 May 1920. A member of ''Propaganda Due'', Musumeci was convicted in 1985, along with other SISMI ...

and Colonel

Giuseppe Belmonte Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph, from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף. It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it. The feminine form of the name is Giusep ...

, a member of the

Propaganda Due Propaganda Due (; P2) was a Masonic lodge under the Grand Orient of Italy, founded in 1877. Its Masonic charter was withdrawn in 1976, and it transformed into a criminal, clandestine, anti-communist, anti-Soviet, anti-leftist, pseudo-Masonic, a ...

Masonic lodge.

Assassinations

On 23 June 1980, NAR members and (who was later sentenced to a 30-year prison term in 2007 for his role in the 1980 Bologna bombings) assassinated magistrate

Mario Amato Mario Amato (24 November 1937, in Palermo – 23 June 1980, in Rome) was an Italian magistrate, assassinated in 1980 by NAR (''Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari'') members and .radical right in Italy after the assassination of judge on 10 July 1976 (Occorsio was shot by

Pierluigi Concutelli Pierluigi Concutelli (3 June 1944 – 15 March 2023), known as The Commander (''il Comandante''), was an Italian neofascist terrorist and bank robber. He styled himself as an "Urban guerrilla warfare, urban guerrilla fighter". He was a member o ...

, leader of the armed groups of the Ordine Nuovo). The two NAR members were also responsible for the earlier slaying of Francesco Evangelista on 28 May 1980.

Ideology

Members

Actions

1980 Bologna massacre

Weapons cache in the Health Ministry

Assassinations

See also

References

Further reading