The National Front (''Fronte Nazionale'', FN) was a

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 s ...

political party in Italy This article contains a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy, and since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern ...

. The party was founded in 1967 by

Junio Valerio Borghese Junio Valerio Scipione Ghezzo Marcantonio Maria Borghese (6 June 1906 – 26 August 1974), nicknamed The Black Prince, was an Italian Navy commander during the regime of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party and a prominent hard-line Fascist ...

who was dissatisfied by the political activities of the Italian Social Movement, of which he had held the largely ceremonial post of party President.Franco Ferraresi, ''Threats to Democracy: The Radical Right in Italy After the War'', Princeton University Press, 1995p. 117 The new party aimed to abolish political parties and

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

s and instead to build an Italy based on

corporatism Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...

, class co-operation and strong government in opposition to what they called " red terror". The Front drew many of its members from amongst the officer class and veterans thereof, groups with which Borghese was already closely linked, and co-operated closely with the

Stefano Delle Chiaie Stefano Delle Chiaie (13 September 1936, Caserta – 10 September 2019, Rome) was an Italian neo-fascist terrorist. He was the founder of ''Avanguardia Nazionale'', a member of '' Ordine Nuovo'', and founder of Lega nazionalpopolare. He went on ...

's ''

Avanguardia Nazionale The National Vanguard ( it, Avanguardia Nazionale) is a name that has been used for at least two neo-fascist and neo-Nazi groups in Italy. Original group The original National Vanguard was an extra-parliamentary movement formed as a breakaway gro ...

'' and

Pino Rauti Giuseppe Umberto "Pino" Rauti (19 November 1926 – 2 November 2012) was an Italian fascist and politician who was a leading figure on the radical right for many years, although Rauti was describing himself as a "leftist" and "non-fascist." Invo ...

's '' Ordine Nuovo'', even sharing members with both groups.Ferraresi, ''Threats to Democracy'', p. 118 With a nationwide structure and a network of funding from business sources the Front soon had a few thousand members and even set up underground "B groups" to prepare the ground for an armed uprising. The Front's mission was fulfilled in the

Golpe Borghese The ''Golpe Borghese'' (English: Borghese Coup) was a failed Italian ''coup d'état'' allegedly planned for the night of 7 or 8 December 1970. It was named after Junio Valerio Borghese, wartime commander of the Decima Flottiglia MAS and a her ...

, a failed coup attempt launched in December 1970, with the group disappearing soon afterwards. Like its close cousin in the National Vanguard the party was proved to have been promoting

terrorism 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 ...

and to have been infiltrated by the

Italian intelligence agencies Italian intelligence agencies are the intelligence agencies of Italy. Currently, the Italian intelligence agencies are the Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna (AISE), focusing on foreign intelligence, and the Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza ...

which used it as a recruiting ground for expendable pawns to be used in 'wet' and 'dirty' operations which would have been outside their jurisdiction or supposed ethics (see strategy of tension).L. Cheles, R. Ferguson & M. Vaughan (eds.), ''Neo-Fascism in Europe'', Harlow: Longman, 1992, p. 36

References

{{Historical Italian political parties 1967 establishments in Italy 1970 disestablishments in Italy Defunct organisations designated as terrorist in Italy Defunct nationalist parties in Italy Factions of the Years of Lead (Italy) Neo-fascist organisations in Italy Neo-fascist parties Neo-fascist terrorism Political parties disestablished in 1970 Political parties established in 1967