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 sent ...

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 who was dissatisfied by the political activities 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 ...

, 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, class co-operation and strong government in opposition to what they called "

red terror The Red Terror (russian: Красный террор, krasnyj terror) in Soviet Russia was a campaign of political repression and executions carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police. It started in lat ...

". 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'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 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 ...

).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