Narrative
Narrative of the Organization's History
Narrative of the Organization's History
Leadership, Name Changes, Size Estimates, Resources, Geographic Locations
Ideology, Aims, Political Activities, Targets, and Tactics
First Attacks, Largest Attacks, Notable Attacks
Foreign Designations and Listings, Community Relations, Relations with Other Groups, State Sponsors and External Influences
Mapping relationships with other militant groups over time in regional maps
NAR identified itself as a fascist group. In addition to the traditional Italian fascist texts, NAR and other fascist militant groups of the second half of the 1970s were especially influenced by the fantasy writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, whose Lord of the Ring series was thought to exemplify such traditionally fascist themes as heroism.[17]
NAR was not explicitly anti-Communist, however. The group did fight left-wing organizations on occasion, but it also sought to unite all anti-state groups and several times tried unsuccessfully to join forces, or at least cease hostilities, with the left.[18] This represented an ideological break with the previous generation of Italian right-wing militant groups.
The organization also rejected the goal of earlier fascist groups to stage a coup. Its precise goals regarding the shape of a future Italian state were not clear.[19] This was in part because NAR's membership was younger than that of the first generation Italian fascist groups and had not actually lived under or fought on behalf of the fascist state in Italy.[20] It was also in part because NAR encouraged the use of its name to claim attacks not formally affiliated to its organization but having a revolutionary purpose.[21]
There are no recorded political activities for this group.
NAR did not typically carry out the mass-casualty bombings associated with earlier right-wing groups, though it claimed responsibility for the 1980 bombing of a Bologna train station that killed 85 in the worst terrorist attack in Italian history.[22] NAR's overall tactical posture was one of "armed spontaneity" as opposed to organized violence. NAR was more likely to claim responsibility for attacks than previous right-wing groups were, under either its own name or the name Popular Revolutionary Movement (MPR).[23]
NAR mostly used firearms and at times grenades to conduct raids or kill selected individuals including law enforcement officers, left-wing militants, and journalists.[24]
As in certain groups on the left in the second half of the 1970s, the ground-level fighter was considered the best judge of what action was required. Another left-wing tactic NAR imitated was that of claiming attacks under several different names to give the impression of an ever-multiplying set of terrorist groups.[25]
NAR began to target other right-wing militants as the right became a growing target of arrests and as militants increasingly cooperated with authorities.[26]
Disclaimer: These are some selected major attacks in the militant organization's history. It is not a comprehensive listing but captures some of the most famous attacks or turning points during the campaign.
December 24, 1977: NAR members wounded a leftist student in Rome (0 killed, 1 wounded).[27]
January 9, 1979: NAR members attacked a left-wing radio station in Rome, wounding five station operators (0 killed, 5 wounded).[28]
June 23, 1980: NAR members killed an assistant state attorney in Rome. The attorney had been investigating right-wing terrorism (1 killed).[29]
August 2, 1980: NAR claimed responsibility for a bombing attack on Bologna's central train station (85 killed, 200 wounded).[30]
October 21, 1981: NAR members killed two police officers in Rome (2 killed).[31]
August 14, 1988: NAR members unsuccessfully attempted to bomb police headquarters in Milan (0 killed).[32]
This group has not been designated as a terrorist organization by any major national government or international body.
The relationship between this group and the communities in which it resides is unknown.
NAR members, like those of other right-wing groups, were largely disillusioned former members of the Italian right-wing party Italian Social Movement (MSI), particularly its student group University Front for National Action (FUAN).[33] MSI did not overtly support NAR, though it did encourage youth militancy.[34] NAR's membership included former members of the right-wing militant groups that had been banned in the mid-1970s.
NAR had wide-ranging contacts with other groups on the right. One of its goals was to unite militant right-wing groups under a single banner, and in that respect NAR resembled Prima Linea (PL), a left wing group that aimed to do the same for militant groups on the left.[35] It also encouraged other militants not formally affiliated with it to use its name to claim attacks, and itself used the name Popular Revolutionary Movement (MPR).[36] It shared arms with other right-wing groups.[37] and staged joint attacks, most notably with Let's Take Action.
NAR sought to forge alliances with militant groups on the left, at one point offering a formal ceasefire after attacking a left-wing radio station.[38] It was unsuccessful.
As the government began arresting more right-wing militants and those militants increasingly cooperated with authorities, NAR began to attack other right-wing groups. It especially targeted the leaders of the group Third Position, whom it believed to have misled and taken advantage of militant youth.[39]
Individual NAR members had informal connections to other countries, but it is unclear whether the group received formal state support. There is murky evidence of international involvement in the bombing of the Bologna train station attributed to NAR. One NAR member arrested in the aftermath of the attack was the founder of the Italian-Libyan friendship society. A member of the French neo-fascist group European National Action Federation (FANE) was also arrested in the aftermath of the attack.[40]
Like other Italian neo-fascist terrorist groups, NAR took inspiration from other European right-wing groups and embraced some of the tenets of Germany's Nazi party.
[1] Pisano, Vittorfranco S. Terrorism and Security : the Italian Experience : Report of the Subcommittee On Security and Terrorism of the Committee On the Judiciary, United States Senate. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1984. p. 83.
[2] National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). (2011). Global Terrorism Database [Data file]. Incident: 198808140002 Retrieved April 1, 2012 from http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=1988081400
[3] Pisano, Vittorfranco S. Terrorism In Italy : an Update Report, 1983-1985 : Report of the Subcommittee On Security and Terrorism for the Use of the Committee On the Judiciary, United States Senate. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1985. p. 14.
[4] Sheehan, Thomas. Italy: Terror on the Right. New York Review of Books. January 22, 1981. Available: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1981/jan/22/italy-terror-on-the...
[5] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996.
[6] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 157.
[7] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. pp. 165-166.
[8] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 159.
[9] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 154.
[10] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 183
[11] National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). (2011). Global Terrorism Database [Data file]. Incident: 198808140002 Retrieved April 1, 2012 from http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=198808140002.
[12] Weinberg, Leonard, and William Lee Eubank. The Rise and Fall of Italian Terrorism. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987. p. 48.
[13] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. pp. 165, 167. and Weinberg, Leonard, and William Lee Eubank. The Rise and Fall of Italian Terrorism. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987. p. 48.
[14] Weinberg, Leonard, and William Lee Eubank. The Rise and Fall of Italian Terrorism. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987. p. 48. and Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 165.
[15] Weinberg, Leonard, and William Lee Eubank. The Rise and Fall of Italian Terrorism. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987. p. 48.
[16] Barbato, Tullio. Il Terrorismo In Italia Negli Anni Settanta : Cronaca E Documentazione. Milano: Bibliografica, 1980. p. 30
[17] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. pp. 155, 157.
[18] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 166.
[19] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 157.
[20] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 154.
[21] Ferraresi, Franco.Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 167.
[22] Sheehan, Thomas. Italy: Terror on the Right. New York Review of Books. January 22, 1981. Available: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1981/jan/22/italy-terror-on-the...
[23] Pisano, Vittorfranco S. Terrorism and Security : the Italian Experience : Report of the Subcommittee On Security and Terrorism of the Committee On the Judiciary, United States Senate. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1984. p. 37 and Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 159.
[24] Pisano, Vittorfranco S. Terrorism and Security : the Italian Experience : Report of the Subcommittee On Security and Terrorism of the Committee On the Judiciary, United States Senate. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1984. pp. 37, 83.
[25] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 159.
[26] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 183.
[27] Pisano, Vittorfranco S. Terrorism and Security : the Italian Experience : Report of the Subcommittee On Security and Terrorism of the Committee On the Judiciary, United States Senate. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1984. p. 83.
[28] Pisano, Vittorfranco S. Terrorism and Security : the Italian Experience : Report of the Subcommittee On Security and Terrorism of the Committee On the Judiciary, United States Senate. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1984. p. 83.
[29] Pisano, Vittorfranco S. Terrorism and Security : the Italian Experience : Report of the Subcommittee On Security and Terrorism of the Committee On the Judiciary, United States Senate. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1984. p. 83.
[30] Sheehan, Thomas. Italy: Terror on the Right. New York Review of Books. January 22, 1981. Available: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1981/jan/22/italy-terror-on-the-right/?pagination=false
[31] Pisano, Vittorfranco S. Terrorism and Security : the Italian Experience : Report of the Subcommittee On Security and Terrorism of the Committee On the Judiciary, United States Senate. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1984. p. 83.
[32] National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). (2011). Global Terrorism Database [Data file]. Incident: 198808140002 Retrieved April 1, 2012 from http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=1988081400
[33] Weinberg, Leonard, and William Lee Eubank. The Rise and Fall of Italian Terrorism. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987. p. 46.
[34] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 166.
[35] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 166
[36] Pisano, Vittorfranco S. Terrorism and Security : the Italian Experience : Report of the Subcommittee On Security and Terrorism of the Committee On the Judiciary, United States Senate. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1984. p. 36. MPR may also have operated as an independent group; since NAR itself was not a formal structure, and right-wing militants often claimed membership in several groups at once, it is often difficult to distinguish groups from one another.
[37] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 167
[38] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 167.
[39] Ferraresi, Franco. Threats to Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 183.
[40] Weinberg, Leonard, and William Lee Eubank. The Rise and Fall of Italian Terrorism. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987. p. 49.