Red Brigades Guerrilla Party
AT A GLANCE



Key Statistics
Overview
Formed | August 1981 |
---|---|
Disbanded | 1982 |
First Attack | April 27, 1982: The BR-PG killed a member of the Christian Democrat (DC) party and his driver. (2 killed) |
Last Attack | October 21, 1982: Members of the BR-PG killed two guards while robbing a bank in Turin. (2 killed) |
Updated | June 27, 2012 |
The Red Brigades Guerrilla Party (BR-PG) was the second of three main groups to split from the Red Brigades beginning in 1980. It shared with the BR and its other successors the broad goal of overthrowing the Italian state and installing a dictatorship of the proletariat. The BR-PG was the largest but shortest-lived of the BR's three main successors, lasting only a year. It was a rival of the main successor to the Red Brigades, and argued that the BR was too orthodox and too militant. Like the BR and its other successors, the BR-PG disintegrated due to arrests and some members' cooperation with authorities.
The Red Brigades Guerrilla Party (BR-PG) was one of the three main offshoots of the Red Brigades (BR), Italy's largest terrorist organization, following the BR's split into beginning in 1980.[i] Like the Red Brigades and its other successors, it advocated the overthrow of the Italian state, but differed with the BR's other splinter groups over tactics.
The BR-PG split from the main group in 1981. It was mainly composed of the Naples wing of the BR and the "Prison Front," a faction of the BR focused on freeing "proletarian" prisoners.[ii] They argued that the BR had become too focused on militancy, and that the armed struggle should be viewed as only one component of the revolution.[iii] The BR-PG was still quite violent, however, and killed close to 10 people over the course of its year-long existence.
Like the other successors of the BR, the BR-PG declined rapidly due to widespread arrests and former members' cooperation with authorities.[iv]
[i] Brigaterosse.org. "BRIGATE ROSSE 1970-1988: 18 anni di lotta armata." 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia.htm
[ii] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PG." 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pg.htm
[iii] Segio, Sergio. Una Vita In Prima Linea. 1. ed. Milano: Rizzoli, 2006. p. 195.
[iv] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PG." 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pg.htm
Organizational Structure
This section describes various leaders, their deputies, and other important officials in the militant organization.
Senzani had been a criminology professor. He joined the Red Brigades in Tuscany in 1976. He founded the BR-PG after the arrest of the BR's historic leaders. He was arrested in 1982.[i]
[i] Brigaterosse.org. "Giovanni Senzani - 'Emiliano.'" 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/personaggi/GiovanniSenzani.htm
There are no recorded name changes for this group.
Disclaimer: This is a partial list of where the militant organization has bases and where it operates. This does not include information on where the group conducts major attacks or has external influences.
The BR-PG operated in Turin, Naples, and Rome.[i]
[i] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PG." 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pg.htm
Strategy
Communist revolutionary
Left-wing
The BR-PG, like the Red Brigades and all of its other successors, sought to overthrow the Italian state and replace it with a dictatorship of the proletariat. The BR-PG also sought to liberate "proletarian" prisoners.[i]
The group differed with other BR splinter groups over the status of the revolution in Italy and the proper role of militancy in the political struggle. The BR-PG predicted an imminent civil war between classes and sought to ensure the victory of the proletariat.[ii]
[i] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PG." 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pg.htm
[ii] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PG." 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pg.htm
There are no recorded political activities for this group.
Like the BR and its other successors, the BR-PG targeted symbols of state power such as politicians, police, and the military. The group claimed nearly 10 killings in one year. However a large number of those killed were likely killed by accident, including security guards and drivers of intended victims. In one instance, the "Prison Front" Red Brigades members who would shortly form the BR-PG kidnapped and then killed the brother of an imprisoned former member of the Red Brigades who had cooperated with authorities.[i] Unlike other BR splinter groups with a stronger presence in industrial northern Italy, the BR-PG does not appear to have targeted factory managers.
The BR-PG did not advocate a "strategic retreat," unlike its main rival, the Red Brigades Fighting Communist Party (BR-PCC), which inherited the core of the Red Brigades.[ii] The BR-PG predicted an imminent civil war between classes and sought to ensure the victory of the proletariat. At the same time, the BR-PG viewed the BR's other successors as too narrowly focused on the armed struggle to the exclusion of all other forms of political struggle.[iii] The BR-PG was itself quite violent, however, and does not appear to have engaged in significant nonviolent political activity.
[i] Segio, Sergio. Una Vita In Prima Linea. 1. ed. Milano: Rizzoli, 2006. p. 373
[ii] Segio, Sergio. Una Vita In Prima Linea. 1. ed. Milano: Rizzoli, 2006. p. 194.
[iii] Segio, Sergio. Una Vita In Prima Linea. 1. ed. Milano: Rizzoli, 2006. p. 195.
Major Attacks

Major Attacks
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.
- April 27, 1982: The BR-PG killed a member of the Christian Democrat (DC) parliamentary party and his driver in Naples. (2 killed)[i]
- July 15, 1982: Members of the BR-PG killed a high-ranking police officer and his driver in Naples. (2 killed)[ii]
- August 26, 1982: Members of the BR-PG attacked military vehicles in Salerno, killing one patrolling police officer and one military officer who intervened. They also wounded one police officer, who died of his wounds three days later. (3 killed)[iii]
- October 21, 1982: Members of the BR-PG killed two guards while robbing a bank in Turin. (2 killed.)[iv]
[i] Segio, Sergio. Una Vita In Prima Linea. 1. ed. Milano: Rizzoli, 2006. p. 374.
[ii] Segio, Sergio. Una Vita In Prima Linea. 1. ed. Milano: Rizzoli, 2006. p. 374.
[iii] Segio, Sergio. Una Vita In Prima Linea. 1. ed. Milano: Rizzoli, 2006. p. 374. and Associazione Italiana Vittime del Terrorismo. Schede/1982/BANDIERA. Available: http://www.vittimeterrorismo.it/memorie/schede/bandiera.htm
[iv] Segio, Sergio. Una Vita In Prima Linea. 1. ed. Milano: Rizzoli, 2006. p. 374.
Interactions
This group has not been designated as a terrorist organization by any major national government or international body.
The relationship between Red Brigades Guerilla Party and the communities in which it resides is unknown.
The BR-PG was one of several groups that split from the Red Brigades (BR) following the BR's decline after 1980.
The BR-PG was a rival of the BR's main successor, the Red Brigades Fighting Communist Party (BR-PCC), which it argued was too militant. The dispute between the groups was mostly rhetorical,[i] however, and they did not attack each other. BR-PG also rivaled the BR.
The BR-PG was more ideologically aligned with the Red Brigades Walter Alasia (BR-WA), another splinter of the Red Brigades, and with Prima Linea (PL), the second-largest left-wing terrorist group in Italy. Members of the BR-PG, the BR-WA, and the PL discussed collaborating on a prison break but cancelled the operation because it was too difficult.[ii]
[i] Drake, Richard. The Aldo Moro Murder Case. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995. p. 134
[ii] Segio, Sergio. Una Vita In Prima Linea. 1. ed. Milano: Rizzoli, 2006. p. 201.
There are no publicly available external influences for this group.