Ordine Nero

The Ordine Nero (Italian: Black Order) was an Italian terrorist fascist group founded in 1974 following the dissolution of the fascist Ordine Nuovo. Between 1974 and 1978, bombings by ON led to a number of woundings and deaths, having orchestrated several deadly bombings and murders including the 1974 Italicus Express Bombing and the 1974 Brescia Bombing.[1]

Logo from a 1974 flyer

History

Ordine Nero has simply adopted the ideologies of Ordine Nuovo. For the members of the neo-fascist Ordine Nero, the ultimate goal was to destroy the liberal-democratic state in order to clear the way for the fascist one. The Democratic state was assailed by the neo-fascists for its weakness, its alleged tolerance of Communists in parliament, dark-skinned immigrants in the labor force, and Jews in positions of power and influence. The neo-fascists belonging to Ordine Nero believed that the nation's survival is dependent upon the exorcism of these three elements; only by becoming politically, racially, and culturally homogeneous can the state recover its strength and again work for its natural citizens and not a variegated collection of interlopers. Regardless of their ultimate goal, they did not appear to have any specific program of reform. Instead they only actively espoused vague fascist slogans of nationalism, racial purity, and governmental strength. Ordine Nero operated alongside like-minded groups like "Movimento Armato Rivoluzionario", "Terza Posizione", and "Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari". Many of these groups existed in name only. Like their counterparts on the left, right-wing terrorists staged different operations under different names in order to give the impression of size and strength.[2]

An ongoing controversy over the group is its role in any strategy of tension endorsed by elements of the Italian government or NATO. Bomber Vincenzo Vinciguerra alleged that the Italian security services and the "Atlantic Alliance", particularly the United States, had a role in the group's activities.[3]

Activities

Bombings

A series of bomb attacks occurred in Savona, Italy from April 1974 to May 1975. The public prosecutor reopened one of the bombing cases, it remained without a manager, which made the reopening of the case useless. The bombs resulted in injuring 18 people and caused severe damage to the public and private building structures.[4]

The city of Brescia, Italy have suffered from one of Ordine Nero's worst operations. On 28 May 1974 explosive bomb was placed inside a garbage container in Piazza Della Loggia.[5] Eight people were killed and one hundred and two injured.[6] A day before the attack, the city's newspapers announced that they had received a message from the Black Order. The message threatened that multiple attacks would occur against businesses in the city. Since that attack, the government has held three trials, with the third concluding in 2017. The trials included the new order official Carlo Maria Maggi who was convicted for organizing the massacre and the militant Maurizio Tramonte.[5]

On 4 August 4, a bomb planted by members of the Ordine Nero exploded on the Italicus Express, claiming 12 lives and injuring 48. The bomb exploded as the train exited the San Benedetto Val di Sambro tunnel. Although former Prime Minister Aldo Moro had disembarked the train days before the explosion happened, many scholars stipulate that Moro was the true target.[7][8] The Ordine Nero claimed the bombing was retribution for the killing of the purported Brescia bomber, Giancarlo Esposti, by Italian police.[9] Following the bombing, several Ordine Nero members were detained.[10]

On February 1978, a bomb exploded on the outside of "Gazzettino di Venezia" main entrance. Gazzettino di Venezia is an editorial building of the conservative newspaper. The building is located in Venice, Italy. The explosion resulted in killing the night watchman. The 49-year-old man "Franco Battaggliarin" died instantly from the explosion. The police reported that they received an anonymous call emphasizing that the bomb was planted by Ordine Nero.[11]

On 10 August 1983, a bomb was planted on Milan-Palermo train. Train of Milan-Palermo held approximately one thousand passengers. The bomb detonator failed to operate. The failure of the detonator occurred as the train approached the proximity of Vernio. The railroads were supposed to blow up due to the explosion, but due to the failure, only two mechanics were slightly injured because of the flying glass. Ordine Nero claimed the attack via telephone.[12]

Arrests

Marco Pastori, a member of the Ordine Nero living in Spain, was arrested several times by Spanish police. Police say that the 38-year-old man was extremely dangerous, and he had been convicted of using and owning firearms and explosive which cost him different charges. He was first arrested in April 1974 over a bank shooting. He was accused of killing a bank clerk and a 10-year-old girl. After he escaped, he was re-arrested in 1975. After a few years later he escaped for the second time in 1978. The police said that various neo-fascist groups in South America took him in.[13]

See also

References
  1. Vittorfranco S. Pisano (1987). The Dynamics of Subversion and Violence in Contemporary Italy. Hoover Press. pp. 52–. ISBN 978-0-8179-8553-0.
  2. Hoffman, Bruce (1982). "Right-Wing Terrorism in Europe". Defence Technical Information Center. RAND CORP SANTA MONICA CA.
  3. Philip Willan (1 October 2002). Puppetmasters: The Political Use of Terrorism in Italy. iUniverse. pp. 249–. ISBN 978-1-4697-1084-6.
  4. "Terrorismo: Bombe Savona Anni Settana; Testi, Fu Ordine Nero" [Terrorism: Bombs Savona Seventies; Text Was Order Black]. lexisnexis.com (in Italian). ANSA News General. 5 March 2007.
  5. "La strage di piazza della Loggia, 28 maggio 1974" [The massacre of Piazza della Loggia]. memoria.san.beniculturali.it. Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. n.d.
  6. "Incident Summary for GTDID: 197405280001". www.start.umd.edu.
  7. Giorgio, Bocco (1988). Gli anni del terrorismo. Rome: Armando Curcio Editore. pp. 291–293.
  8. "Emanuele Bartoli, Italo Bono and Gaetano Casali, members of neo-Fascist..." New York Times. 8 August 1974 – via global.factiva.com.
  9. "30 Maggio: Giancarlo Esposti Presente!" (in Italian). 30 May 2006. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  10. "In Italy, two bombs have exploded on a train travelling between Florence and Bologna". global.factiva.com. TMSC.
  11. "No Headline in Original". lexisnexis.com. The Associated Press. 21 February 1978.
  12. "Subcommittee on Security & Terrorism" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
  13. "Italian neo-fascist fugitive arrested in Spain". global.factiva.com. Reuters Limited.

Further reading
  • Gianni Cipriani, Lo Stato invisibile, Sperling & Kupfer, 2002
  • Giancarlo Feliziani, Lo schiocco, Limina, 2004
  • Mimmo Franzinelli, La sottile linea nera, Rizzoli, 2008
  • Luca Innocenti, Italicus la bomba di nessuno, 2013
  • Nicola Rao, Il piombo e la celtica, Sperling & Kupfer, 2009
  • Ehud Sprinzak, Right‐wing terrorism in a comparative perspective: The case of split delegitimization, 2007
  • Hoffman Bruce, Right-Wing Terrorism in Europe, 1982
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