In the First Italian Republic, after the Second World War, several armed, paramilitary, far-right organizations were active, as well as far-left ones, especially during the Years of Lead.

The attempt, in 1960, to include representatives of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), the neo-fascist heir of the National Fascist Party, in the Tambroni Cabinet led to short-lived yet intense anti-fascist rioting. In the second half of the 1960s, widespread labor unrest and co-ordinated agitation of student activist groups along with factory workers and radical leftist organizations, such as Potere Operaio and Lotta Continua, broke out in the country, culminating in the Hot Autumn of 1969, a series of massive strike actions in factories and industrial centres in Northern Italy.

Student strikes and labour strikes, led by workers, leftists, left-sympathizing laborers, or Marxist activists, became increasingly common, often deteriorating into clashes between the police and demonstrators composed largely of workers, students, activists, and militants.

During this period of mass social unrest, various far-right organizations emerged in Italy and undertook violent action. Young neo-fascists agitated against the "red threat," perceiving the legalist politics of MSI as abandoning their cause, especially through its ostensible inaction in the face of attacks by the police and the extreme left.

Influenced by theories of urban guerrilla warfare and spontaneism, a number of neo-fascists moved from street-fighting to armed militancy and terrorism. Small groupings of militarist neofascists are still active in the 21st century. Organizations Name in Italian Flag or symbol Name translated Leading figures Period of activity Ideology Principal actions Political representation, affiliation, or legacyAssociazione Protezione Italiani Italians' Protection Association 1961–1979 Neo-fascismAlto Adige bombings (1961)Avanguardia Nazionale National Vanguard Stefano Delle Chiaie 1970–1972 Neo-Nazism Reggio revolt (1970), Gioia Tauro train station sabotage (1970), and Peteano massacre (1972) Comunità Politica di AvanguardiaFalange Armata Armed Phalanx SISMI officers 1990–1994 Far-right politics Assassination of Opera prison educator Umberto Mormile (1990) Fasci di Azione Rivoluzionaria Fasces of Revolutionary Action Pino Romualdi 1946– 1947; 1951 Neo-fascism Attacks against Italy's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of the United States, Rome Movimento di Azione Rivoluzionaria Movement of Revolutionary Action Carlo FumagalliGaetano Orlando 1962–1974 Neo-fascism Arson and bombing attacks on Enel pylons (1960s), and arson attack on the Pirelli-Bicocca tire depot in Milan, in which a worker lost his life (1971) Movimento Rivoluzionario Popolare Revolutionary Popular Movement Paolo AleandriMarcello Iannilli 1979–1980 Neo-fascism Bombing attack at the Capitoline Hill (1979), bombing attack on the Regina Coeli prison (1979), bombing attack against Italy's High Council of the Judiciary (1979), and bombing attempt at the Piazza dell'Indipendenza in Rome, which failed due to bomb malfunction (1979) Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari Armed Revolutionary Nuclei Valerio FioravantiFrancesca MambroMassimo CarminatiAlessandro AlibrandiFranco Anselmi 1977–1981 Neo-fascism Bologna massacre, a bombing with 85 dead (1980), and assassination of magistrate Mario Amato (1980) and police officer Francesco Evangelista (1980) Ordine Nero Black Order Fabrizio ZaniMarco PastoriAdriano PetroniLuciano Benardelli 1974–1983 Neo-Nazism Italicus Express bombing (1974), Piazza della Loggia bombing, with 8 people dead and 102 wounded (1974), and assassination of judge Vittorio Occorsio (1976) Ordine Nuovo New Order Clemente GrazianiPierluigi ConcutelliPino Rauti 1965–1973 Neo-Nazism Piazza Fontana bombing in the headquarters of the Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura, with 17 people dead and 88 wounded (1969), and Peteano massacre, with 3 Carabinieri killed and one injured (1972), plus various bombings of trains Movimento Politico Ordine NuovoTerza Posizione Third Position Giuseppe DimitriNanni De AngelisRoberto FioreGabriele AdinolfiMassimo Morsello 1979–unknown Neo-fascism Collaboration with the Armed Revolutionary Nuclei in armed militancy and popularization of the Third Position ideology Forza Nuova (via Roberto Fiore),CasaPound (via Gabriele Adinolfi)Partito Nazionalsocialista Italiano dei Lavoratori National Socialist Italian Workers' Party 2016–2019 Neo-Nazism Preparation of terrorist acts; illegal possession of firearms Nuovo Ordine Sociale/Nuovo Ordine Sociale-Sole Nero New Social Order/New Social Order-Black SunAndrea Cavalleri ~2021-December 2024 Neo-fascism Neo-Nazism Plotting to murder prime minister Giorgia Meloni, illegal possession of firearms.

See also Left-wing militant groups in Italy Italian fascism Post-fascism in Italy Radical right (Europe) Right-wing terrorism Ultranationalism

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