“The Disintegration of the System”: The Nazi-Fascist Terrorism of Franco G. Freda Between Fascist Mysticism and Meta-politics During the Strategy of Tension (1969-1979)

The present thesis intends to focus on the controversial figure of the Italian far-right activist Franco G. Freda and neofascist terrorism in Italy between 1960s and 1980s. Franco G. Freda is known as one of the alleged perpetrators of the neo-fascist terrorist attack on the Banco Nazionale dell’Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana in Milan on 12 December 1969. The attack represented the landmark of the strategia della tensione (strategy of tension) in post-war Italy and saw the beginning of a period of political subversion and terrorism at the hands of the extra-parliamentary left, neo-fascists groups, and anarchists dubbed by the Italian press as the Anni di Piombo (Years of Lead). Freda’s relevance in post-war radical fascist ideology is of academic interest as he seems to combine the most intellectually sophisticated form of fascism with political violence. His aristocratic view of fascism, a blend of Platonism and Evolian philosophy with a tendency toward nihilism suggests he sought a fascist ideology that turns to metapolitics in an attempt to shape a new not only political, but existentialist Weltanschauung. For instance, his combining Plato’s idea of state and justice with the hieratic aristocratic and spiritual attitude embodied by Julius Evola. This makes Freda one of the main representatives of what is defined a so- called ‘fascist mysticism’ that seemed to characterize the ideology of post-war far-right radicalism. Freda is a typical neo-fascist intellectual who saw in the ‘armed struggle’ of the time the right response of a political and ideological minority that in Italy had felt marginalized and isolated after the war. Freda’s political activism and Weltanschauung find in fascist ideology’s mythology and pagan roots their ideal referent. This aspect is worth investigating for it casts a new interpretative light on postwar radical fascism. It is Freda’s mystical approach to the nature of fascism as an ideology defined by its anti-system, anti-state, anti-democratic, anti-modern nature that makes him a figure of reference for the new generations of neo-fascists. The nature of his ‘personal view’ on fascist ideology so far tentatively described, opens the doors to further questions on the ideological mind-set of radical fascism and terrorism, the latter considered as the only political tool to affirm a set of ideas within the specific political climate in Italy and abroad in the post-war period. The present research will be conducted considering two perspectives: the theoretical perspective will attempt to analyze and assess Italian radical neo-fascism thought looking at Freda as one of its best representatives; and the historical perspective will attempt to examine and evaluate Italy’s post-war politics and domestic terrorism within the wider cold war context without neglecting Freda’s impact today on the younger generation of the so-called ‘fascists for the third millennium’