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Anarchist Subversive Organizations

Anarchist political violence, in its overt and clandestine manifestations, preceded by several decades comparable practices adopted by organizations or groupings of Communist or neo-Fascist inspiration. In fact, even the revolutionary terminology used by Italy's most famous anarchist, Errico Malatesta, who was Bakunin's favorite disciple, recurs with slight variations in the language of contemporary extremists and terrorists of Communist persuasion. Malatesta used to speak in terms of "permanent revolution," "continuous war against established organizations," and "anarchist communism."

Traditionally, the targeting patterns of the anarchists - be they lone actors or small aggregations - entailed both the selective and blind varieties. Two examples are most significant. On July 29, 1900, as he was returning from a gymnastics competition in Monza, King Umberto I of Italy was assassinated by anarchist Gaetano Bresci, who fired two pistol shots at close range. On March 18, 1921, a bomb planted by three anarchists exploded in the Kursaal Diana Theater of Milan causing 21 deaths and 100 injuries. The purpose of this act was to avenge an alleged miscarriage of justice suffered by the renowned Malatesta.

From Malatesta's days (1853-1932) to the present, the objective of the anarchists remained the destruction of established order at every level insofar as considered oppressive. Traditionally the anarchist ideology had not precluded collaboration with political forces connected to Marxist or labor union goals. This less-than-recent attitude explained the tolerance of Communist doctrines by anarchist groups and their minority presence in revolutionary groups of various ideologies. For these reasons, anarchist individuals and formations that resort to terrorist actions are for simplicity's sake generally listed as part of the terrorist left.

The numerical strength of the anarchist component was minimal. Few, indeed, were the anarchist terrorist organizations. Yet, their deep-rooted traditions and potential for physical harm and material damage could not be underestimated.

The anarchist group that towered over the rest the 1970s was the now practically defunct Revolutionary Action (Azione Rivoluzionaria - AR), whose appearance on the scene took place in 1976-77. Characterized as a band consisting of anarchists, terrorists of the left, and common crimminals, its original inspiration was simply anarchist, as stated in the organizational Charter, which added that "the affinity of our cultural experience can be defined as anarchist-Communist". The self-attributed role of AR is "to wage the armed struggle for a society of the free and the equal."

Apart from revenue-raising ventures, its actions were rather selective. The medical officer of the Pisa prison who had treated anarchist Franco Serantini was wounded by AR because the latter died while in custody after a street clash with the police. In claiming responsibility for this action, AR calledd it "a settlement of an old account that weighed on the conscience of the anarchists." The wounding of journalist Nino Ferrero of L'Unita, the official daily of the Italian Communist Party, was explained with the words "AR hereby punishes a bastard who is at the service of the regime," an obvious allusion to PCI endeavors toward participation in the government.

The reputed historic leader of AR is the late Gianfranco Faina, a former professor of political doctrines at the University of Genoa. Faina's political background included active participation in the PCl's youth organization; authorship of articles for Classe Operaia (Working Class); conceptualizing together with the aforementioned Toni Negri of AUTOP the publication Quaderni Rossi (Red Notebooks); authorship of a book titled "A Ray of Light in the Darkness," dedicated to Ulrike Meinhof of the Baader-Meinhof gang; organizing a committee for the defense of the above-discussed October XXII Circle; and founding the Ludd Circle.

In addition to the various links entertained by Faina himself, press accounts have frequently made reference to AR's organizational contacts with the quarterly Anarchismo, whose offices reportedly moved with frequency from city to city.

An indication of surviving anarchist sentiment in Italy may be the proposal made in late 1981 by various anarchist groups of presumably non-terrorist persuasion to erect a statue in the memory of Gaetano Bresci, the assassin of King Umberto I. The selected location is the city of Carrara, which is the traditional center of the Italian anarchist movement.