Strategy of tension

A strategy of tension (Italian: strategia della tensione) is a political policy wherein violent struggle is encouraged rather than suppressed. The purpose is to create a general feeling of insecurity in the population and make people seek security in a strong government.

The strategy of tension is most closely identified with the Years of Lead in Italy from 1968 to 1982, wherein far-left Marxist groups, far-right neo-fascist extra-parliamentary groups and state intelligence agencies performed bombings, kidnappings, arsons, and murders.^[1]^[2] Some historians and activists have accused NATO of allowing and sanctioning such terrorism, through projects such as Operation Gladio,^[3]^[4] although this is disputed by other historians and denied by the intelligence agencies involved.^[5]^[6] Other cases where writers have alleged a strategy of tension include the deep state in Turkey from the 1970s–1990s,^[7] the war veterans and ZANU–PF in Zimbabwe which coordinated the farm invasions of 2000,^[8] the DRS security agency in Algeria from 1991 to 1999,^[9]^[10] and the Belgian State Security Service during the Belgian terrorist crisis of 1982–1986.^[11]

According to the sociologist Franco Ferraresi, the term "strategy of tension" was first used in an article on the Piazza Fontana bombing in The Observer newspaper, published on 14 December 1969.^[12]^[13] Neal Ascherson, one of those responsible for that article, later clarified that the expression had been suggested to him by the journalists Antonio Gambino and Claudio Risé, both of L'Espresso, who had been in conversation with him in the days immediately following the explosion of the Piazza Fontana bomb.^[14]

^ Campani, Giovanna (4 July 2016). "Neo-fascism from the Twentieth Century to the Third Millennium: The Case of Italy". In Lazaridis, Gabriella; Campani, Giovanna; Benveniste, Annie (eds.). The Rise of the Far Right in Europe: Populist Shifts and 'Othering'. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-55679-0.
^ Drake, Richard (1999). "Italy in the 1960s: A Legacy of Terrorism and Liberation". South Central Review. 16: 62–76. doi:10.2307/3190077. JSTOR 3190077. More than twelve hundred people died or suffered grievous injury from this violence, which from 1969 to 1984 included thousands of terrorist attacks. Dozens of groups on the left and the right were involved.
^ Ness, Immanuel (ed.). The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, Chapter: Italy, Gladio 1970s-1980s (1 ed.). Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp1700. ISBN 978-1-4051-8464-9.
^ Ganser, Daniele (2005-06-21). NATO's Secret Armies. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203017777. ISBN 978-1-135-76785-3.
^ Hansen, Peer Henrik (Summer 2005). "Review of NATO's Secret Armies". Journal of Intelligence History. Archived from the original on 2007-08-26.
^ Davies, Philip H.J. (December 2005). "Review of NATO's Secret Armies". The Journal of Strategic Studies: 1064–1068.
^ Elik, Suleyman (7 October 2013). Iran-Turkey Relations, 1979-2011: Conceptualising the Dynamics of Politics, Religion and Security in Middle-Power States. Routledge. ISBN 9780415726238.
^ Carver, R. (2000). "Zimbabwe, a Strategy of Tension" (PDF). UNHCR.
^ Imposimato, Ferdinando (13 December 2009). "Preface to 'The Dirty War' by Habib Souaidïa". Algeria-Watch – Informations sur la situation des droits humains en Algérie.
^ Schindler, John R. (22 September 2017). "Two Decades Later, Algeria Protects Mystery of Bentalha Massacre". Observer.
^ Jenkins, Philip (1990). "Strategy of tension: The Belgian terrorist crisis 1982–1986". Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. 13 (4–5): 299–309. doi:10.1080/10576109008435838.
^ Ferraresi, Franco (1997). Threats to Democracy: the Radical Right in Italy after the War. Princeton, N. J., Princeton University Press, p. 87. ISBN 9780691044996
^ The Observer article deployed the term while describing the alleged efforts of Giuseppe Saragat, then leader of the Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI), to undermine the sitting centre-right Christian Democratic government, which had prompted accusations from others that he had "indirectly encouraged the far Right to go over to terrorism." See Neal Ascherson, Michael Davie and Frances Cairncross, 'Italy: Fear of revolt returns,' The Observer, 14 December 1969, p. 2.
^ (in Italian) Biscione, Francesco M. (2020), "Strategia della tensione. Genesi e destino di un’espressione". Bibliomanie. Letterature, storiografie, semiotiche. 50 (12): 2. doi:10.48276/issn.2280-8833.5267.

[1] Campani, Giovanna (4 July 2016). "Neo-fascism from the Twentieth Century to the Third Millennium: The Case of Italy". In Lazaridis, Gabriella; Campani, Giovanna; Benveniste, Annie (eds.). The Rise of the Far Right in Europe: Populist Shifts and 'Othering'. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-55679-0.

[drake99-2] Drake, Richard (1999). "Italy in the 1960s: A Legacy of Terrorism and Liberation". South Central Review. 16: 62–76. doi:10.2307/3190077. JSTOR 3190077. More than twelve hundred people died or suffered grievous injury from this violence, which from 1969 to 1984 included thousands of terrorist attacks. Dozens of groups on the left and the right were involved.

[3] Ness, Immanuel (ed.). The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, Chapter: Italy, Gladio 1970s-1980s (1 ed.). Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp1700. ISBN 978-1-4051-8464-9.

[4] Ganser, Daniele (2005-06-21). NATO's Secret Armies. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203017777. ISBN 978-1-135-76785-3.

[hansen2005-5] Hansen, Peer Henrik (Summer 2005). "Review of NATO's Secret Armies". Journal of Intelligence History. Archived from the original on 2007-08-26.

[6] Davies, Philip H.J. (December 2005). "Review of NATO's Secret Armies". The Journal of Strategic Studies: 1064–1068.

[7] Elik, Suleyman (7 October 2013). Iran-Turkey Relations, 1979-2011: Conceptualising the Dynamics of Politics, Religion and Security in Middle-Power States. Routledge. ISBN 9780415726238.

[8] Carver, R. (2000). "Zimbabwe, a Strategy of Tension" (PDF). UNHCR.

[9] Imposimato, Ferdinando (13 December 2009). "Preface to 'The Dirty War' by Habib Souaidïa". Algeria-Watch – Informations sur la situation des droits humains en Algérie.

[10] Schindler, John R. (22 September 2017). "Two Decades Later, Algeria Protects Mystery of Bentalha Massacre". Observer.

[11] Jenkins, Philip (1990). "Strategy of tension: The Belgian terrorist crisis 1982–1986". Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. 13 (4–5): 299–309. doi:10.1080/10576109008435838.

[12] Ferraresi, Franco (1997). Threats to Democracy: the Radical Right in Italy after the War. Princeton, N. J., Princeton University Press, p. 87. ISBN 9780691044996

[13] The Observer article deployed the term while describing the alleged efforts of Giuseppe Saragat, then leader of the Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI), to undermine the sitting centre-right Christian Democratic government, which had prompted accusations from others that he had "indirectly encouraged the far Right to go over to terrorism." See Neal Ascherson, Michael Davie and Frances Cairncross, 'Italy: Fear of revolt returns,' The Observer, 14 December 1969, p. 2.

[14] (in Italian) Biscione, Francesco M. (2020), "Strategia della tensione. Genesi e destino di un’espressione". Bibliomanie. Letterature, storiografie, semiotiche. 50 (12): 2. doi:10.48276/issn.2280-8833.5267.

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