The Republic, Urban Terrorism

Violence and lawlessness, which had plagued Italian society throughout the 1970s, took more virulent forms toward the end of the decade. Outraged by the Communists’ decision to ally themselves with the government, extreme left-wing terrorists preyed on politicians, police, journalists, and businessmen. In March 1978 former Prime Minister Aldo Moro was kidnapped by a fanatical left-wing group, the Red Brigades, which made Moro’s release contingent on the freeing of other terrorists from Italian jails. The government refused to deal with Moro’s captors, and he was subsequently found murdered.