Red brigades - Reflexions

Red brigades

A political-military extreme left organisation, which appeared in Italy in 1970, the Red Brigades were born with the protest movements which shook large Italian businesses from 1968 onwards. Contesting both trade union as well as communist party representation, their founder, Renato Curcio, advocated armed struggle. They carried out numerous attacks on political or economic figures, of which the most famous was Aldo Moro, president of Christian Democracy and the ex Italian Council President (prime minister), kidnapped and then executed in 1978. At their peak, in 1977, they had an impressive network of militants (one or two thousand, according to sources) and sympathisers, contrary to numerous other terrorist organisations which appeared in Europe in the 1970s.