Les années de plomb en Italie: la peur, miroir de la violence politique

The 1970's in Italy are associated with a climate of fear, evident from well known expressions such as “The Years of Lead”, “terrorism” and “tension strategy”. But how can we define these fears more precisely, with their varying origins, intensities and chronologies? These fears have to be understood in the context of the vast ideological oppositions of the Cold War, but the political violences in the 1970's in Italy are also particular: some groups, with a variation of approaches, began to use violent methods with the specific aim of installing a climate of fear.