The history of the July 1960 protests: protests against a violent, fascist government

Lined up in a compact group, side by side, arm in arm, we advanced like a Macedonian phalanx: we were left-wing parliamentarians, followed by a procession of citizens, whom it was customary, at the time, to call "democrats." "Democrats passing through," we often joked among ourselves. In fact, those citizens were certainly not "passing through," they hadn't just happened to be there: they had gathered thanks to a mobilization: comrades from the PCI, socialist militants, members of the ANPI, and Roman anti-fascists had gathered in large numbers.

At the head of the procession was a round laurel wreath with a tricolor ribbon, to be placed on the plaque at Porta San Paolo, which commemorated the Italian soldiers and civilians who fell in the resistance to the Nazi troops who were attempting to occupy the capital on September 8, 1943. We were in Piazza Albania. The decision to march in procession to lay the wreath at the plaque at Porta San Paolo, despite the previously authorized demonstration against the Tambroni government having been banned by the Prefect of Rome only half an hour before the event—a genuine and deliberate provocation!—had been made during a heated, impromptu meeting convened by Paolo Bufalini, then secretary of the Roman Federation of the PCI. I don't remember exactly where, perhaps at the headquarters of the PCI branch in S. Saba. It had been decided, in order to "force the blockade" —the idea had been Bufalini's—to place all the parliamentarians at the head of the procession.

It was July 6, 1960. It was a climactic moment of acute political tension. How had it come to this? In February, the Liberal Party , led by Giovanni Malagodi, had withdrawn its support from the government of Antonio Segni, who, as a result, had resigned. A very long crisis had begun, full of changes of front: first an "exploratory mandate " to the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Giovanni Leone , then, after Leone's resignation and Attilio Piccioni's refusal, the post had been reassigned to Segni, who, given the impossibility, due to the opposition of a part of the DC, of ​​forming a government that could be supported by the abstention of the Socialists, had resigned. On March 26, Gronchi had rather unexpectedly entrusted the position to a Fanfanian friend of his, Fernando Tambroni . The Ministry headed by Tambroni had obtained the confidence of the Chamber in April with the decisive vote of the MSI. Three Christian Democrat ministers ( Bo, Pastore , and Sullo ) and three undersecretaries ( Antonio Pecoraro, Nullo Biagi , and Lorenzo Spallino ) immediately left the government. The DC leadership had to ask the Tambroni Cabinet to resign. After appointing Fanfani to attempt to form a tripartite government with the support of the PSI—an attempt that was once again thwarted by internal DC opposition—Gronchi rejected Tambroni's resignation. At the end of April, Tambroni had also won the Senate's confidence, again with the decisive votes of monarchists and MSI members. The DC had voted for a "technical" confidence vote "until October 31st ," to ensure approval of the budget.

The situation was murky, confusing, and tense. But the casus belli had arisen with the Italian Social Movement's decision to hold its national congress in Genoa. To the citizens of the Ligurian capital, the idea that Giorgio Almirante 's neo-fascists could gather for a congress in their city, a Gold Medal of the Resistance recipient, had seemed an intolerable provocation. And it was clear that the MSI members could only allow it because they were protected by the government, determined to protect them because they were crucial to its majority. Work stoppages had begun almost spontaneously in the port and factories, and university professors had then marched; the protests were widespread and widespread: it was said that even the bedside tables in the bedrooms of the hotels booked for the congress had the words " Fascists out of Genoa" written on them. And above all, thousands upon thousands of very young people had taken to the streets, at their first demonstration: a new generation in the field, who, due to their distinctive clothing, were dubbed "the generation of the striped shirts ." The police crackdown was harsh, with clashes, injuries, and arrests. On June 28, Sandro Pertini spoke at a large demonstration organized by the PCI, PSI, PSDI, PRI, Radicals, and partisan associations. On June 30, a large anti-fascist march was violently blocked by police, leaving 38 injured.

In Genoa, the protests responded by declaring a general strike, while the protests spread to other Italian cities. The demonstration called in Rome took place in this context. So, preceded by the procession, we moved along Viale Aventino. After a few steps, before even reaching Porta San Paolo, all hell broke loose: the cavalry, led by Raimondo d'Inzeo, charged the head of the procession, which was being sprayed with colored water from fire hoses, and riot police vans intervened. The crowd dispersed through the gardens behind the Ostiense post office, up the steps leading between the houses toward Santa Saba, and through the streets of the nearby Testaccio neighborhood. A veritable urban guerrilla war broke out: the protesters defended themselves from the charges by throwing whatever objects they could find at the police. Franco Rodano, Ugo Bartesaghi , and I somehow managed to escape unharmed and dry amidst the chaos. However, Pietro Ingrao and a Socialist MP from Bologna, the Honorable Gian Guido Borghese, were wounded by truncheons and immediately taken to the Chamber: they entered the chamber bleeding, where a real uproar ensued.

The decision to carry the wreath to Porta San Paolo would have far-reaching consequences: the events in Rome—the attack on the parliamentarians leading the procession, and the wounding of several of them— triggered general strikes and demonstrations across Italy, triggering a series of dramatic clashes: five were killed by police on July 7 in Reggio Emilia, four in Palermo , and Catania on July 8. On the 9th, 80,000 people attended the funeral of those killed in Reggio Emilia. On July 19, the Tambroni government was forced to resign. Fanfani returned to power; a single-party Christian Democrat government was formed, which won the confidence of the Senate on August 3 and the Chamber of Deputies on August 5, thanks to the favorable votes of the DC, PSDI, PRI , and PLI , and the abstention of the socialists and monarchists. They voted against the Communists and the MSI: Aldo Moro called it—a definition as contradictory as it was destined to remain famous—the "government of parallel convergences." After months of maneuvering, street clashes, deaths and injuries, a new phase in Italian politics was dawning: Socialist abstention paved the way for the center-left, a path, however, still long and tortuous.