Narrative
Narrative of the Organization's History
Narrative of the Organization's History
Leadership, Name Changes, Size Estimates, Resources, Geographic Locations
Ideology, Aims, Political Activities, Targets, and Tactics
First Attacks, Largest Attacks, Notable Attacks
Foreign Designations and Listings, Community Relations, Relations with Other Groups, State Sponsors and External Influences
Mapping relationships with other militant groups over time in regional maps
The October 22 Circle sought to organize the proletariat to defend against a feared fascist coup but had no clear proactive goal.[12] Most members of the group were disaffected former members of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) who viewed the party as ineffective and insufficiently revolutionary.[13] The Circle did not explicitly seek to overthrow the state, unlike later groups of the Italian militant left.[14]
Many members of the October 22 Circle were former members of the Italian Communist Party (PCI). They left the PCI disillusioned over its reformist stance and its perceived inability to challenge state power.[15]
Members of the October 22 Circle lived openly in Genoa and participated in protests and distributed propaganda leaflets.[16] On a few occasions they also spread propaganda by hijacking state radio and television waves.[17]
The October 22 Circle at first discussed conducting guerilla warfare from the mountains north of Genoa, but soon embraced urban guerilla warfare. They used a manual written by Brazilian revolutionary Carlos Marighella as their guide.[18] They also spread propaganda through hijacked state radio and television waves.[19]
The Circle attempted to bomb symbols of state power and capitalism, including an oil refinery and police barracks. The choice of such targets was tied to specific grievances such as rising gas prices.[20] The group was also accused of two failed bombing attempts, one against a socialist political party and one against the US Embassy, but members later denied involvement.[21] The group planted bombs at night, both to avoid detection and to minimize the likelihood of civilian casualties.[22]
The group carried out no targeted assassinations, unlike later leftist terrorist groups; its one killing was an accidental result of a failed robbery attempt.[23] The group committed one kidnapping to raise funds through ransom.[24]
Disclaimer: These are some selected major attacks in the militant organization's history. It is not a comprehensive listing but captures some of the most famous attacks or turning points during the campaign.
April 12, 1970: October 22 Circle members were accused of a failed attempted bombing of the US consulate in Genoa (0 killed).[25]
October 5, 1970: Three October 22 Circle members kidnapped the son of a wealthy industrialist for ransom in Genoa. It was the first kidnapping perpetrated by the Italian terrorist left. They released him in exchange for a ransom payment on October 11. (0 killed).[26]
February 18, 1971: October 22 Circle members bombed an oil refinery. (0 killed).[27]
March 26, 1971: Two October 22 Circle members attempted to rob an affordable housing organization in Genoa and accidentally killed an employee. (1 killed).[28]
The relationship between the October 22 Circle and the communities in which it resided is unknown.
The October 22 Circle collaborated with the Genoa branch of the larger left-wing terrorist organization Partisan Action Groups (GAP), beginning in 1970. GAP supported the October 22 Circle by facilitating its illegal propaganda broadcasts over state airwaves and may have assisted it financially as well. GAP helped hide one member of the October 22 Circle who fled capture after mistakenly killing a man during an armed robbery. It is not clear whether the two groups coordinated attacks.[29] However, GAP tended to limit its contacts with the October 22 Group out of concern about the group's discipline.
GAP absorbed the remainder of the October 22 Circle after most of the Circle's members were jailed.[30] GAP was itself later absorbed by the BR.[31]
The October 22 Circle disintegrated by 1971, but its members' imprisonment became a famous cause for other terrorist leftist groups. The BR kidnapped the Genoa magistrate who had prosecuted October 22 Circle members and demanded their release in exchange for the magistrate's freedom.[32] A court at first granted and then blocked the exchange, and the magistrate was released while the eight former October 22 Circle members remained behind bars.[33]
The October 22 Circle was influenced by 1960s leftist guerrilla movements worldwide, especially Latin American revolutionaries in Cuba, Brazil, Bolivia, and Uruguay, as well as the Viet Cong.[34]
[1] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 145. Members have denied involvement in this attack, and no member of October 22 Circle was ever convicted for it.
[2] Marino, Antonio. "La banda ‘XXII ottobre’ a Genova e la malavita come terrorismo." Gnosis Rivista Italiana di Intelligence. n. 1/2006. Available: http://www.sisde.it/gnosis%5CRivista6.nsf/servnavig/11?Open&Highlight=2,...
[3] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 71.
[4] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 80.
[5] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 80.
[6] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 145.
[7] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 73.
[8] Weinberg, Leonard, and William Lee Eubank. The Rise and Fall of Italian Terrorism. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987. p. 59; Marino, Antonio. "La banda ‘XXII ottobre’ a Genova e la malavita come terrorismo." Gnosis Rivista Italiana di Intelligence. n. 1/2006.
[9] Marino, Antonio. "La banda ‘XXII ottobre’ a Genova e la malavita come terrorismo." Gnosis Rivista Italiana di Intelligence. n. 1/2006. Available: http://www.sisde.it/gnosis%5CRivista6.nsf/servnavig/11?Open&Highlight=2,xxii+ottobre
[10] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 90. and Weinberg, Leonard, and William Lee Eubank. The Rise and Fall of Italian Terrorism. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987. p. 59.
[11] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. pp. 90.
[12] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 80.
[13] Pisano, Vittorfranco S. Terrorism and Security : the Italian Experience : Report of the Subcommittee On Security and Terrorism of the Committee On the Judiciary, United States Senate. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1984. p. 13 and Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 79.
[14] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 12.
[15] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. pp. 79 - 80.
[16] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. pp. 88-89.
[17] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 91.
[18] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 87.
[19] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 145.
[20] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 80.
[21] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. pp. 91, 145.
[22] Marino, Antonio. "La banda ‘XXII ottobre’ a Genova e la malavita come terrorismo." Gnosis Rivista Italiana di Intelligence. n. 1/2006. Available: http://www.sisde.it/gnosis%5CRivista6.nsf/servnavig/11?Open&Highlight=2,...
[23] Marino, Antonio. "La banda ‘XXII ottobre’ a Genova e la malavita come terrorismo." Gnosis Rivista Italiana di Intelligence. n. 1/2006. Available: http://www.sisde.it/gnosis%5CRivista6.nsf/servnavig/11?Open&Highlight=2,...
[24] Marino, Antonio. "La banda ‘XXII ottobre’ a Genova e la malavita come terrorismo." Gnosis Rivista Italiana di Intelligence. n. 1/2006. Available: http://www.sisde.it/gnosis%5CRivista6.nsf/servnavig/11?Open&Highlight=2,...
[25] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 145.
[26] Marino, Antonio. "La banda ‘XXII ottobre’ a Genova e la malavita come terrorismo." Gnosis Rivista Italiana di Intelligence. n. 1/2006. Available: http://www.sisde.it/gnosis%5CRivista6.nsf/servnavig/11?Open&Highlight=2,xxii+ottobre; Pisano, Vittorfranco S.
[27] Marino, Antonio. "La banda ‘XXII ottobre’ a Genova e la malavita come terrorismo." Gnosis Rivista Italiana di Intelligence. n. 1/2006. Available: http://www.sisde.it/gnosis%5CRivista6.nsf/servnavig/11?Open&Highlight=2,xxii+ottobre
[28] Pisano, Vittorfranco S. Terrorism and Security : the Italian Experience : Report of the Subcommittee On Security and Terrorism of the Committee On the Judiciary, United States Senate. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1984. p. 77.
[29] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. pp. 101 - 104.
[30] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 104.
[31] Pisano, Vittorfranco S. Terrorism and Security : the Italian Experience : Report of the Subcommittee On Security and Terrorism of the Committee On the Judiciary, United States Senate. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1984. p. 13.
[32] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 142.
[33] Paul J. Smith, "The Italian Red Brigades (1969-1984): Political Revolution and Threats to the State," Armed Groups: Studies in National Security, Counterterrorism, and Counterinsurgency, 2008. p. 1. Retrieved April 23, 2012 from http://jeffnorwitz.com/Documents/2%20The%20Italian%20Red%20Brigades.pdf
[34] Piano, Paolo. "22 Ottobre" : Un Progetto Di Lotta Armata a Genova (1969-1971). Genova: Annexia, 2005. p. 81.