An "unaccomplished memory": the strategy of tension in Italy (1969-1993) and Piazza Fontana bombing in Milan (December 12, 1969)

In Italy the ‘strategy of tension’ period represents a still very obscure time in country’s recent history. The terrorist attacks that took place from 1969 to 1993 have never been included in the Italian public discourse. Can one imagine that this is due to various forms of instigated amnesia? It seems to be an ‘unaccomplished memory’ that could never be inscribed in the international public discourse. When ‘State Terror’ occurred in Italy, access to legal and political arenas was systematically denied and cultural trauma process could be performed only in aesthetic arenas. After addressing the hypothesis of the role played by international secret services (especially CIA) in the Italian ‘strategy of tension’, the chapter focuses on a case study of the first Italian terrorist attack happened in Piazza Fontana (Milan, 12 December 1969) and analyses the social trajectories of this public memory.