(v.l.) Today marked the start of a conference organized by the Center for Italo-Germanic Studies in collaboration with the Institute for Contemporary History of Munich.

“The terrorism phenomenon of the 70s is probably finished, but terrorism is still here. The meaning of the word has enlarged in the meantime. During this conference we will ask what connections there are, beyond the meaning of the word, with today’s terrorism, above all international terrorism. The approach to these subjects will be rigorously scientific; and we will make a comparative analysis between the German and the Italian situations.” That’s how Gian Enrico Rusconi, director of the Center for Italo-Germanic Studies, introduced the conference on “Social protests and political violence in Italy and Federal Germany” organized in collaboration with the Institute for Contemporary History (Institut f¸r Zeitgeschichte) of Munich.
Following a March conference dedicated to 1968, this second event organized by the history center focused on the forms of reaction against terrorism in Italy and Germany, in particular in the 70s and 80s. The conference opens in fact in the days that mark the 30th anniversary of the 1978 killing of Aldo Moro, the once prime minister of Italy.
Italian and German experts will confer on different aspects of the question in these two days, ending with a final discussion tomorrow at FBK’s Aula Grande in Via S. Croce 77.
With a comparative perspective of Italian and German antiterrorism politics, the four sessions will examine the contribution of the police in repressing terrorism; the trials, public opinion and giornalistic debate of those years; the ideas of the State; and the fight against terrorism.
Following Rusconi’s introdution, two historians from the Munich institute spoke: Tobias Hof and Johannes Hörter (conference scientific coordinator together with Rusconi). The two spoke about the antiterrorism politics of Italy and Germany. Next were the presentations of Vladimiro Satta and Matthias Dahlk who spoke on the role of the police in the two countries.
The afternoon session includes presentations by Giancarlo Caselli, head prosecuting attorney of Torino with a presentation on the Red Brigades trial in Torino, and Gisela Diewald (University of Bielefeld) who presents on the Stammhein trial. The final session is dedicated to public opinion and the media by Ermanno Taviani (University of Catania) and Hanno Balz (University of Bremen).