Rightist Violence: An Historical Perspective
Author(s):
The aim of this essay is to trace the evolution of extreme right-wing violence by paying
close attention to its changing patterns from the late nineteenth century to the present.
Its basic subject is the specific form of violent actions that have historically emerged from
the Right. As such, it takes the form of a study of deeds rather than propaganda. This
paper will go on to discuss the perpetrators and methods of right-wing violence from its
statist emergence in the late nineteenth century to its pivot in the early twentieth century
to taking the ‘low route’ to power, as Italian fascists and Nazi stormtroopers developed
strategies focused upon the ‘conquest of the streets’. This essay will conclude by asking:
having examined the historical violence of its antecedents, just how tactically innovative
is today’s right-wing violence?