6 APRIL - Italy: Rome - Poland

MAY - Italy: Bologna (Sala Bossi) - III RP CONGRESS (Extraordinary)

19 MAY - Italy: Rome - Antimilitarism

24 MAY - Italy: Rome - Antimilitarism

2 JUNE - Italy: Milan - Antimilitarism

25 JULY/6AUGUST - Italy: Antimilitarism in the North

24 AUGUST - Italy: Rome - Greece

1 SEPTEMBER - Italy: Rome - Greece

NOVEMBER - Italy: Florence - IV RP CONGRESS

DECEMBER - Italy - Notizie Radicali

9/10 DECEMBER - Italy: Rome - Divorce

Historical References

February. U.S. President Lyndon Johnson refuses to begin peace talks with Vietnam.

April. Military coup in Greece, carried out by the colonels with the support of King Constantine.

June. Six-Day War in the Middle East.

November. Clashes between Greeks and Turks in Cyprus.

6 APRIL - Italy: Rome - Poland

The Radical Party greets President OCHAB of Poland who, as head of the nation, had for years expressed, within the socialist world, aspirations to peace and democracy; also sharing the worry of democratic lay Italians about "clerical claims" in Poland.

MAY - Italy: Bologna (Sala Bossi) - III RP CONGRESS (Extraordinary)

This Congress constituted a real refoundation, introducing new organizational and statutory structures (federal organization in autonomous regional parties), and placing the emphasis on former libertarian objectives, and the adoption of new ones. The motion called upon "...all democratic citizens to help the country to overcome nationalism, and to support anticlericalism, antimilitarism and the struggle for civil rights..."

Concerning the Party’s internationalist outlook, a special committee affirmed that links had been established with other non-nationalist forces, rejecting the myths of also the leftist version of national solidarity, and of the popular fronts. This same orientation characterized Radical action on the antimilitarist front, as it was difficult for a minority party to make an autonomous contribution at a diplomatic level. (INR 74)

Motion approved

Elected organs

Secretary: Gianfranco SPADACCIA

Treasurer: Andrea TORELLI

19 MAY - Italy: Rome - Antimilitarism

The Leadership of the RP launches the following appeal: "In view of the serious international situation (Vietnam War, Ed.), we call upon democratic forces, whose objective is the conversion of military apparatuses into industrial ones, to renew the antimilitarist, pacifist struggle in Italy, The RP National Youth Committee participates in the protest march "against the unjustified invasion, by U.S. troops, of the demilitarized zone bordering on North Vietnam."

24 MAY - Italy: Rome - Antimilitarism

Demonstration at the altar in front of the monument to Victor Emmanuel II, by exponents of the RP, authors, journalists, democrats, pacifists and anarchists: "That there may be no more wars, no more unknown soldiers." A wreath was laid, bearing the inscription:

"1917-1967: in Vietnam they continue to assassinate you - Radical Party"

2 JUNE - Italy: Milan - Antimilitarism

Radicals Andrea VALCARENCHI, Aligi TASCHERA, Giorgio CAVALLI are arrested while handing out satirical antimilitarist leaflets.

25 JULY/6AUGUST - Italy: Antimilitarism in the North

First antimilitarist march from Milan to Vicenza, against military bondage and for the demilitarization of the territory, in association with the campaigns underway in the French province of Larzac. For ten days, while marchers covered 30-40km of the 260km per day on foot, demonstrations and debates were held in the dozens of cities and towns en route. Tens of thousands of leaflets were distributed. pacifists, anarchists, members of the Church and advocates of nonviolence took part.

24 AUGUST - Italy: Rome - Greece

Radical leaders Bandinelli, Rendi and Spadaccia burn a photograph of King Constantine, in front of the Greek Embassy.

1 SEPTEMBER - Italy: Rome - Greece

The three leaders - Bandinelli, Rendi and Spadaccia - are charged (while on bail) with "defamation of a foreign Head of State and unauthorized protest."

NOVEMBER - Italy: Florence - IV RP CONGRESS

A national dimension as the political framework for Radical campaigns and theories is once again rejected. "Antinationalism and antiauthoritarianism are the points of reference necessary to make this campaign equal to (and not merely a part of) those that strong Radical minorities are conducting throughout the world" ... in democratic bourgeois societies, in countries where "state capitalism" is applied, and in developing countries in the process of gaining their independence. (VGL 6). It is a struggle against the new authoritarian technocracy that is being established with the support of military and militarist forces.

The Motion’s aims: "1. Conversion of military apparatuses into industrial ones. 2. Withdrawal from NATO. 3. Demilitarization of the police force. 4. Unilateral denouncement of the Concordat. 5. Confiscation of ecclesiastical and clerical goods. 6. Institution of divorce. 7. Creation of laical, libertarian sexual awareness." While the Congress was being held, the police kept a strict watch on the city for fear of antimilitarist demonstrations. Various congresspeople were arrested, following a raid on the anarchist Berneri Club where they were staying.(EDP 82)

Motion approved

Elected organs:

Secretary: Marco PANNELLA

DECEMBER - Italy - Notizie Radicali

A duplicated bulletin, Notizie Radicali (edited by Giuseppe LOTETA) is launched. It was to become the official party organ until the eighties.

9/10 DECEMBER - Italy: Rome - Divorce

First LID Congress. What set the LID apart was not so much the fact that a decidedly minoritory group like the Radical Party had founded an organization, with open membership, destined to become a massmovement, but the way in which members of various political currents came together in an ad hoc body, not as official representatives of their parties, but as individuals committed to a specific struggle." (INR81)