The Far-Right:
A History

Below we cover a brief history of significant far-right incidents in Europe. Starting after WWII our goal is to explore some of the significant impact the modern far-right has had across our continent. It is important to highlight how these major incidents have shaped the movement to provide a cohesive understanding of its growth and evolution over the years. 

By examining these major incidents and their contexts, one can trace the far-right’s ideological shifts, recruitment strategies, and the impact of technological advancements on their dissemination of hate. This historical perspective provides valuable insights into the complex evolution of far-right movements in Europe over several decades.

1961
1961

The Vitry-Le-François train bombing of 18 June 1961 was a bomb attack on a Strasbourg–Paris train carried out by the Organisation armée secrète (OAS), a far-right paramilitary organization opposed to the independence of Algeria in the Algerian War. Read more.

1969
1969

The Piazza Fontana bombing was a terrorist attack that occurred on 12 December 1969 when a bomb exploded at the headquarters of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura (the National Agricultural Bank) in Piazza Fontana in Milan, Italy, killing 17 people and wounding 88. The same afternoon, another bomb exploded in a bank in Rome, and another was found unexploded in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The attack was carried out by the far-right, neo-fascist paramilitary terrorist group Ordine Nuovo and possibly certain undetermined collaborators. Read more.

1973
1973
On 14 December 1973, the far-right Charles Martel Group orchestrated a bomb attack at the Consulate of Algeria, killing 4 people and injuring 20.The group targeted mostly Algerian targets several more times.
Read more.
1974
1974
The Piazza della Loggia bombing was a bombing that took place on the morning of 28 May 1974, in Brescia, Italy during an anti-fascist protest. The terrorist attack killed eight people and wounded 102. The bomb was placed inside a rubbish bin at the east end of the square. In 2015, a Court of appeal in Milan issued a final life sentence to Ordine Nuovo members Carlo Maria Maggi and Maurizio Tramonte for ordering the bombing.
Read more.
1980
1980
The Bologna massacre was a terrorist bombing of the Bologna Centrale railway station in Bologna, Italy, on the morning of 2 August 1980, which killed 85 people and wounded over 200.Several members of the neo-fascist terrorist organization Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari (NAR, Armed Revolutionary Nuclei) were sentenced for the bombing, although the group denied involvement.
Read more.
1980
1980

The Oktoberfest bombing was a far-right terrorist attack. On 26 September 1980, 13 people were killed (including the perpetrator) and more than 200 injured by the explosion of an improvised explosive device (IED) at the main entrance of the Oktoberfest festival in Munich, West Germany. The bombing was attributed to the right-wing extremist and geology student Gundolf Köhler, who was instantly killed in the attack as the bomb exploded prematurely.

1981
1981

On 13 May 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot and wounded by Mehmet Ali Ağca, a member of Grey Wolves, a Turkish ultranationalist organization.

1988
1988

In the 1988 Cannes and Nice attacks, neo-Nazis posing as Jewish extremists bombed Sonacotra immigrant hostels in 1988, killing one person and hurting sixteen.

 

1993
1993
The Solingen arson attack was one of the most severe instances of xenophobic violence in modern Germany. On the night of 28–29 May 1993, four young German men (ages 16–23) belonging to the far right skinhead scene, with neo-Nazi ties, set fire to the house of a large Turkish family in Solingen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Three girls and two women died; fourteen other family members, including several children, were injured, some of them severely. 
1999
1999
In April 1999, David Copeland, a neo-Nazi, planted a series of nail bombs over 13 days. His attacks, which were aimed at London's black, Bangladeshi, and gay communities, resulted in three dead and more than 100 injured. Copeland was a former member of two far-right political groups, the British National Party (BNP) and the National Socialist Movement
2011
2011

On 13 December 2011, an armed attack occurred in Florence. Two market traders from Senegal, 40-year-old Samb Modou and 54-year-old Diop Mor were killed by Gianluca Casseri, who wounded three other Senegalese traders in another market. According to Florentine prosecutor Giuseppe Quattrocchi, the killer shot himself dead as he was approached by police in a car park. The attack was racially motivated, according to authorities.

2011
2011

The Utøya attack occurred on July 22, 2011, in Norway, when a lone gunman named Anders Behring Breivik targeted a youth camp on the island of Utøya. Disguised as a police officer, Breivik opened fire on the participants of a political youth camp organized by the Labour Party. He systematically shot and killed 69 people, mostly teenagers, and injured many others. This horrifying event was part of a coordinated attack, which also included a bombing in Oslo earlier that day, where eight people were killed. Breivik's motives were rooted in extremist far-right ideology, and the attacks shocked Norway and the world, leading to widespread condemnation and calls for increased vigilance against hate-driven violence.

2016
2016

On 22 July 2016, a mass shooting occurred in the vicinity of the Olympia shopping mall in the Moosach district of Munich, Germany. An 18-year-old Iranian-German, David Sonboly, opened fire on fellow teenagers at a McDonald's restaurant before shooting at bystanders in the street outside and then in the mall itself. Linked to Right Wing material and Xenophobia.

2016
2016
Jo Cox, a Labour MP, was murdered by Far-Right extremist Thomas Mair on the 16th of June 2016. Thomas Mair shot and stabbed Jo Cox multiple times and was heard shouting“Britain First” before the attack.
2017
2017

The Finsbury Park attack on 19/06/2017 targeted the Muslim community. Darren Osbourne drove a van into a group of Muslim worshippers outside a mosque in which one died and nine were injured. Darren was described as being radicalized by the internet by reading information that encouraged the hatred of Muslims and was also known to follow Tommy Robinson, an anti-Islam

and Far-Right activist who was the co-founder of the English Defence League, a Right Wing movement, and the Far-Right group Britain First.

2019
2019

On 2 June 2019, Lübcke was found dead on the terrace of his residence in the village of Istha. He had been shot in the head with a Rossi revolver at close range.  On 15 June 2019, 45-year-old suspect Stephan Ernst was arrested. Ernst was known to have held extreme right-wing political views and had links to the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany(NPD) and the German branch of the British neo-Nazi terrorist group Combat 18 (C18). Ernst had been previously convicted for knife and bomb attacks against targets connected to ethnic minorities in Germany.

2019
2019

On 9 October 2019, a mass shooting broke out near a synagogue and kebab stand in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, resulting in two dead and two others injured. The perpetrator, Stephan Balliet, committed the attack out of antisemitic, antifeminist, and racist beliefs, and he live-streamed the attack on Twitch for 35 minutes.

2020
2020
The Hanau shootings occurred on 19 February 2020, when eleven people were killed and five others wounded in a terrorist shooting spree by a far-right extremist targeting a shisha bar, a bar, and a kiosk in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany.
2022
2022

On 12 October 2022, two people were killed, and a third person was wounded in a shooting in Bratislava, Slovakia. The shooting occurred in front of the Tepláreň gay bar, a well-known spot frequented by the local LGBT community. The deceased individuals were Juraj Vankulič, a non-binary person, and Matúš Horváth, who was bisexual. The perpetrator was found dead the morning after the attack.

The shooting was declared an anti-LGBT hate crime. As of 17 October 2022, it is under investigation and is classified as a terrorist attack.

Far-Right
Interconnections

The Antifascist Europe website serves as an intellectual resource in tracking far-right events across Europe, offering invaluable insights into the movements and connections shaping the region. By meticulously cataloging far-right activities, individuals, groups, parties, and events, the website provides a comprehensive overview of the evolving landscape of extremism.

Antifascist Europe offers a centralized hub where people can access real-time data, enabling a deeper understanding of the far-right’s strategies and networks. By highlighting connections between disparate elements, the website highlights patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed. This, in turn, empowers us to collaborate more effectively, sharing knowledge and resources to counter extremist ideologies.

An Introduction to the Global Far Right

Prof. Mette Wiggen