Years of Lead is an European

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 phenomenon not unrelated to the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, characterized by left and right-wing terrorism

Terrorism

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

 and the strategy of tension

Strategy of tension

The strategy of tension is a theory that describes how to divide, manipulate, and control public opinion using fear, propaganda, disinformation, psychological warfare, agents provocateurs, and false flag terrorist actions....

. Some terrorist groups include the German Red Army Faction

Red Army Faction

The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...

, and the French Action Directe

Action Directe

Action Directe is French for direct action. It may refer to:* Action directe , the 1970s and 1980s French urban guerrilla group* Action Directe , the rock climb...

. In Belgium, the années de plomb or "Bloody Eighties", refers to the Brabant massacres which resulted in 28 deaths. The far-right movement Westland New Post

Westland New Post

Westland New Post was a Belgian extreme right-wing organization founded in March 1981 by Paul Latinus and members of the Front de la Jeunesse...

 (WNP) has been suspected in this campaign. Attacks by the Communist Combatant Cells

Communist Combatant Cells

Cellules Communistes Combattantes was a Belgian terrorist organization committed to a Communist ideology....

, a short-lived group, killed two. Many of the right wing groups involved have been linked to Operation Gladio

Operation Gladio

Operation Gladio is the codename for a clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy after World War II. Its purpose was to continue anti-communist actions in the event of a shift to a Communist party led government...

.

List of Years of Lead

• Years of lead (Brazil) (anos de chumbo), from 1968 to 1974
• Years of lead (Italy) (anni di piombo), terrorism, later 1960s-later 80s
• Years of lead (Morocco)
  Years of Lead (Morocco)
  The Years of Lead is the term used especially by former opponents to the rule of King Hassan II of Morocco to describe a period of his rule marked by state violence against dissidents and democracy activists.-Timeframe:...
  
   (سنوات الرصاص‎ Sanawāt ar-Ruṣāṣ/années de plomb), government violence, 1960s-80s
• Years of lead (Argentina)
  Dirty War
  The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
  
   (años de plomo), circa 1970 to 1983

Film

French Les années de plomb, Italian Anni di piombo, and Portuguese Anos de chumbo, all meaning Years of Lead, are also the French, Italian and Portuguese titles of the 1981 West German film Die bleierne Zeit (literally: The Period of Lead) about the RAF period in Germany (English titles: The German Sisters (UK); Marianne and Juliane (USA)).