Junio Valerio Borghese, a member of a princely family, also participated in the Second World War as commander of the Xª MAS Flotilla, one of the most ruthless units of the Italian Social Republic. After the conflict, he agreed with U.S. intelligence services, which shielded him from many convictions, viewing him as a valuable anti-communist asset in the Cold War context. This protection enabled Borghese to establish ties with the Italian far right, where he became known as the "Black Prince," a reference to his aristocratic lineage.
In the following years, he joined the Italian Social Movement, which he left in 1968 to found his political organisation: the National Front. Subsequently, he allied himself with other neo-fascist groups such as Ordine Nuovo and Avanguardia Nazionale, led respectively by Clemente Graziani and Stefano Delle Chiaie, as well as many members of the Carabinieri and the military. Together, they orchestrated a conspiracy aimed at seizing control of the Ministries of the Interior and Defence, the headquarters of the national broadcaster RAI, and at arresting several members of Parliament. This coup intended to pave the way for the establishment of a new fascist dictatorship under Borghese's leadership. Under his rule, Italy was to align itself with the contemporary authoritarian regimes of Spain, Greece, and Portugal, while also maintaining its alliance with the United States, which would, in return, provide financial aid in exchange for the deployment of Italian troops to support the U.S. in the Vietnam War.
The coup was launched on the night between the 7th and the 8th of December 1970, during a period marked by economic crises, fragile governments, terrorist attacks, and violent clashes between far-left and far-right factions. Initially, operations seemed to unfold according to plan, until Borghese received a phone call. After hanging up, he ordered his men to retreat. The caller's identity remains unknown, but whoever it was had succeeded in persuading Borghese to abandon his plans and flee to Francisco Franco's Spain, where he died in 1974.
The attempted coup was only uncovered several months later, leading to numerous judicial investigations targeting military personnel and neo-fascists. However, these proceedings were slow and obstructed by deliberate misdirection, the absence of official documentation, and political interference. In 1986, the Court of Cassation acquitted all defendants due to insufficient evidence. Nevertheless, Italy stood on the brink of dictatorship that night, and only a mysterious phone call averted it.