Extra-Parliamentary opposition and pressure 1960s/70s

Question 1

What were the reasons for the student protests?

Answer 1

• Lack of democracy (1966 Grand Coalition had only the Free Democrats as opposition which was under 10% of gov)
• Emergency laws
• Global wars (Shah of Iran)
• Mistrust of the previous generation
• Nazis in power (Hans Globke, Herbert Blankenhorn, Kiesinger himself)

Question 2

What did Beate Klarsfeld do?

Answer 2

Slapped Kiesinger at a party conference and shouts ‘Nazi! Nazi!’

Question 3

What were the Frankfurt-Auschwitz trials?

Answer 3

• 1963-5
• Tried 22 Nazi personnel who served at Auschwitz
• Heavily televised

Question 4

What was the Eichmann trial?

Answer 4

• 1961
• Jerusalem, Israel
• Adolf Eichmann, major Holocaust perpetrator, tried
• He’d organised the transportation of over 1.5 million Jews to death camps

Question 5

What was the APO? Why was it set up?

Answer 5

• Extra-parliamentary opposition set to up provide opposition to the Grand Coalition
• Also wanted to protect against Emergency Laws

Question 6

What are sit-ins?

Answer 6

A type of protest where participants occupy a public space and refuse to move

Question 7

What were the sit ins at the Free University of Berlin?

Answer 7

• 1966
• 4000 participants
• University specific issues
• Protest semester limits
• Also want more democracy in universities eg seats on university governing boards
• Provoked political activism elsewhere

Question 8

What was the Shah of Iran protest?

Answer 8

• Shah of Iran on a state visit
• Goes to the opera with the mayor of Berlin
• Violent protests happen against the Shah’s dictatorial regime
• People put bags on their heads with the Shah’s face
• Iranian secret agents begin beating up protestors
• Police use force

Question 9

What happened to Benno Ohnesorg in the Shah of Iran protests?

Answer 9

• First time protestor
• Shot in the head by a police, later revealed to be a gun fanatic
• Died from his injuries
• Policeman later acquitted and the German authorities attempt to cover up the incident

Question 10

What did Benno Ohnesorg’s death provoke?

Answer 10

• Led to formation of the July 2nd Movement
• People want to avenge his death at a meeting that happened after the Shah of Iran protest

Question 11

What did Gudrun Ensslin exclaim after Ohnesorg’s death?

Answer 11

“those pigs are trying to murder us all. Auschwitz generation’

Question 12

What happened to Rudi Dutschke in 1968?

Answer 12

• A Neo-Nazi approached Dutschke and called him a dirty communist pig
• He then shot him three times
• He survives, but died as a direct result of his injuries about a decade later

Question 13

What was the Mogadishu incident?

Answer 13

• 1977
• PLO captures a plane of German holiday makers
• This plane makes many stops over 5 days before landing in Somalia, Mogadishu
• PLO then demands that Schmidt release RAF prisoners
• Plane is stormed and 3/4 hijackers are killed
• All passengers emerge alive, only the pilot is killed