FRG Opposition Flashcards
What state organisations dealt with opposition to the FRG?
(3)
- 1950, BfV founded; aimed to arrest people undermining the Basic Law, reported to the Minister of the Interior, only dealt with internal opponents of the FRG
- 1956, BND established; same goal as BfV, reported directly to the Chancellor, dealt with some foreign investigations too
–> investigatory powers limited by the Basic Law; Adenauer + his successors tried to give more power to these organisations but failed - 1972 kidnapping of Israeli athletes at Munich Olympics –> creation of the GSG-9 (special operations unit against terrorism)
How else did the FRG government react to opposition?
(2)
- 1968, violence from students + protests –> passing of the Emergency Law; gave security services and police greater powers
- 1977, BEFA system created; centralised all police records
How did the government try to root out extremism in the civil service?
(2)
- 1949, employment restrictions in government; banned the employment of people who were associated with extremist organisations
–> seldom applied; less than 100 people lost their jobs due to it
–> contradicted by Article 131 & Adenauer’s attempt to employ former Nazis in the civil service - 1972, Anti-Radical Decree; necessitated the political vetting of all those who applied for a state job (inc. teaching, civil service)
APO
(4)
Extra-Parliamentary Opposition;
- political protest movement; mainly students + young people
- need to express hard-left political voice (KPD banned)
- disillusion with ‘Grand Coalition’ between the SPD + CDU/CSU (controlled 95% of Bundestag)
- most prominent member + unofficial spokesman = Rudi Dutsche
SDS
(5)
German Socialist Student Union;
- 1961, SPD moved right & expelled all SDS members from the party
- opposed FRG’s political involvement in the Vietnam War and its use of nuclear weapons
- objected to the Nulle Stunde + high number of ex-Nazis in office
- 1968, membership peaked at 2,500
- 1970, SDS disbanded
When did the opposition from the SDS + APO reach its peak?
(3)
1968 full scale riots, student rebellion, strikes
- April 1968, Rudi Dutsche shot by right-wing fanatic who had read a criticism of the student protests published by conservative newspaper owner Axel Springer
- –> ‘Easter Riots’; attacks on the offices of Springer Press throughout Germany
How did opposition to the FRG change in the 1970s?
(2)
- government repression = certain groups (left wing) felt marginalised
- 60s opposition was political, this was led underground by the government –> 70s opposition became terrorism
RAF
(7)
Red Army Faction/Baader-Meinhof Gang;
- trained in Jordan with the PLO (Palestinian Terrorist Group)
- May 1970, bombed the Dahlem Institute
- by the end of 1970 most RAF leaders in prison + hunger strinking
- robbed over 30 banks
- May 1972, bombed US army HQ in Frankfurt, US army base in Heidelburg, Hamburg HQ of Springer Press, car of judge who signed arrest warrants for other RAF members
- 1975, all RAF members arrested + some in solitary confinement
Examples of other terrorist groups in the FRG during the 1970s
(4)
- West Berlin Tupamaros
- Kommune I; tried + failed to bomb Nixon’s motorcade in Berlin in 1969
- Socialist Patients Collective (SPK); tried to FRG President’s train in 1971
- Movement 2
How much sympathy was there for the RAF?
(2)
1970 public poll showed that;
- 1/5 Germans felt some sympathy for the Baader-Meinhof Gang
- 5% of Germans would harbour one of the members in their house for a night if they were on the run
How was support for the FRG expressed?
(3)
- voter turnout only dipped below 84% in 1949 (first free election since 1933) –> suggests much support for the system of democracy
- research showed that the number of people who felt the Bundestag represented public interest doubled between 1951 and 1964
- 1960s, surveys showed that majority of Germans felt that the FRG was the best time in German history + democracy was the best kind of government
How many neo-Nazi groups were there in the FRG?
early 1960s, around 70 neo-Nazi groups
–> 1964, calls for them to unite as the National Democratic Party (NPD)
How successful was the NPD?
(5)
- failed to ever gain seats on the Bundestag; peaked at 4.3% in 1969
- rising xenophobia; fear of guest workers
- resembled the Nazi party; beat up journalists at rallies
- harmed the FRG’s international reputation
- economic problems that had facilitated its growth eased
Parties that were banned under Article 21
(4)
- 1950, 11 communist organisations banned (including 1 youth organisation)
- 1952, Socialist Reich Party banned; neo-Nazi
- 1953, League of German Youth banned; extremist right-wing party, assassinated 40 people
- 1956, KPD banned; 1953 uprising in Berlin
