FRG Opposition Consent And Control Flashcards
What feature of the basic law meant that opposition could express itself again?
Basic law made it clear that there should be freedom of speech, freedom of the press and no cencorship
Why was political dissent not important during the 50s?
There were bigger issues at the time, such as rebuilding a strong government, avoiding mistakes of Weimar.
Building a sense of identity whilst leaving room for reunification with east Germany
Rebuilding the economy and physically rebuilding the country
Establishing the FRG as a moderate member of Europe. Even the KPD said it wanted socialism not revolution
Despite there being little dissent in the 50s, there was still some. What was this
During the 1949 elections the biggest party, the SPD, were not in the coalition because people wanted a moderate line and these two parties would trod over that line. It consisted of the CDU, FDP and the DP. Therforw during the 1950s, the spd became the voice of opposition. They criticised Adenauer’s approach to the membership of the nazi party and desire to integrate into Europe as actions of making reunification impossible
How did the government control political parties during the 50s
An article in the basic law said parties could be banned if they threatened the constitution or the principles of democracy. The right wing socialist party was banned in 1952 because it held views reminiscent of the Nazis, therefore threatening democracy. Similarly the KPD banned in 1956 after holding communist demonstrations in Munich in 1953 here 6000 communists clashed with the police.
What was youth protest
The baby boomer generation had been caught up in a feeling of youth protest and showed this in the FRG through a number of ways.
What did young protest oppose?
They objected ‘year zero’ and and wanted to confront nazi Germanys past. They especially opposed the fact that ex Nazis held positions in political power. They adopted the slogan ‘what did you do in the war daddy?’. It was used to taunt the older generation
Why were there youth protests about the military?
Due to the it’s involvement in nato there was a possibility to start to build up and store atomic weaponry, or to allow nato and other countries to store the atomic weapons in the FRG
Why was there youth protest towards the USA?
There was discontent with the way USA was conducting the war in Vietnam. And for many young people, the USA became the face of money grabbing, repressive capitalism
What was the APO
A party that arose, consisting of left wing intellectuals. Conservative government did not trust them and the KPD was banned so no one could absorb them and the spd revised its policies to be less radical in 1959. This made people on the left wing feel Unrepresented. The APO had many students , most of whom supported radical policies to oppose government. The policies involved more action than argument. They released films such as viva Maria that showed a radical revolutionary lifestyle using weapons for social revolution.
What was the SDS and when and why was it formed
The German socialist student union: had been a part of spd but it broke away in 1961 because it felt the spd was becoming less radical and no longer represented its feelings over rearmament. SDS protested about Vietnam war and nuclear weapons, as well as the fact that former Nazis held positions in the govt.
Who was the leader of the sds?
From 1965, the leader was Rudi Dutschke, who was responsible for the escalating violence of student demonstrations. In 1967, during demonstrations against the human rights record of Iran, a student was shot. This lead to more SDS membership, but a split on how violent demonstrators should be. Some thought that violence was the only answer to violence when it came to the auschwitz generation
Due to control of the emergency law, protests went down, however what rose because of this?
Due to more controlled, parties felt marginalised and so there was an increase in violence and terrorism. Terrorist groups were fluid. They formed, joined each other, changed their names, split, then fell apart all the time. Regular gun battles with police often several times a month. The government put up posters of wanted terrorists, appealing to the public to turn them in.
What was the biggest and most long lived terrorist group
The Baader Meinhof gang set up in 1970 and was first known form bombing Dahlem in May 1970. They call themselves the Red Army Faction. They were influenced by a book that talked about urban guerrilla: ‘mini-manual for the urban gruerrila’ . The BMG received training with the Palestinian terrorist group the PLO.The BMG published a book that talked about the concept of the urban guerrilla. By the end of 1970s the BMG leaders were almost all in prison. When a hunger striker died, the homes of several lawyers and judges involved in the trials were bombed.
What happened to the BMG by 1975
Most of the BMG was arrested and some placed in solitary. There were bombings in places like Stockholm to support them but terrorism quickly died out, due to government activity and a feeling that terrorism was not achieving anything. Bombings still occurred throughout the 80s but it was very rare
What did a public poll in 1970 tell us about the BMG
1 in 5 people felt sympathy for the BMG and would be willing to offer them to stay in their house for the night if they were on the run, demonstrating that government action against these groups were not always popular.
