FRG: Opposition, Control, consent 1.2 Flashcards
Youth protests during the 1960s
Young objected to ‘year zero’ whilst the army wanted to confront Nazi past
- they especially objected ex-Nazis in political power
Protests in FRG military (due to its involvement with West through NATO & building of atomic weapons
Young people joined rising discontent with the way USA was conducting war in Vietnam (USA was seen as repressive and capitalistic)
Who were the APO?
Ausserparliamentarische Opposition (came about due to the distrust of young intellectuals for the conservative govt)
- Revised policies of SPD in 1959 left people on the left wing like students feeling unrepresented
- high university membership (student protest)
- used films e.g. Viva Maria! to show a radical, revolutionary lifestyle with the use of armaments for social revolution
Who were the SDS?
German Socialist Student Union: part of SPD that broke off in 1961 (felt party was becoming less radical)
- SDS protested about Vietnam war and nuclear weapons
- protested abotu former Nazis holding office + involvement with NATO
Riots caused by the SDS 1965-1968
1967 demonstrations against human rights record of Iran, a student (Benno Ohnesorg) was shot= increase in membership of SDS but split in the amount of violence necessary)
April 1968 Rudi Dutschke was shot by right wing fanatic during the Easter riots
–> SDS took part on the 11 May 1968 against Emengecy law where 80K people protested about basic law
Changes in the 1970s to opposition
Emergency law reduced the amount of protests but caused increased levels of violence by resorting to terrorism
- e.g Most well known is the Baader-Meinhof gang
Baader-Meinhof gang: Who were they?
set up in early 1970, first action was bombing of Dahlem in May 1970
- Red Army Faction (RAF) and was influenced by Carlos Mirighella’s Minimanual for the Urban Guerrilla published 1969 June
-group went to Jordan to train with Palestinian terror group PLO
-By end of 1970 most gang leaders were in prison and called for hunger strikes
1970 Hungar strike: who died in November?
Hoglar Meins died
–> resulted in bombings of homes of several lawyers and judges involved in sending members to prison
by 1975 most of the members were arrested and sentenced to jail
Time line of terrorist activities from 1968-75
1969 Nov: West Berlin Tupamaros formed ( they set off a series of bombs in west Berlin)
1970 May: terrorist attack on the Dahlem Institute for Social research (staff member killed in shooting)
1971 Jan: Baader-Meinhof robs more banks
Feb: Socialist Patients Collective SPK try to bomb the train of the president of FRG (by July absorbed into Baader-Meinhof
1972 May: headquarters of US army in Frankfurt is bombed + US army base in Heidelberg + police stations in Augsburg and Munich
How did the FRG police the people?
Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz BfV was set up in 1950 // Bundesnachrichtendienst BND set up in 1956
- both could investigate people they suspected of working against basic law
- BfV worked only inside Germany and reported to minister of interior // BND reported directly to chancellor and conducted abroad
Both hampered by civil liberties under Basic Law (could not search houses, monitor calls or open mail
What law were the govt trying to pass to supplement the basic law for BND?
To give additional powers of arrest and detention (govt tried to pass it in 1960, 62 and 65 whilst finally being passed on 1968
- known as emergency law
What was BEFA?
Set up in 1977, it was a central police surveillance system that provided computerised access to police info across the country
How did Emergency law benefit the police?
allowed police to track down terrorists even whilst they were on the move
- much more successful after the Beobachtende Fahndung (BEFA) was introduced (system that gave BND centralised access to all police info in FRG
After the shooting of Israeli athletes in Munich olympics 1972, what was formed
Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (GSG-9): special operations unit with close links to British SAS and USA;s delta force operating world wide
- 17th Oct 1977: successful rescue of hostages on a hijacked plane
What was the decree passed in January 1972?
Radikalenerlass (Anti-radical decree)
- allowed for political vetting of everyone applying for a state job (from teachers to postmen and civil servants)
Nuremberg trials
war crime trials held by Nuremberg for Nazi leaders
- first trial held on 18th Oct 1945
- Of 22 defendants, 12 sentenced to death, 3 had life imprisonment and rest went to prisoN
