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How did the escalation of left-wing terrorism by the Red Army Faction (RAF) during the “German Autumn” of 1977 compel the West German state to redefine the balance between civil liberties and internal security, and to what extent did this crisis represent the final maturation of the Federal Republic’s post-war democracy? This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the “German Autumn” (Deutscher Herbst) of 1977, the peak of the conflict between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Red Army Faction (RAF). It traces the ideological evolution of the RAF from the student protests of 1968 to the militant underground,…
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How did the West German student movement of 1968, primarily defined by a generational conflict over the Nazi past (“the revolt against the fathers”), fundamentally democratize and liberalize the sociocultural landscape of the Federal Republic, despite failing to achieve its revolutionary political goals? This article examines the seismic cultural shifts of the late 1960s in West Germany, centering on the “68er” generation. It analyzes the movement’s dual origins: the global anti-Vietnam War protests and the specifically German confrontation with the “Auschwitz generation.” The article explores the formation of the Extra-Parliamentary Opposition (APO) in response to the Grand Coalition and the…