German student movement of 1960s appeared to be a multilayer political movement radically criticizing and struggling against West Germany (another widespread English name for the Federal Republic of Germany) regime within a decade between 1950 and 1960. It represented a unit of an international student movement, which originated in the United States of America, and was strongly influenced by the Frankfurt school’s founders and further adherents. The movement is considered to be emancipated and mostly antiauthoritarian, i.e. refuting and opposing ‘people domination over people’; contracapitalist positions were expressed as well. Besides, German activism resolutely disproved existent communism systems, however, there were the adherents of separate socialism patterns among the representatives. Censure of Federal Republic of Germany’s accession to power (so called ‘generation of torturers’ from the Third Reich) was another attribute and characteristic trait of the movement along with the struggle against hypocritical sexual morals of 1950s.
German student movement was tightly connected with German history before and after the World War II. Despite being similar to any other international student movements, the German one originated from the specific socioeconomical and political situation. This primarily refers to critics of reconsideration and different interpretation of the national socialist past of Germany, what eventually stimulated students to establish ginger groups gathering adherents and further actionists all over the country, and aiming their energies at committed struggle. At the same time, antifascism and capitalism critics were not as vital in the United States of America as in Germany, as opposed to anti-racist movement for civil rights.
German student movement emerged in 1961 after separation of the Socialist German Student Union (also known as Socialist German Student League) from Social Democratic Party of Germany. The movement’s ending falls at 1969, whereas student movement splitting onto public-interest groups struggling against one another is considered to be the major reason for disintegration. Moreover, by that time in the course of general post-materialistic emancipated reappraisal of policy and revaluation of ideals in German society purely student movement gave rise to another movement embracing different strata of the population which positioned itself as the ‘nonparliamentary opposition’ after Grand coalition foundation in 1966. However, its radicalism considerably outpassed general revaluation of ideals and therefore appeared to be unable to identify itself with the majority of population.
Inception
In 1951 Jerome David Salinger wrote his masterpiece ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, in 1968 John Lennon was singing of revolution. These two events were separated with 17 years within which there occurred certain changes, whose political, cultural, and sociological aspects are believed to be inextricably intertwined.
West European post-war reconstruction involved economical and infrastructure restoration, what stipulated further steep economic upturn and wellbeing improvement. German national socialism evil deeds were herewith almost forgotten.
However, internationally disposed young generation revealed growing aspiration for its ideals, something more than ordinary material security. In 1950s Europe was swept with the craze for existentialism, Jean-Paul Sartre’s works in particular. They implied philosophy of the new thinking rejecting obsolete world-views like religion. An individual in boundless, immense and meaningless world has become the focus of attention. Its mind and intelligence were something what meant to be created by a person only, for instance, selecting the course of life, forming it up, making decisions and taking responsibility or forming the society together with other people.
In the United States of America the Beat Generation literary men, namely Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, and Irwin Allen Ginsberg shaped their views upon the post-war society in the late 1940s – they popularized and propagandized new individual freedom and abstracting from social norms.
This period is also known as time of cultural change in art, as well as in popular and youth culture.
Peak of upsurge and decay
Uncoordinated and disengaged protests of existent world student movements reached their high and maximal tension in 1966 – 1969. These movements opposed to the following issues:
- Vietnam War
- higher education structure (demand for universities’ democratization)
- representative democracy (the major opponent of nonparliamentary opposition)
- technocracy
- role of experts and authoritarian power
- objectiveness and open-mindedness of justice
- affront to civil liberties of women and infringement of their interests in a society
- impact of media upon the society
- armament race during the cold war
- consumer society and consumerism-stipulated environmental pollution
- outdated agreements, norms and values, for instance those concerning sexuality and so called ‘secondary values’.
Entire world protested against the establishment, conformism, older generation and its faith in progress, insincerity and hypocrisy – for example, against the then USA president Lyndon B. Johnson‘s policy and those of Richard Nixon since 1969.
The protest itself became a cultural phenomenon after such celebrities as Joan Baez were singing at demonstrations held by Free Speech Movement or such directors as Michelangelo Antonioni created such cinematographic monuments as ‘Zabriskie Point’.
Parallels
- Japan: there appears a student movement called ‘Zengakuren’
- France: mass riots develop into all-out strike
- Italy: the year 1968 was rich for student protests and fraternization with striking workers as, for instance, at ‘Fiat’ motor factory, the country is overwhelmed with university strikes, disturbances and unrest
- Spain: the state of emergency was introduced after student protests in 1969
- Mexico: students’ mass murder (slaughter in Tlatelolco)
- USA: civil-rights movement (Free Speech Movement) against Vietnam War gathered its pace along with hippie and yippie (Youth International Party) subcultures which afterwards were transformed into protest movement of 1968. This movement was adopted by Black Panther Party for Self-Defense and ‘weathermen’
- Turkey: members of Workers Party of Turkey led by the then student Deniz Gezmish occupied Istanbul University. Socialist student organizations demanded wider rights and powers for universities, higher education reform, and renunciation of Turkish collaboration with American imperialism. Several groups demanded cultural revolution by kind of Chinese Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to be conducted.
In the meanwhile, prima face similar events happened in the Communist/ Eastern bloc countries, however they impacted society to a lesser extent than in Western Europe.
Aftermath
All things considered, it should be noted that only minority of students (along with schoolchildren and workers) was involved into the world student movement of 1960s, its representatives eventually proceeded from simple protest against older generation to the change in a social and cultural paradigm, which became a part of mainstream in 1970s (revaluation of ideals, fashion, music, political discourse).
Like The Red Army Faction in Germany, there originated left-wing radical organizations in the wake of 1968 movement, for instance, Red Brigades in Italy, Japanese Red Army, Symbionese Liberation Army in the United States of America, etc.
Works Cited
Martin Klimke, Joachim Scharloth (eds.). 2007. 1968. Ein Handbuch zur Kultur- und Mediengeschichte der Studentenbewegung. Stuttgart: Metzler. ISBN 3-476-02066-5
Tony Judt. 2005. Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945. New York: Penguin Group ISBN 1-59420-065-3
German History in Documents and Images. The First ‘Sit-In’: Revolt against Rule by Professors. Web. 13 June, 2013
http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=891
Goethe Institute. Dossier 1968. Web. 13 June, 2013
http://www.goethe.de/ges/pok/dos/dos/wdp/enindex.htm
