Essay for Lesson 9: The Student Movement and German Terrorism
Introduction
The post-Second World War period was a tumultuous time for Germany, as it entailed the division of the nation into two distinct governmental entities – West Germany and East Germany. As West Germany emerged as a bulwark against the Communist-led East Germany – backed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), it effectively allowed itself to be modeled by the United States (US) as the promoter of democracy in Western Europe. The Marshall Plan, which enabled West Germany to resurrect its status as an industrialized economy, became the cornerstone of US involvement in the nation and eventually throughout the rest of Europe. As a consequence, US military presence grew in Western Europe, effectively serving as a buffer against Soviet influence in East Germany. Yet, the overarching prevalence of the US over West Germany that time did not necessarily translate to widespread support from the West German public, particularly from the youth (Brokaw 25-36; Turner 148-175).
Growing dissatisfaction over the university system of West Germany sparked the ire of students against the West German government, alongside a string of macrocosmic issues greatly relevant to one another. Fears over the resurrection of Third Reich and fascist ideals in West Germany grew with the merger of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 1966 general elections – a coalition thought to resemble the one-party system under Nazi Germany. More significantly, however, is the growing sentiment against the Vietnam War and sympathy towards the rise of socialism in several parts of the world, both of which enabled West German students to protest against the US. One could therefore connect the involvement of the US in West Germany as a crucial component to the frustrations of West German students throughout the 1960s (Brokaw 25-36; Turner 148-175).
After the Second World War, Germany was left with a responsibility even larger than what it had during the First World War. The slaughter of millions of Jewish people by the Nazi regime placed Germany in an extremely bad light with regard to its reputation and its defeat in the Second World War left it with almost nothing to give for reparations. Therefore, the US led in reviving the economic and political fortunes of Germany, albeit controlling just the western portion of its territory as the USSR took over the eastern portion. West Germany, which came to be known as the Federal Republic of Germany, rapidly became a US stronghold in Western Europe, particularly with the help of the Marshall Plan, which catalyzed the revival of industrialization in the West German economy. East Germany, going under the formal name the German Democratic Republic, became increasingly secluded from the US due to Soviet influence. Trade activities and technological exchanges greatly characterized the economic relationship between the US and West Germany – factors that led the Americans to propagate its matters on foreign policy related to the Cold War (Turner 148-175).
Perception of German Students on the Americans
The image of the US among West Germans was not always characterized with savory descriptions. West German students, in particular, were highly concerned with the kind of disposition the Americans projected during the Vietnam War, which they vehemently rejected in favor of peace. Such has prompted West German schools and universities to impose restrictions on the civil liberties of students – a move made to appease the US as it continues its involvement in the post-Second World War economic recovery process of West Germany. The resulting authoritarianism from West German schools and universities made West German students even more upset, as they were deprived of viable fora to voice out their concerns on the ongoing conflicts in Vietnam and growing tensions between the US and the USSR. Domestic issues, such as the victory of the CDU-SPD coalition in the 1966 general elections fueled further speculations on the rebirth of fascist one-party politics. Therefore, sympathy over left-leaning politics among West German students grew – a fact that consequently appeared as anti-American given the stance of the US against the USSR. Radicalization became a sweeping phenomenon among West German student protesters in the 1960s, particularly with the formation of the Red Army Faction (RAF), a terrorist group formed by left-leaning personalities Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhoff, Gudrun Ensslin and Horst Mahler. With criminal activities and escalating violence becoming the main tool of the RAF and other similarly placed terrorist groups, it has thus emerged that West German student activists during the 1960s were generally adherent to anti-American sentiments (Edel; Turner 148-175).
Conclusion: Were the German Students Correct with their Perception of Americans?
One could take on the concerns of West German student activists in the 1960s as a manifestation of growing distrust towards authoritarian politics, despite the situation therein being placed more on the need of the West German government to appease the US. Nevertheless, one could not easily blame the sentiments of the West German students against the resurrection of fascist politics, which they thought had manifested from the restricted civil liberties inside West German campuses over foreign policy matters such as the Vietnam War and US-USSR tensions, and the CDU-SDP merger that took over an overwhelming 2/3s of the seats in Parliament. While it may have been just and rightful for the West German students to express their dissent against the Vietnam War, their calls did not fit the general needs of West Germany that time with regards to its economic recovery agenda, which strongly involves the US. Therefore, one could say that the student protests in West Germany were both justified and misplaced towards the Americans – a matter that struck a fine line between political and economic concerns of the nation that time.
Works Cited
Brokaw, Tom. The Greatest Generation. New York City, NY: Random House, 1998. Print.
The Baader Meinhof Complex. Dir. Uli Edel. Perf. Moritz Bleibtreu, Martina Gedeck, Johanna Wokalek. Constantin Film Verleih, 2008. DVD.
Turner, Henry Ashby. Germany from Partition to Reunification. New Haven, CN: Yale University Press, 1992. Print.
