Social history-German student movement - Research Paper Example

Although it finally declined in 1968, the movement brought lots of changes that are still felt in Germany’s education, culture, politics and economy up to the present times. The movement began in June 1966 when the Grand Coalition of Germany came into power. So, it slowly began as a response to the hypocrisy and dictatorship of the German government as well as other western governments such as USA and the poor living conditions experienced by the university students across the country2. The rise to power by Kurt Georg Kiesinger was seen to be a bad move because it was against any opposition of the government.

Therefore, the university students felt that the government would extend its authoritarianism to controlling student movement and a free expression of their voices. Also, the students feared that the Wirtschaftswunder System would not last forever3. Hence, there would be an ever widening gap between the country’s poor and rich populations. This was influenced by the Marxist ideologies which the students had subscribed to. With this in their minds, the students thought that the cost of living would rise since the government was not committed to improving living standards of the proletariat4.

As time went by, the movement gained momentum because the number of students who were interested in joining activism tremendously increased. They took part in demonstrations that were organized by groups such as Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund in opposition to the regime5. This happened contrary to the government’s efforts to curb activism by using the media and deliberately reducing funding to the students organizations and their universities6. Later, the movement intensified especially after a visit by the Iranian Shah on June 2, 1967.

Demonstrations were organized the Opera House to prove to the government