Political and Social History - Case Study Example

The Baader-Meinhof Group: Politically Rightful or Simply Antagonistic? One decade after the devastating World War II, Germany underwent significant transformations even though it had suffered staggering defeats against its enemies. In the 1950s, two faces of Germany surfaced which became the military cronies of its previous enemies, namely, Russia, Britain, the United States and France. West Germany in fact, achieved prosperity albeit the region was treated with insult and denigration; its people exercised hard work and discipline in order to accomplish the development they have aspired for in the postwar period. East Germany’s state-planned economy on the other hand, lagged in comparison to the West’s free market economy. However, this pursuit of the two Germanies towards economic prosperity was constantly plagued with protests and demonstrations from its active population of young minds. Barbed wires, control towers and harsh shoot-to-kill policies were put in place in the border between the East and the West to prevent the collapse of the Democratic Republic. Moreover, this intensified military protection was supported by West Germany through modifying its government structure towards a parliamentary democracy. Yet, this political move was unsuccessful in winning back the sentiments and the enterprising minds of the German people. The efforts of the government to denazify Germany through corrective re-education and other approaches to cleanse the population from the horrors of the Nazi period were a failure. The citizens of Germany still held on the belief that the Nazi overindulgences to power and authority were attributable to the complacency of the civic society. The Red Army Faction (RAF) or popularly known as the Baader-Meinhof Group was formed by West Germany’s activists and liberated minds; it became a militant left-wing group. The group materialized from the protests and radical movements staged by the students in West Germany in the late 1960s. Being a leftist organization, the Baader-Meinhof Group was labeled as communist or metropolitan bandits due to its extensive engagement in armed resistance. However, the administrative sector of West Germany classified the group as a terrorist organization. In line with this historical introduction on West Germany, this paper will rest on the premise that the Baader-Meinhof Group can be either be a political organization or a terrorist group depending on the coherence of its objectives, movement and activities to the principles upheld by a political organization and a terrorist group. The primary objective of this research paper is to discern the true nature of the Baader-Meinhof through an in-depth analysis of literatures relating to it. It is important to recognize the very core of the group with intent to provide clarifications on the group’s leftist endeavors. First and foremost, in order to come up with the sought-for precise response to the inquiry whether the group can be branded as a political organization or a terrorist group, the body of this research will be a well-built account of the standards defining a political organization and a terrorist group so as to guide the analysis accurately. After a comprehensive account from credible sources on these two types of organization present in a particular society, the origin of the Baader-Meinhof group will be narrated to exhaust the social issues and political phenomena that led to the emergence of the radical group. Its history and foundation will be much useful in the creation of a well-built thesis argument and conclusion. Then, the processes underwent by the group to fashion its name on the Germany’s postwar political scene will be explored. The mindsets and the behavioral features of the founders and the members of the group will be included in the description of its formation to elicit a cogent examination of the development of the group’s structures, rules, agendas and actions. Afterwards, the next section of the paper will focus on Germany’s government reaction and movement against the group it had labeled as terrorists. Incorporated in this section is the counteractions done by the Baader-Meinhof group and the effects of the government’s intervention efforts against the group’s existence. Subsequent to the laying down of the essential information for the attainment of the desired objective, an exhaustively written analysis and conclusion will be taken into account so as to make the research endeavor productive and comprehensive. Political Organization For sociologists and anthropologists, a political organization is composed of beliefs and activities of a particular territorial group (Ember & Ember p. 375). Territorial groups with their own set of political activities may be organized and can range from small communities such as tribes and villages to expansive societies such as multi-local groups and nations. The variation in political organizations depends on the degree of systematization and the extent in which political authority is consolidated or deliberated in the assimilated group. There are different classifications of a political organization, namely, band, tribal, chiefdom, and state; this variation ranges from small-scale local autonomy to large-scale regional confederation. Political authority also varies from a few provisional and unofficial political leaders to great quantities of stable and specialized political officials. Political control also fluctuates from the absence of coercive political power to the domination of the public authority through centralization of power (p. 383). Contemporary political analysts define a political organization as a group that is engaged in the political system and decision-making. It can be an interest group specializing on a particular pressing social issue, an association of political geniuses that draft feasible state policies, a political party that advocates candidates for elections, and a terrorist group that resorts to brutality and aggression to attain their political objectives. Yet, in a general note, a political organization encompasses the entire political system of a society such as the rules and structure of the government. It is an organization that lobbies for changes to reinforce social order in a territorial group through a legitimate authority. It also fabricates structure for the members to obey and live by. Moreover, political organizations are known by their ideologies such as anarchism, liberalism, conservatism, socialism, objectivism, etc. (Schaefer p. 377). Terrorist Organization Nowadays, people use to think of terrorist groups as those who maintain specific political objectives and stimulated by the philosophy of cultural or national emancipation. However, this definition is currently undergoing modifications because of timely changes in leadership of traditional groups which consequently result to the recent international problems of hostility and antagonism. Nevertheless, there are two general types of terrorist organizations, namely, hierarchical and networked. Recent groups are more inclined to the structure of the network form while those that firmly bond on radical ideologies such as Leninist and Marxist are more acquainted to centralized power and hierarchical arrangement (terrorism-research para 2-3). Terrorist groups that are integrated into the larger political system or organization habitually require a hierarchical structure so as to harmonize terrorist agendas with political movements. On the other hand, terrorist groups endure processes of development in potentialities and complexity. Novice groups which have scarce resources would most likely thrive at first under the auspices of an established group to improve. Groups affiliated with ethnic or nationalist objectives are mostly restricted hence possessing hardly any capabilities. Many of these limited groups ally themselves to other social organizations which is the main feature of a networked type of terrorist organization (para 4-5). Origin and Formation of the Baader-Meinhof Group In the 1960s, advanced industrialized nations experienced myriads of social upheavals due to the growing unrest of the workers and students which branched off from the social problems brought about by a capitalist structure. Likewise, in West Germany students routinely protested against political issues that threaten the welfare of the general public. In the year 1956, the Communist Party of Germany was prohibited to continue its existence. As a consequence of this proscription against communists’ presence in Germany, government positions were filled with former Nazis. This bold move of the government aroused fury from different sectors of the society which were at the time undergoing denazification or reorientation of German culture and history. Even the mass media which ideally should support the sentiments and demands of the citizenry of Germany were regarded by the radical minds as bias and value-laden since it was manipulated by conservatives who were fervently against student extremism (Grenville p. 528). The Baader-Meinhof group was founded in the year 1967 when a demonstration was staged against the superiority aired by Iranian Shah or king who was visiting. The visit was actually a diplomatic attempt; but the political act of the Iranian king attracted both Iranian supporters who were residing in Germany and also resistances. The demonstration became bloodshed when a German police murdered a young man participating in the movement. This incident prompted the leftist organization, the Baader-Meinhof group, to counter any actions executed by what they had believed as a fascist nation (Zalman para 7). In a broader sense, the group was formed due to German political conditions and to influences carried over by the leftist ideologies within and beyond Europe in the late 1960s and 1970s. The memories left by Hitler’s regime and the Nazi despotism were unsullied in the year 1960. Therefore, the Fuhrer’s bequest to Germany swiftly guided the formation of revolutionary creeds endorsed by subsequent generations (para 8). The Baader-Meinhof group’s objective was to manifest antagonism against the identified fascist-inclined and if not the tyrannical middle class and bourgeoisie values of West Germany. Moreover, the group integrated to their general course of action the denigrating effects of the Vietnam War and their orientation towards communist principles and hostility to the capitalist structure (para 1). The Red Army Faction or commonly known as the Baader-Meinhof group was named after the two primary founding members, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof. Baader in his adolescent age was already displaying behavioral aggressiveness through delinquency. He became familiar with Marx’s theories because of his first solemn lover who taught him on the principles of communism. Later on, he led violent actions such as arsons which cost him imprisonment in 1969. While locked behind bars, he met Ulrike Meinhof who was a journalist. She sought the guidance of Baader for the completion of her book but eventually got enmeshed with him which urged her to help Baader escape prison. However, in 1972, the founding members luck changed for they were caught and thrown back to prison. The activities of the group were duly carried out by their few loyal members and other sympathizers to their cause (para 3). The government of Germany elicited anticipated reactions against the group. It started its campaign against the leftist group through incarcerating the founding members so as to destroy the motivation and inspiration that help the group to survive. Yet, the counterattacks by the group were deemed to be painful to the civic society brought forth by their execution of brutal and inhumane acts. Analysis and Conclusion The Baader-Meinhof group is playing in the border between the premises of political organization and terrorist factions. In terms of objectives, the group is more of a political organization since they had focused more on national issues such as capitalism than on cultural or regional concerns. Terrorist groups chiefly highlight ethnic or cultural issues and they just use the larger political system to advance their specialized objectives. In the arena of leadership, it is more of a political organization because it oscillated from an informal and temporary form to the opposite and vice versa because of the constant imprisonment of its founding members who were also considered as the group’s leaders. In a terrorist group, this kind of erratic leadership is not allowed since strict integration and assimilation of members to the group’s ideals should be firmly grounded through the competent guidance of a legitimate and proficient leader. In the 1970s, the Baader-Meinhof group strengthened their connections with other organizations sharing similar objectives with them. The Palestine Liberation Organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the unsubstantiated American Black Panthers were prominent examples of the organizations that the group kept close contacts with (Zalman para 5). These alliances formed by the group are more likely attributable to the networked type of terrorist organizations. The group reinforced coalitions with well-established organizations to firmly anchor itself on the effective strategies and approaches in pursuing political agendas successfully. Yet, it does not mean that the group had few capabilities; most probably the group had insecurities in its methods which encouraged them to seek the help of larger and major organizations. The group can also be labeled as a terrorist faction because of its aggressive and blatant ways in exposing their objectives. A political organization also practice coercion to ensure complete compliance from its members but its difference with terrorism is that it conceals the oppression it commits against the members of its social order. Nowadays, the delineation between political organization and terrorist groups has been blurred by subsequent changes in their definitions. The only thing that plays a significant role in present-day politics is the application of the set of standards for political and terrorist organizations. Works Cited Books Ember, Carol. Anthropology. Singapore: Prentice Hall Ltd, 1999. Grenville, J.A.S. A History of the World in the 20th Century. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000. Schaefer, Richard T. Sociology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995. Online Sources Terrorism-Research.com. Terrorist Groups. viewed 03 July 2008. http://www.terrorism-research.com/groups/ Zalman, Amy. Red Army Faction. The New York Times Company, 2008. http://terrorism.about.com/od/groupsleader1/p/RedArmyFaction.htm Read More