Red Army faction history
Overall, the RAF 28 years active and lets in three generations subdivide. During this time, the members committed explosive attacks and arson, numerous bank robberies as well as at least 33 murders.
1st RAF generation
The RAF came into existence with the release of Andrew Baader at the May 14, 1970. At the liberation were among others Gudrun Ensslin, Ingrid Schubert, Irene Goergens, Astrid Proll and Ulrike Meinhof involved. Two police officers suffered minor injuries and one employee suffered life-threatening injuries. The so-called Baader Liberation is seen as the birth of the RAF and was at the same time the group’s first crime with firearms.
After that, the group around Andreas Baader flew in the beginning June 1970 from Berlin after Jordanwhere to look for two months in a camp of El Fatah trained for guerrilla warfare. After their stay in Jordan, some members of the RAF committed bank robberies.
the Fatah is a political party in the Palestinian Autonomous Territories.
In doing so, they made it clear that the RAF also accepted deaths in order to achieve their goals, since they had no problems shooting at bank employees or police officers. See you in the year 1975 died four persons due to the RAF and others 41 people were injured.
May offensive
In the year 1972 used the RAF for the first time explosive devices a. Between the 11. and May 24, 1972 perpetrated by members of the RAF six stops throughout the federal republic what as May offensive got known. The police then launched a large-scale manhunt and took action within a few months ten founding members the RAF notes, including Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof, Gudrun Ensslin, and Jan-Carl Raspe and Holger Meins.
Figure 2: Wanted poster of the RAF members. Source: hdg.de
Trial from Stammheim
The RAF also continued their fight from prison. They protested with several hunger strikes against their prison conditions. Holger Meins died during the third hunger strike on November 09, 1974 in Wittlich Prison.
The remaining members were May 21, 1975 charged with four counts of murder and attempted murder on 54 counts and after 192 trial days in the April 1977 sentenced to life imprisonment. Ulrike Meinhof was already before the conviction on May 09, 1976 found hanged in her cell.
2nd RAF generation
Already during the imprisonment of the members of the 1st generation a 2nd generation the RAF, with the aim of freeing their idols Baader, Meinhof and Ensslin from prison. The core of the 2nd generation included Brigitte Mohnhauptwhich was already part of the 1st generation, Christian Klar and Andreas Baader’s lawyer: Siegfried Hague.
As early as February 1975, members of the 2nd generation of the RAF kidnapped the then Berliner Mayoral candidate Peter Lorenz. For his release, they demanded the release of imprisoned like-minded people.
The federal government even complied and in return Peter Lorenz was March 04, 1975 also released. However, four of the five released RAF members later became terrorists again, which strengthened the federal government’s decision to no longer negotiate with terrorists.
German autumn
As you have already learned, the leading members of the RAF were April 28, 1977 sentenced to life imprisonment. This was followed by a number of assassinations and kidnappings, which later came to be known as «German Autumn» be designated. The term «German Autumn» is derived from the 1978 film «Germany in Autumn». It is a collage of several documentaries that eleven different directors have worked on. «Germany in Autumn» takes a critical look at the state’s response to terrorism.
At the time of the German Autumn, the RAF reached its terrorist peak. All actions of the 2nd generation had as a main goal to wring the members of the 1st generation out of prison.
Under «press free» is the extortion of the release of imprisoned persons.
The members of the RAF carried out an assassination attempt on the Federal Prosecutor General Siegfried Buback. In a failed kidnapping attempt July 1977 they also shot the head of the Dresdner Bank Jurgen Ponto. early September 1977 the members kidnap the employer president Hanns Martin Schleyer. The members of the RAF demanded the release of eleven imprisoned RAF members. Among other things, Baader.
When the federal government did not respond to the RAF’s demands, they received support from a Palestinian terrorist group that October 13, 1977 hijacked a Lufthansa plane. However, these hostages were able to October 18, 1977 be liberated by a special unit. When this news reached Baader, Ensslin and Raspe, they committed suicide together in prison. A day later the body of the kidnapped Hanns-Martin Schleyer was found.