Baader-Meinhof Group

AKA Red Army Faction (Rote Armee Fraktion)

• The Red Army Faction, shortened to RAF
(German Rote Armee Fraktion), in its early
stages commonly known as Baader-
Meinhof Group or Gang
• One of postwar West Germany's most
violent and prominent militant left-wing
terrorist groups.
• The RAF described itself as a communist
"urban guerrilla" group engaged in armed
resistance.
 To Draw A Clear Line
Between Us
And the Enemy:
Mao

“The Concept City-

Guerilla”
by Ulrike Meinhof

• The Red Army Faction's Urban Guerrilla

Concept is not based on an optimistic view of
the prevailing circumstances in the Federal
Republic and West Berlin.
• —The Urban Guerrilla Concept authored by
RAF co-founder Ulrike Meinhof (April 1971)
Violence Against Students

• Benno Ohnesorg: June 2, 1967,

shot during a peaceful
demonstration against the visit of
the Shah of Persia
• Rudi Dutschke, leader of APO
(extra parliamentary opposition):
assassination attempt in 1968
• violent student responses (e.g.
against the Axel Springer
Corporation, owner of the Bild
Zeitung)
 Red Army Faction
• Dates of operation: 1968 – 1998
• Motives: Armed resistance and proletarian
revolution
• Active region: West Germany
• Ideology: Communism, New left
• Major actions Numerous bombings and
assassinations
• Notable attacks: West German embassy siege,
German Autumn
• Status: Final action and confrontations in 1993.
Apparently officially disbanded on 20 April 1998.
 Founders
Andreas Baader
Member
Baader-Meinhof Gang
Born
6 May 1947
First Active
April 1968
Current Status
Died in prison, 18 November 1977

•Named gang
Ulrike Meinhof partially after her.
Member
Baader-Meinhof Gang
Born
7 October 1934
First Active
May 1970
Current Status
Committed suicide in prison 9 May
special edition
of a strike
news paper
FRG, May 1968

Stop the Emergency Powers Acts: Strike

Resist now …
… before it is too late!
German Autumn Sept. 5,
1977
Oct. 8, 1977
Oct. 15, 1977
 The Red Army Faction

• Jan-Carl Raspe (1944-1977)

• Ulrike Meinhof (1934-1976)
• Gudrun Ensslin (1940-1977)
• Holger Meins (1941-1974)
• Andreas Baader (1947-1977)

1971 - countless wanted posters appeared in store windows

across the Federal Republic in an effort to find the members of
the Baader-Meinhof Gang.
Sept. 15, 1981
• Many of the leading terrorists were children of so-
called good families – born with a “golden spoon
in the mouth”

• Generation Gap in West Germany

• East German aid to the terrorists – the G.D.R. was

not officially supporting terrorism – and not even
the New Left

• International Networking of terrorism

Portrayal in the Media
Today: