The Red Decade and Its Cultural Fallout
The Red Decade and Its Cultural Fallout
This chapter traces the development of the armed struggle in Germany after World War II, especially the “red decade” that spanned from the public protests of the late 1960s to the events of 1977. It begins with an overview of the Red Army Faction's (RAF) origins and the factors that precipitated the German Autumn in order to relate the armed struggle to several historical transitions, including the nation's entry into a postwar democratic system, Germans' attempts to grapple with their history of violence, and the emergence of the new social movements. It then considers a literary and artistic response to the German Autumn, along with the evolution of German radicalism that was guided by a range of intersecting discourses, such as public policy, popular media, and intellectual life. It also compares the rehashing of the German encounter with militancy and terror with the operations of the 1978 film Deutschland im Herbst (Germany in Autumn) and Gerhard Richter's 1988 cycle of paintings titled 18. Oktober 1977 (October 18, 1977).
Keywords: terror, Germany, red decade, Red Army Faction, German Autumn, radicalism, militancy, Deutschland im Herbst, Gerhard Richter, paintings
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