Introduction
During the 1960's the students of Germany started a political movement to change not only their situation but to change the situation in the whole Federal Republic of Germany. To understand the reasons behind that movement one must understand the general situation in which the students and the republic were at that time.
Historic Background
Until the failure of the civil revolution in Germany ( 1848/ 49) the students of the German empire were very active politically. Together with the working-class people the German students tried to turn the empire into a republic. But since they failed, the German students reversed cource and began to try to follow the Prussian ideal of a citizen. During this period. the students stopped all political activity that was working against the empire and began to become more conservative.
When the First World War began in the year 1914 the students were so certain of the power of their emperor that many of them went to war voluntarily.
When the war was lost in the year 1919 the students did not turn to liberalism, rather, they became even more conservative, blaming the newly formed Weimar Republic, its founders and the Treaty of Versailles for sorry state of affairs under which Germans then suffered. The German people and students were so used to being controlled by a single almighty authority that it was not hard for the German Nationalist Socialist party headed by Adolf Hitler to convince most students to join its student organization (the NSDStB - German Nationalist Socialist Student Union) and to abandon their right of self determination in favour of a single leader. Thus, when Hitler gained full control of Germany in 1933, the universities were already prepared to serve his will. This explains why so many students and professors worked together with the Nazi-Regime.
In the years after 1945 students that returned from battlefields all over Europe and professors that had remained in Germany wanted to resume normal academic study as quickly as possible. The allied forces agreed with this plan, removing only a few professors from the posts they already held during the Nazi-Regime. In staying within the established structures of the universities, German students were able to continue with their work very quickly. They conserved their national-conservative traditions in student fraternities while liberal student organizations like the SDS (German Socialistic Student Union) played almost no role until the 60's.
All these historic events and processes formed the German people and the status quo of the 60s. It is within this context that one can understand why the people of Germany were not yet ready for true democracy after the Second World War. The people had not overcome many centuries of authoritarian governments and still wanted a single authority to reign over them. Now they found this authority in the government while the Bundestag (the German parliament) -- intended to represent the people -- was not seen as very important.
The Beginning
The Situation at the universities was also different than youd expect it too be. The students were mostly taught scientific models of e.g. economics or politics but werent taught how they worked, that they could be changed and that these models were only partly transferable to the real world. This curriculum was formed to keep the students from seeing the real connections of economy, politic and the general social situation making them as efficient as possible for their future jobs to keep the economic miracle Germany up and running.
But as the miracle was over the German economy had to be reorganized and with the forming of the national unity government in the year 1966 the government had all the power it needed to form the economy their way because there was no opposition left to question their actions. By this time the students had already discovered that the economical wealth of the nation would not improve the standard of living of the working class people but that it would lead to an ever growing gap between the rich and the poor while destroying the middle class. This and the fact that the government could do nearly everything it wanted to do lead the students to the conclusion that the German people had to become more democratic and that a new opposition had to be formed. The authority addicted people and the media however perceived this new attitude as an anti-democratic movement because it was aimed against the society that they believed was democratic.
Through their critical work on many different topics and the reactions of the public and the government itself these main goals formed in the minds of the students:
More democracy through changing society.
Dealing with the fascistic past of Germany and their parents.
Reformation of the course of learning and the curriculum.
Stopping the war in Vietnam and improving the horrible conditions in the third world.
Keeping the government depending mass media especially publications of the Springer-Verlag from controlling the masses and blocking the freedom of press.
Stopping the emergency order from being passed.
The first goal was the most important one because in can be found in all the other goals.
You could say summarizing that the students declined the existing circumstances with their unequal sharing of wealth, their social injustice, their intolerant decision making processes and that they had the will to overcome and change these things.
The Past
To the students the German chapter of fascism was not yet closed. Many former Nazis were still working for the government or at the universities and the newly formed NPD (National Democratic Party Germany) attracted more and more voters. In addition to that the students had to deal with the fact that they were identified as Germans and blamed for their parents generation crimes.
The students did not want to be held responsible for their parents deeds. But their parents acted like they had had nothing to do with it and when the students tried to show the public that the anti-fascistic idea of the constitution was not yet established in the German society the government and the press felt extremely offended because they had formed a democratic society after their will and did not want it to be attacked.
Reforming the Universities
To support their new economic policies the government wanted to change the universities to produce graduates faster by introducing a time limit on studies and by limiting the number of students. The students however did not want to adjust themselves to the needs of the economy and the government. They wanted to adjust the universities to their needs. They wanted more rights in the university management, better equipped workplaces and they wanted the professors that were active during the Nazi-Regime to be expelled. The university board however did not react to the students protest and introduced the time limit for studying.
When this time limit was introduced at the Free University of Berlin during the summer holidays of 1966 the students werent there to protest against it but when they returned the first big sit-in of the German student movement happened with about 4000 participants. The events at the free university of Berlin can bee seen representative for the events at all universities in Germany because the way things developed were mostly the same only a little later in time.
The War in Vietnam and Political Suppression
Through their increasing interest in politics the students quickly engaged in discussions concerning the war in Vietnam. They formed the opinion that the USA had no right to fight in Vietnam but not only because of the victims but mainly because of their aggressively imperialistic policy. Since the students were very open minded concerning political theories they were well informed about communistic and socialistic but also capitalistic systems.
The government however had to back the USA since they were still watching over Germany after World War Two.
Thats why the university boards forbade the students to perform political activities (e.g. discussions) at the universities. They explained this act by saying that science should always be neutral. This was the same explanation the professors had used to justify their behaviour during the Third Reich. The students however wanted to be able to act politically not only because of the war in Vietnam but to protest against the horrible conditions in the Third World as students and not only as private persons.
Emergency Order
The students were strongly opposing the so called emergency order which would allow the government to take various undemocratic actions in the case of an unspecified emergency. The emergency order would allow the government to forbid strikes, to censor the media, to spy on their citizens, to use the army against dangerous groups inside of Germany and so on.
Action and Reaction
By the year 1966 the number of students which were interested in the conflict between the students and the authorities had increased. Many of those who werent interested before became at least passively interested by now. This newly formed public took part in the demonstrations, sit-ins and other protest actions arranged by the students and their organizations (e.g. the SDS).
The reactions to this increasing unrest among the students were very superficial or even aggressive. The government tried to fight the situation by decreasing the funds for universities and student organizations and by agitating the public against the students with help of the press. The public opinion that students should study and not demonstrate became even more aggressive. The students got to feel this new aggression during their increasingly violent encounters with the police during demonstrations.
But the more pressure the government and the public put on the students, the more the students would stick together.
On June 2nd 1967 the conflict would finally escalate.
Students had organized demonstrations against the official visit of the Shah because the in their opinion the German government was demonstrating a positive attitude towards a dictatorial government that was suppressing and torturing their people.
During the first demonstration in front of the opera house which the Shah was visiting it happened. While the police of Berlin and the Iranian service where attacking and hunting down the protestors the student Benno Ohnesorg was shot in the head from behind by Polizeiobermeister Karl-Heinz Kurras.
The following days saw many demonstrations throughout the whole republic against police brutality. The students in Berlin however were anxious and in a desperate situation. The police would prevent them from gathering in public with brute force, the universities had submitted their authority to the government and the press wrote that the students were the brutal and aggressive component of the demonstrations and that they provoked the death of Benno Ohnesorg. Even though there were some students groups supporting the idea of a violent revolution the protesting students were mostly peaceful.
For the following days the students took over control of the free university of Berlin. Finally being able to gather again they used the time to discuss and reflect on the events of the past days.
The Revolt Continues
The spirit of the students in Berlin spread across the whole country. In autumn there were organized protest groups at nearly all universities of Germany. In the following months some of the largest and most brutal demonstrations in the history of the German republic happened while the press especially the BILD Zeitung was telling the public what to think about those protestors. The Springer-Verlag which was publishing the newspaper did not publish any positive articles about the students. They supported the government and were spreading their aggressively conservative views among their readers.
When someone tried to assassinate one of the most important members of the SDS Rudi Dutschke Easter 1968 the students were outraged because the Springer press and the government had named Rudi Dutschke their public enemy. Over night students all over Germany organized actions to block the delivery of the BILD by building blockades and protested in front of Springer buildings. During these actions about 400 students were injured and 2 died. Rudi Dutschke died in the year 1979 of the late after-effect of his injury.
The Climax and the Decline
The revolt against the government reached its climax in the May of 1968. Together with pupils and worker unionists 80000 people demonstrated in the capital Bonn against the emergency order. Even though the students mobilized as many people as possible to support their actions they could not stop the parliament from passing the new law.
This failure marks the beginning of the end for the student movement.
The former union of the many small student groups that represented many different theories on the same topics was falling apart because they were blaming the theories of the other groups and their thinking for the failure of the whole movement. This meant that the students werent working together anymore but against each other.
By the end of the year even the SDS the strongest of all student organizations was falling into pieces.
The Effect
Although the students failed to overthrow the status quo the effects of the student movement are still visible today because the movement did change things in Germany.
The students were the first in Germany to carry their opinion into the streets and the first to protest against the government with demonstrations, sit-ins and other actions while this seems normal for us today it was absolutely new and provoking at that time.
Another side-effect of the student movement was the emancipation of the women in Germany. Through their political work the women discovered that they were being suppressed by the male society and that they had to change this condition.
In addition to that the student movement brought up many theories on education and the raising of children which have influenced the modern forms of these processes.
These changes and the huge influence on culture and art were probably the most important effects of the student movement.
An indirect effect was the so called radical decree which was passed in the year 1972. It allowed the government to remove people from public service if they had a questionable political view.
The student movement although it failed to reach its main goals brought many new and important elements to German society and culture which influence this country even today.
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