The Baader-Meinhof Gang

The Baader-Meinhof Gang

William J. Crawford

Columbia Southern University

It was about a revolution. It was a time of revolution. During the 1960s and ‘70s protests were happening worldwide against the Vietnam War. In fact, revolutionaries were everywhere, South America, Asia, and Germany. The members of the Baader-Meinhof Gang did not believe they would change the world on their own, they merely believed they were the catalyst. It was up to them to let the public know about the wrong doings of the German government and atrocities in Vietnam. They strived for a Marxist revolution, calling Germany a “Facist” state run by leftover Nazi members (Burleigh, 2008). By speaking and acting out they believed the German government would quash civil liberties and revert back to a Nazi like state. Then, in retaliation, the people would rise against the government. What opposing politicians or ex-military leaders were behind this revolution? None… The leaders of this revolution were a well-known journalist, Ulrike Meinhof, a pastor’s daughter, Gudrun Ensslin, and a young handsome petty criminal, Andreas Baader (Addiego, 2009). This paper will discuss the history of Baader-Meinhof Gang, their terrorist actions throughout Germany, and what influence and inspiration they left on other terrorist organizations.

To know whom the Baader-Meinhof Gang were you first must know who the key leaders of the group were. First off, there would not be a Baader-Meinhof Gang or even a Red Army Faction (RAF) if there were no Adreas Baader. Baader was raised by his mother outside of Munich after his father was killed on the Russian Front in World War II (BBC News Europe, 2007). He was know as a juvenile delinquent and was interested in the leftist student movement mostly because there was a potential for violence. After getting thrown out of school and numerous failed jobs he supported himself by modeling and stealing cars...