Two organisations set up in the 1950’s to battle political extremism were the BFV and BND. The BFV, set up in 1950, investigated people who they suspected to be working against the basic law within the country. They reported back to the Minister of the Interior. The BND, set up in 1956, investigated outside of Germany and reported directly to the Chancellor. However, these organisations could not fully investigate everything under the basic law because German people had civil liberties of privacy. This means they could not tap phones, search homes or open mail.
In the 1960’s, the FRG faced opposition from young people, the APO and the SDS. Young people objected against Adenauer’s use of the term ‘year zero’ and the appointment of ex-Nazis into powerful Government positions. They used the term ‘what did you do in the war daddy?’ to taunt the older generation. The APO were a group of young socialist intellectuals who distrusted the Conservative Government. They felt that they were not being represented and held violent protests to gather force. The SDS were the German Socialist Student Union that had broken away from the SPD. They held radical protests aimed at moral issues. They also protested against the emergency law and turned to violent terrorism in the 1970’s.
The emergency law was finally passed in 1968. It gave the Government powers of surveillance and arrest. The emergency law meant that police could crack down on terrorists because it allowed the BND access to all police information. As a result, there was a drop in open protests, some groups were silenced and a large number of arrests were able to be made. This helped to control extremism to an extent, however, left wing parties opposed the emergency law believing it to be a violation of liberty. It also had the effect of driving groups underground.
After the shooting of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972, the GSG-9 was set up. This was an anti-terrorist operation unit whose role was to act against terrorist groups. It had close links to the British SAS and the US Army Delta Force and operated worldwide. In October 1977, a GSG-9 team managed to rescue hostages on a plane hijacked on the way to Frankfurt. When the Baader Meinhof gang started its bombing and violent protest campaigns in the 1970’s, the GSG-9 successfully arrested some of the members.
In conclusion, the FRG was generally successful in controlling most political extremism during the period from 1949 to 1989. However, its methods in preventing extremism such as the passing of the emergency law and setting up of the BNF and BND, caused it to become unpopular amongst left-wing parties concerned about civil liberties and this led to more political unrest.
by
tbethybooaolcom (student)
