Red Army Faction

The Red Army Faction was a West German far-left militant group active from 1970 to 1998. Also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group, it carried out bombings, kidnappings, and assassinations.

West German student movement: A 1960s protest movement in West Germany opposing authoritarian continuities, university structures, and the Vietnam War. Its radical wing supplied part of the milieu from which the RAF emerged.
Urban guerrilla warfare: Armed struggle conducted by clandestine groups within cities, often through attacks on state or economic targets. The RAF adopted this model to wage revolutionary struggle inside West Germany.
1972 RAF bombings: A series of bomb attacks in West Germany in May 1972 targeting U.S. military and German institutions. These attacks marked the RAF’s first major bombing campaign.
German Red Army Faction trials: The prosecutions of RAF members in West Germany, including the major 1975–1977 trial at Stammheim Prison. The trials became a focal point for disputes about due process and political justice.
June 2 Movement: A West German left-wing militant group active from 1972 to 1980, named after the 1967 killing of Benno Ohnesorg. It shared parts of the RAF’s milieu but had a distinct organization and political style.
Andreas Baader: A founding RAF member who participated in the 1970 prison break that freed him. His escape with Ulrike Meinhof became a defining founding episode.
West German Autumn: The 1977 crisis in West Germany involving RAF murders, the kidnapping of Hanns Martin Schleyer, and the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181. The RAF’s campaign reached its most intense confrontation with the state during this crisis.
Kidnapping of Hanns Martin Schleyer: The 1977 abduction and murder of West German industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer by the RAF. The kidnapping was intended to force the release of imprisoned RAF members.
German Autumn laws: West German legal and security measures adopted or strengthened during the 1970s response to political violence. The state’s response to RAF violence expanded surveillance and counterterrorism powers.
Revolutionary Cells: A West German left-wing militant network that carried out attacks from the 1970s through the 1990s. Its decentralized structure differed from the RAF’s more centralized clandestine organization.

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