Red Army Faction, A Documentary History

Description

The long-awaited Volume 2 of the first-ever English-language study of the Red Army Faction—West Germany’s most notorious urban guerillas—covers the period immediately following the organization’s near-total decimation in 1977. This work includes the details of the guerilla’s operations, and its communiqués and texts, from 1978 up until the 1984 offensive.

This was a period of regrouping and reorientation for the RAF, with its previous focus on freeing its prisoners replaced by an anti-NATO orientation. This was in response to the emergence of a new radical youth movement in the Federal Republic, the Autonomen, and an attempt to renew its ties to the radical left. The possibilities and perils of an armed underground organization relating to the broader movement are examined, and the RAF’s approach is contrasted to the more fluid and flexible practice of the Revolutionary Cells. At the same time, the history of the 2nd of June Movement (2JM), an eclectic guerilla group with its roots in West Berlin, is also evaluated, especially in light of the split that led to some 2JM members officially disbanding the organization and rallying to the RAF. Finally, the RAF’s relationship to the East German Stasi is examined, as is the abortive attempt by West Germany’s liberal intelligentsia to defuse the armed struggle during Gerhard Baum’s tenure as Minister of the Interior.

Dancing with Imperialism will be required reading for students of the First World guerilla, those with interest in the history of European protest movements, and all who wish to understand the challenges of revolutionary struggle.

Sujets

• Political Ideologies
• HISTORY
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Histoire
• Communism
• Germany
• Communisme
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: PM Press
• Date de parution: 01 juillet 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781604868937
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

PRAISE FOR VOLUME 2: DANCING WITH IMPERIALISM
In this book Moncourt and Smith are offering some "institutional memory" for those of us who are struggling against the horrible situations that unbridled capitalism and imperialism have forced upon us. Such institutional memory is desperately needed.
They remind us that a generation ago a RAF political prisoner in Germany wrote that the world was facing a "…fascism that no longer requires mass mobilization of ideologically motivated fascists, but only bureaucrats and technocrats in the service of the imperialist state."
A political observation that a generation later we still have not adequately mobilized around.
Here too, Ward Churchill lets us see that not nearly enough has been done to provide a similar institutional memory regarding those who struggled against the same forces in the United States in that same time period. Is it any wonder that the fight against prison isolation in the U.S. is hobbled by a failure to realize that this country’s 80,000 isolated prisoners suffer under hellish conditions originally designed to destroy political prisoners? Knowledge that would force U.S. prisoners to recognize that their struggle requires political and not "legal" solutions.
Moncourt and Smith also remind us of the crucial strategic roles wimmin played in the struggles centered in Germany. Widespread and courageous roles that even left me stunned as to how little I really knew of that aspect! A realization that if patriarchal conditions can blind one who has been struggling over four decades against these same forces, then we all must step up our efforts to place the destruction of patriarchy and all forms of gender oppression on the same level as the fight to overcome capitalist and imperialist exploitation.
Russell "Maroon" Shoatz, U.S. political prisoner
Dancing with Imperialism, the second volume in the Red Army Faction documentary trilogy, continues to excavate a fascinating history of the German revolutionary left in the 1970s and 1980s. It powerfully situates the RAF within a broader orbit of revolutionary politics and world events. It gives us the inside story of how militants did and might engage with police, prisons, informants, media, and one another in the context of struggle. It is an exciting story, a global story, and very much a story for today’s movements.
Dan Berger, editor of The Hidden 1970s: Histories of Radicalism

PRAISE FOR VOLUME 1: PROJECTILES FOR THE PEOPLE
The editors of this work, J. Smith and André Moncourt, have created an intelligently political work that honestly discusses the politics of the Red Army Faction during its early years. Their commentary explains the theoretical writings of the RAF from a left perspective and puts their politics and actions in the context of the situation present in Germany and the world at the time. It is an extended work that is worth the commitment required to read and digest it. Not only a historical document, the fact that it is history provides us with the ability to comprehend the phenomenon that was the RAF in ways not possible thirty years ago.
Ron Jacobs, author of The Way the Wind Blew: A History of the Weather Underground
This first volume about the RAF is about a part of WWII that did not end when the so-called allies defeated the nazis. The RAF warriors come from a strong socialist history and knew they were fighting for the very life of their country. Many victories and many errors were scored which provide this important look into REAL her/history lessons. A must read for all serious alternative history students who then in turn can use it as a teaching tool towards a better future.
b (r.d. brown), former political prisoner, George Jackson Brigade
This book about the Red Army Faction of American-occupied Germany is one that should be read by any serious student of antiimperialist politics. Volume 1: Projectiles for the People provides a history of the RAF’s development through the words of its letters and communiqués. What makes the book especially important and relevant, however, is the careful research and documentation done by its editors. From this book you will learn the mistakes of a group that was both large and strong, but which (like our own home-grown attempts in this regard) was unable to successfully communicate with the working class of a "democratic" country on a level that met their needs. While the armed struggle can be the seed of something much larger, it is also another means of reaching out and communicating with the people. Students interested in this historic era would do well to study this book and to internalize both the successes and failures of one of the largest organized armed anti-imperialist organizations operating in Western Europe since World War II.
Ed Mead, former political prisoner, George Jackson Brigade

the red army faction: a documentary history volume 2: dancing with imperialism
introductory texts and translations by André Moncourt and J. Smith
The opening epigraph is from Brigitte Mohnhaupt’s December 4, 1984, trial statement, which appears in this volume on pages 304–315.
ISBN: 978-1-60486-030-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012914067
© 2013 Kersplebedeb
This edition © 2013 PM Press and Kersplebedeb
Many of the translated texts in this book
are available online at www.germanguerilla.com
Kersplebedeb Publishing and Distribution
CP 63560
CCCP Van Horne
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H3W 3H8
www.kersplebedeb.com
PM Press
PO Box 23912
Oakland, CA 94623
www.pmpress.org
Layout and Index by Kersplebedeb
Cover Design: Josh MacPhee/Justseeds.org
The photo used on the front cover is of the 1981 bombing of the Ramstein airbase.
Printed in the United States on recycled paper by the Employee Owners of Thomson-Shore in Dexter, Michigan
www.thomsonshore.com
dedicated to the memory of Christa Eckes
"The RAF’s struggle was always based on both the global balance of power and the conflict in the metropole. The war is not just about escalating things in the most developed sectors; rather it is the reality of the entire imperialist system, and will be until victory."
Brigitte Mohnhaupt
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
NOTE ON TRANSLATIONS AND SOURCES
PREFACE
ACRONYM KEY
GERMAN TERMS
ON THE NECESSITY OF ARMED STRUGGLE: REFLECTIONS ON THE RAF AND THE QUESTION OF MOVING FORWARD BY WARD CHURCHILL
1 PREVIOUSLY ON RED ARMY FACTION
what is a rear base area?
the raf and the gdr: benign neglect no more
2 TWILIGHT OF THE SEVENTIES GUERILLA
anti-imperialism defined
3 THE ANTINUCLEAR MOVEMENT: OLD MEETS NEW
4 KICK AT THE DARKNESS 93
the verfassungsschutz
christian klar regarding zurich
Sixth Hunger Strike (March 14, 1978)
Seventh Hunger Strike (April 20, 1979)
Attack on Alexander Haig (June 25, 1979)
Statement Calling Off the Seventh Hunger Strike (June 26, 1979)
5 SHAKE THE DUST FROM YOUR FEET
Statement Dissolving the 2nd of June Movement (June 2, 1980)
Regarding the Alleged Dissolution of the 2nd of June Movement (June 1980)
The Deaths of Wolfgang Beer and Juliane Plambeck (July 26, 1980)
6 THE ’81 OFFENSIVE
sigurd debus, 1942-1981
rz vs. raf?
the nato coup in turkey
unsafe waters
Eighth Hunger Strike Statement (February 6, 1981)
Statement Calling Off the Eighth Hunger Strike (April 16, 1981)
Attack Against USAFE Ramstein (August 31, 1981)
Attack Against General Frederick Kroesen (September 15, 1981)
Letter Addressing Police Fabrications (November 7, 1981)
out and in: viett, beer, and eckes
7 PLANTING SEEDS IN MAY
what kind of peace?
verena becker and the verfassungsschutz
The Guerilla, the Resistance, and the Anti-Imperialist Front (May 1982)
8 USING HONEY TO CATCH FLIES
wheels within wheels
hans-joachim klein: a german guerilla
on the question of collective responsibility
9 KNOCKOUT PUNCH?
a process comes to fruition
10 TUBTHUMPING
A Statement Regarding ‘77 (Christian Klar, December 4, 1984)
Strategic Thoughts (Brigitte Mohnhaupt, December 4, 1984)
APPENDICES
APPENDIX I: CONCLUSIONS OF THE THIRD RUSSELL TRIBUNAL
APPENDIX II: BOOCK’S LIES
APPENDIX III: FOR US IT WAS A QUESTION OF LEARNING EXPLOSIVES AND SHOOTING TECHNIQUES
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
ARMED STRUGGLE IN W. GERMANY: A CHRONOLOGY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Numerous graphics in this volume come from the book and CD Vorwärts bis zum nieder mit, compiled by Sebastian Haunss, Markus Mohr, and Klaus Viehmann from a variety of archives and published by Verlag Assoziation A. The interested reader can view the entire contents of this CD online at http://plakat.nadir.org/ . All those involved in producing this artwork, and the book and website in question, have our thanks.
Many people, both in Europe, Germany in particular, and in North America, have contributed to this book by sharing their thoughts about and their experience of the historical events addressed herein. For a variety of reasons, they prefer not to be acknowledged by name, but without their input, insights, and support, the documents they provided, and situations and debates they described, we would have been unable to piece together the history we present here in anywhere near as much detail.
One person, however, particularly deserves our th