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Left-wing terrorism: the case of the Red Brigades in Italy and the Red Army Faction in Germany
Budilová, Michaela ; Charvát, Jan (advisor) ; Hájek, Lukáš (referee)
This diploma thesis deals with the phenomenon of left-wing terrorism in Italy and West Germany, two Western democracies where terrorism has emerged more than anywhere else in Europe. Terrorist organizations, including the Red Brigades (RB) in Italy and the Red Army Faction (RAF) in West Germany, emerged in an environment of political and social conflict and radicalized protests against the state establishment. These organisations were chosen for this diploma thesis because of their prominent status, their longevity and the influence they have gained in the field of left-wing terrorism. In its comparative analysis, the thesis attempts to simultaneously interweave three different levels of analysis: the socio-political contexts of Italy and West Germany (macro-level), a focus on the two terrorist groups and their organizational dynamics (meso-level), and the ideology and motivations of the terrorists (micro-level). The aim of this thesis is to explore and gain insight into the RB and RAF organisations in terms of ideology and to describe the factors behind the rise and fall of these terrorist organisations.
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German Left-Wing Terrorism of the 70's and 80's in International Context
Vizi, Štěpán ; Šafařík, Petr (advisor) ; Renner, Tomáš (referee)
This bachelor thesis deals with the international context of the German left terrorism of the 1970s and 80s. Its main goal is to analyse the influence of the international aspects on the activities of the West German terrorist groups in this period. The thesis focuses mainly on the Red Army Faction as the most important representative of the movement in question, however, it also includes other formations that are important from the international point of view: the Revolutionary Cells and the Movement 2 June. The theoretical background of the thesis is provided by the Wave Theory of modern terrorism by David C. Rapoport and the Revised Academic Consensus Definition of Terrorism by Alex Schmid. The international aspects are divided into three sub-chapters: ideology, international cooperation, and strategy and tactics. The thesis deals with international cooperation of German terrorist movements with both state and non-state actors. The research question is based on Rapoport's claim, that unreliable international connections contributed to the failure of the new-left terrorist wave and caused it to fade out sooner. Analysing the influence of international aspects on the activities of German terrorist groups should therefore demonstrate, whether their impact was rather positive or negative and whether...
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Comparison of contemporary terrorism with terrorism of 1970s and 1980s
Knytlová, Petra ; Mlejnek, Josef (advisor) ; Charvát, Jan (referee)
The thesis deals with terrorism and its development as a social phenomenon since 1970s. It has argued that terrorism has undergone a process of radicalization and globalization, particularly as a result of the changed international situation and proliferation of modern technology. Nationalistic terrorism has been replaced with a global form of terrorism. In a similar vein, revolutionist ideologies, typical for terrorist groups of 1970s and 1980s, has given a way to radical interpretations of religions, namely Islamism, which has received substantial popularity as a result of prevailing grievances of the Muslim world. Even though there is no clear distinction between the old and the new form of terrorism, the two social phenomena differ to an important extent. During the second half of 20th century leftist terrorist groups dominated the scene with their fight for a regime change and battle against capitalism as well as imperialism. The organization of the groups took the form of hierarchy and had only limited number of members. At the beginning of the new millennium, the situation changed dramatically with the proliferation of Islamic groups, including the global terrorist group al-Qaeda. The groups work without a formal power structure and are able to hit targets anywhere in the world, as the...
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The Impact of the Fall of the Berlin Wall on RAF
Matějková, Nikola ; Renner, Tomáš (advisor) ; Daňková, Šárka (referee)
The terrorist group Red Army Fraction ("RAF"), which jeopardized the public security with their attacks in West Germany since the seventies and killed more than three thousand people, issued a statement of official closure on April 20, 1998 after 28 years of its activity. This thesis tries to answer the question whether the fall of the Berlin Wall brought the final dissolution of the group. In addition to geopolitical changes it is also necessary to take into account the instruments of the national security policy and the split of opinion within the group. The geopolitical reversal in 1989 had two negative impacts on the RAF. Firstly it meant a devastating ideological defeat for them, even though the former GDR or any other Eastern Bloc country did not respond fully to their expectations. Another shock for them was the arrest of ten former RAF-members who were hiding in the GDR under a false identity. They eventually filed an extensive testimony, so that their sentences could be commuted. Federal Republic of Germany, which had not been too successful in the fight against terrorism up to this time, used the internal weakness of the RAF caused by political circumstances and it finally introduced new instruments to further destabilize the group and led to a rift between prisoners and members at large....
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