European Protests of the 1960s: Crash Course European History #45

The Prague Spring of 1968 was a brief period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia when Communist leader Alexander Dubček introduced reforms called 'socialism with a human face,' including greater freedom of speech, press, and movement. The reforms threatened to spread to other Eastern Bloc countries and challenged Soviet authority. In response, the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact allies invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968, crushing the reform movement. This invasion established the Brezhnev Doctrine, which declared that the Soviet Union had the right to intervene in any socialist country where communism was threatened. The doctrine fundamentally constrained the sovereignty of Eastern European nations and prevented meaningful reform movements from gaining traction, demonstrating that Soviet dominance over Eastern Europe was permanent and non-negotiable.

In December 1967, when invited to intervene in Czechoslovakia's leadership crisis, Brezhnev supported Alexander Dubček over Antonín Novotný. When Dubček introduced reforms to liberalize party control during the Prague Spring, hardline Warsaw Pact members feared similar demands. Brezhnev initially allowed Dubček freedom, but by May 1968, the General Secretary lost faith in Dubček's ability to hold the party together. After failed negotiations, Warsaw Pact tanks rolled into Prague on August 21. Dubček and reformers were taken to Moscow where Brezhnev forced them to sign documents reversing reforms. Dubček returned to Prague but was removed from power in April 1969. The intervention established the Brezhnev Doctrine stating the Soviet Union was prepared to defend socialist rule in the Eastern Bloc.

The Prague Spring (1968) was a reform movement led by Alexander Dubcek in communist Czechoslovakia that introduced 'socialism with a human face,' including relaxed censorship, trade union reforms, and plans for multi-party elections; however, when these reforms challenged Soviet control, Leonid Brezhnev responded by ordering a Warsaw Pact invasion on August 20, 1968, which crushed the reforms and established the Brezhnev Doctrine asserting that communist countries had a duty to intervene against any country attempting liberal reforms to maintain bloc unity.

In 1968, Czechoslovakia's Dubček initiated the Prague Spring, introducing liberal reforms that threatened Soviet control. Despite diplomatic efforts, Brezhnev's conservatives decided military intervention was necessary. On August 21, 1968, Soviet tanks invaded Czechoslovakia, crushing the reform movement. This invasion established the Brezhnev Doctrine, asserting Soviet right to intervene in any socialist country threatening Soviet security. This doctrine justified continued dominance over Eastern Europe while domestically, Brezhnev pursued détente with the West, signing the Helsinki Accords in 1975. The invasion demonstrated limits of reform within the Soviet bloc and reinforced conservative control.

In 1968, Czechoslovakia under Alexander Dubček initiated the Prague Spring, attempting reforms called 'socialism with a human face.' Brezhnev invoked the Brezhnev Doctrine, stating that any threat to socialist power in one country should be countered by all socialist countries. On August 20, 1968, Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the reform movement. This marked the last time either superpower attempted to interfere in each other's recognized spheres of influence. The brutal crushing of the uprising demonstrated the limits of reform within the Soviet bloc.

The RAF emerged from the global left-wing protest wave of the late 1960s. West Germany became the epicenter due to its symbolic position. Despite economic prosperity, political stability was lacking. Baby boomers questioned their parents' generation about former Nazis in leadership. After WWII, many former SS and Nazi members remained in power due to personnel shortages. The 1967 killing of student Benno Ohnesorg by police (later revealed as a Stasi agent) created martyrs and pushed students toward radicalization. The Free University of West Berlin became a center for activism, but authorities responded harshly. The Bundestag passed emergency laws even the SPD supported. The student movement split into moderate and radical factions. The RAF was founded by Ulrike Meinhof, Andreas Baader, and Gudrun Ensslin. Their first violent action was a supermarket bomb. In spring 1970, they planned an escape operation. When arrested, they escaped through a window. The next morning, posters with their faces were posted. They released the RAF manifesto in spring 1971. The symbol was an MP5 submachine gun on a red star. The RAF structure evolved with five categories: core illegal fighters, decision-making teams, temporary combat groups, accomplices providing logistics, and sympathizers. Before violence, only 40% believed terrorists had criminal motives. After each arrest, losses were replenished by converting sympathizers to fighters. In 1971, they acquired weapons, forged documents, and robbed banks. They connected with the PLO, training in Jordan with Palestinian commanders. In May 1972, an American base in Frankfurt was bombed. Eight days later, five bombs exploded in the Springer publishing house. Initially, many supported the RAF, but when they refused to compromise on civilian lives, support evaporated. West German authorities launched computer surveillance and created anti-terrorist units. Key figures Baader, Meinhof, and Ensslin were arrested. The trial was held at Stammheim Prison with defendants in solitary confinement. Stammheim Prison pushed public opinion toward left-wing radicals. Jean-Paul Sartre visited Baader demanding improved conditions. Under pressure, authorities made concessions. The second generation engaged in killings and kidnappings, focusing on freeing leaders. In 1975, they seized the German embassy in Stockholm. Meinhof was found hanged in her cell, with many believing it was murder. A new wave called the German Autumn began in 1977. The RAF targeted Hans Martin Schleyer, president of the German Industry Federation. In September 1977, they attacked his convoy and hid him in Cologne. The Bundestag passed laws prohibiting contact with prisoners. In October 1977, the RAF hijacked a Lufthansa plane with terrorists from Lebanon and Palestine. They landed in Somalia, where special forces stormed the plane. All hostages survived. When authorities realized they would rather storm than release hostages, RAF leaders committed suicide. The government tightened laws, creating checkpoints and glass partitions. By the end of the 1970s, all second-generation leaders were arrested. The third generation began in 1984 but within a year only twenty remained. The RAF's main error was treating their movement as a religious idea rather than political struggle. They believed Germans would overthrow capitalism, but there were no conditions. They equated liberation movements in South America with student protests, ignoring the difference. The RAF had no clear ideological basis and did nothing to improve workers' lives. Their actions spread fear and convinced the majority that radicals needed to be fought ruthlessly.

The 1960s saw the radicalization of student movements into armed groups in several countries. In Europe, groups like the Baader-Meinhof Group in Germany and the Red Brigades in Italy emerged from student movements. In the United States, the Black Panthers emerged as a group of self-defense for African American communities, while the Weather Underground evolved from the Students for a Democratic Society. These groups represented a shift from peaceful protest to armed confrontation with the state, reflecting the frustration of movements that felt their democratic channels for change had been closed.

The Red Army Faction (RAF), also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang, emerged in West Germany in 1970 as a leftist terrorist organization formed by former student activists Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof, and Gudrun Ensslin, who transitioned from peaceful protest to armed struggle after experiencing political disillusionment following events like the 1967 death of student Benno Ohnesorg during protests and the subsequent failure of non-violent resistance methods.

The Red Brigades were founded in August 1970 by Renato Curcio, Margherita Caglio, and Alberto Franceschini, initially carrying out kidnappings for ransom. They remained obscure until June 1974 when they murdered two MSI members in Padua, an attack not attributed to any known organization. After Curcio and Franceschini were arrested, Mario Moretti emerged as leader. Unlike far-right groups targeting civilians, the Red Brigades targeted only police, politicians, and judges, earning support from many Italians who saw them as fighting a legitimate war against oppression. Their kidnapping of Aldo Moro in March 1978 marked the culmination of this evolution, transforming them from obscure kidnappers into the most infamous terrorist organization in Italian history.

In the 1970s, West Germany experienced a surge in left-wing radicalism, with the Social Democratic Party's student organization (SDS) becoming extremely radical. This led to the emergence of the Red Army Faction (RAF), a militant group that engaged in armed struggle against the state. The RAF was characterized by both Soviet and Western media as a 'band of bandits' (Bande der Banditen). This period demonstrates how political movements can escalate into armed conflict when ideological movements become radicalized.

The modern environmental movement emerged in the late 1960s when anti-war and anti-capitalist student activists redirected their activism toward environmental causes, leading to the creation of Earth Day on April 22, 1970; this transition occurred after students realized that Soviet environmental conditions were actually worse than Western nations, challenging the notion that government control alone could solve environmental problems.

The green movement emerged as one of the 'new social movements' (yeni toplumsal hareketler) of the 1960s and 1970s. These movements, which included environmental activism, peace movements, and civil rights movements, represented a shift from traditional class-based politics to identity-based and issue-based politics. The green movement's development was influenced by the global student movements and anti-war protests of the 1960s, which created a context for environmental consciousness to emerge as a distinct political force.

The new social movements of the 1970s-1980s (peace, women's, environmental, anti-nuclear movements) mobilized against political systems perceived as authoritarian, technocratic, alienating, and unsustainable. Unlike the 1920s worker movement, they appealed to individuals rather than a specific class, arguing that individuals must change their own lives to transform society. Green parties that emerged were viewed with significant skepticism by their own movement base, understood as instruments to achieve movement goals rather than the second side of the same coin. Movements developed strict party statutes including term limits, transparency requirements, and collective leadership to maintain control and prevent parties from adopting political system logic.

Social movements evolved from 18th-19th century origins including workers' movements and suffragist feminism. The 1960s-70s saw 'new social movements' including Civil Rights, second-wave feminism, and LGBTQ+ rights (sparked by Stonewall 1969). Environmental movements emerged in response to ecological degradation. These movements created significant social and political changes throughout history, demonstrating how collective action addresses various dimensions of social life requiring organized response to systemic problems.

Modern environmentalism began in the late 1960s within the hippie counterculture movement. After World War II, three decades of postwar growth led to pollution, overdevelopment, and depletion of natural resources. The counterculture movement had accustomed many Westerners to question the values of industrial capitalism. Key publications like 'Silent Spring' (1962) by Rebecca Carson and 'The Population Bomb' (1968) by Dr. Paul Ehrlich sparked mainstream environmental concern. The Club of Rome's 'The Limits to Growth' (1972) presented computer models predicting environmental collapse from continued population and economic growth.