Right-wing terrorism in the Federal Republic of Germany, 1970 until 1990
Final Report Abstract
The aim of this project was to conduct source-based research into the history of far-right terrorism in the Federal Republic of Germany between 1970 and 1990. By analyzing large amounts of sources, new insights were gained into far-right terrorist actors and their embedding into group structures. Anti-communism, the glorification of National Socialism, the fight against political opponents and racism were the four main motivations that caused right-wing terrorists to carry out their violent acts. From the mid-1970s, explosives attacks increased and far-right terrorists increasingly went underground, explicitly linking themselves to left-wing terrorist strategies. In the 1980s, attacks were often racially motivated and became more ubiquitous and commonplace. It is noteworthy that far-right terrorism was primarily an adult and not a youth phenomenon during the period under investigation, although right-wing terrorist violence was increasingly perceived as a youth problem from the end of the 1970s. In the project, law enforcement and reactions from society to far-right terrorism were also investigated. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was a prominent topic in West German politics and the media; the Federal Republic presented itself at that time as a “strong state” against far-right terrorism - both in terms of criminal prosecution, which intensified, and in the political debate. In the 1980s, criminal prosecution weakened; far-right acts of violence were often no longer interpreted as terrorism. The project also examined the treatment of victims and their relatives, who were socially and politically marginalized until the late 1970s. This did not change before the Oktoberfest attack in 1980. Since the early 1980s, a greater public awareness of victims' concerns and increased visibility and intervention by victims themselves can be observed in various places in Germany - such as Munich and Hamburg. This finding reflects larger social developments, as victims of violence became more prominent at a social, political and legal level at this time. As the research project was one of the first projects with a decidedly historical focus to address far-right terrorism before 1990, the insights present basic research. In addition, the results of the project provide important insights and explanations for the preconditions and history of the escalation of far-right violence in Germany in the early 1990s.
Publications
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On the Pathway to Violence: West German Right-Wing Terrorism in the 1970s. Terrorism and Political Violence, 33(1), 49-70.
Manthe, Barbara
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Scenes of ‘civil war’? Radical Right Narratives on Chemnitz, in: William Allchorn (Hg.), Tracking the Rise of the Radical Right Globally. CARR Yearbook 2018/2019, ibidem-Verlag: Stuttgart, S. 169–173. ISBN: 978-3-8382-1326-2
Barbara Manthe
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Ziele des westdeutschen Rechtsterrorismus vor 1990, in: Wissen schafft Demokratie. Schriftenreihe des Instituts für Demokratie und Zivilgesellschaft - Schwerpunkt Rechtsterrorismus (6), S. 30–39
Marthe, Barbara
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Rechtsterroristische Gewalt in den 1970er Jahren. Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, 68(1), 63-94.
Manthe, Barbara
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„Rassistische Gewalt in der alten Bundesrepublik. Wer schreibt ihre Geschichte?“ Blogbeitrag online veröffentlicht bei L.I.S.A.
Barbara Manthe
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„Blinde Flecken“. Unbekannte Orte des Rechtsterrorismus in Deutschland, in: Jana Kärgel (Hg.), Terrorismus im 21. Jahrhundert. Perspektiven. Kontroversen. Blinde Flecken. Veröffentlichung der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung: Bonn, S. 224–257. ISBN: 978-3-8389-7220-6
Barbara Manthe
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Die (Un)Sichtbarkeit der Gewalt. Wallstein Verlag.
Requate, Jörg; Schumannn, Dirk & Terhoeven, Petra (Eds.)
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Paul Otte (*1924). Rechtsextrem: Biografien nach 1945, 349-362. De Gruyter.
Manthe, Barbara
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Rechtsterrorismus, rechtsradikale Gewalt und die historischen Erzählungen über die Bundesrepublik. Edition Rechtsextremismus, 233-243. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
Manthe, Barbara
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Vom Rechtsterrorismus zur rechtsradikalen Gewalt. Die Bundesrepublik in den 1980erund frühen 1990er-Jahren, in: Till Kössler/Janosch Steuwer (Hg.), Brandspuren. Das vereinte Deutschland und die rechte Gewalt der frühen 1990er-Jahre, Veröffentlichung der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung: Bonn, S. 107–122. ISBN: 978-3-7425-0899-7
Barbara Manthe
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Ansätze und Leerstellen in der aktuellen Antisemitismus- und Rassismusforschung. Antisemitismus und Rassismus, 45-76. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Manthe, Barbara & Strommenger, Anna
