chapter capsules Chapter 7 — The German Response

Winter 1971, 24 pages: This chapter will mostly explore the way that the Baader-Meinhof Gang began to unwittingly increase the power and cohesiveness of the German state. West Germany was originally created by the Allies after World War Two as a loose confederation of states, mostly to prevent the resurgence of a Germany with the power of Hitler’s Deutschland. Each Länd, or state, had its own police force, with no federal force in place like America’s FBI.

But the exploits of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, who are freely moving between the states and taking advantage of the states’ lack of cooperation, persuade the various Länder to join forces and allow for the creation of a special antiterrorist section of the federal border police (the BKA). This proves to be the camel’s nose nudging into the tent—the BKA would soon begin to grow exponentially in size and power. Germany is finally maturing beyond the weakened state envisioned by the Allies.