German student movement

The German student movement was a protest movement that took place during the late 1960s in Germany. It was largely a reaction against the perceived authoritarianism and hypocrisy of the German government and other Western governments, and the poor living conditions of students. A wave of protests - some violent - swept Germany, fueled by over-reaction by the police and encouraged by contemporary protest movements across the world. Following more than a century of conservatism among German students, the German student movement also marked a significant major shift to the left and radicalisation of student politics.

Historical background

Following the failure in the mid 19th century of the civil revolution in Germany (1848/49), German students largely abandoned radical politics and heavy political involvements. Having failed to turn Germany into a republic in a rebellion involving much of the working class, German students reversed course and began to follow instead the Prussian ideal of a "good citizen". During this period, the students effectively ceased all political activity against existing political institutions and began to become more conservative.

Related Topics:
Civil revolution - 1848 - 49 - Prussian - Citizen - Conservative

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By the time that the First World War broke out in 1914, students were so steadfastly conservative and nationalistic that many of them went to war voluntarily. When the war ended in humiliation for Germany in 1919, students, like many in Germany, placed the blame for Germany's defeat and subsequent economic collapses on the newly-formed Weimar Republic, its founders and the Treaty of Versailles. Resulting from this, and because German students were so used to being governed by a single figurehead, it was not hard for the German Nationalist Socialist party headed by Adolf Hitler to convince most students to join its student organization (the NSDStB - German Nationalist Socialist Student Union) and to abandon democracy. When Hitler gained full control of Germany in 1933, the universities were generally pliant towards Nazi policies. This explains in large part why so many students and professors worked together with the Nazi regime.

Related Topics:
First World War - 1914 - 1919 - Weimar Republic - Treaty of Versailles - Nationalist Socialist - Adolf Hitler - German Nationalist Socialist Student Union - 1933 - Universities

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Following the end of the Second World War in 1945, students returning from the European battlefields and their professors wanted to resume normal academic activity as quickly as possible. The Allied forces agreed that everyday life should be restored quickly, and so removed only a few professors from the posts they had already held during the Nazi regime. German students were hence allowed to return to work very quickly, but the university system was not fully denazified. As a result, students kept their nationalist and conservative traditions in student fraternities while liberal student organizations like the SDS (German Socialist Student Union) remained insignificant, and this situation continued until the 1960s.

Related Topics:
1945 - Allied - Denazified - German Socialist Student Union

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Consequently, by the advent of the 1960s the university system was still deeply conservative in its political leanings, with these attitudes being reflected in the lack of a say for students in the governance of their universities. Similarly, in central government, many politicians and administrators from the Nazi era had survived, leading to a tendency towards authoritarian government and successive conservative administrations.

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