The RAF described itself as a communist and anti-imperialist urban guerrilla group. It was engaged in armed resistance against what it considered a fascist state. The RAF engaged in a series of bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, bank robberies, and shootouts with police over the course of three decades. Its activities peaked in late , which led to a national crisis that became known as the " German Autumn ".
On 20 April , an eight-page typewritten letter in German was faxed to the Reuters news agency, signed "RAF" with the submachine-gun red star, declaring that the group had dissolved. The usual translation into English is the "Red Army Faction"; however, the founders wanted it to reflect not a splinter group but rather an embryonic militant unit that was embedded, in or part of, a wider communist workers' movement, [ c ] i.
The name refers to all incarnations of the organization: the "first generation" RAF, which consisted of Baader, Ensslin, Meinhof, and others; the "second generation" RAF; and the "third generation" RAF, which existed in the s and 90s. The group never used these names to refer to itself, because it viewed itself as a co-founded group consisting of numerous members and not a group with two figureheads. The origins of the group can be traced back to the student protest movement in West Germany.
Industrialised nations in the late s experienced social upheavals related to the maturing of the " baby boomers ", the Cold War , and the end of colonialism. Newly-found youth identity and issues such as racism , women's liberation , and anti-imperialism were at the forefront of left-wing politics. Many young people were alienated from their parents and the institutions of the state. The historical legacy of Nazism drove a wedge between the generations and increased suspicion of authoritarian structures in society some analysts see the same occurring in post-fascism Italy, giving rise to " Brigate Rosse ".
In West Germany there was anger among leftist youth at the post-war denazification in West Germany and East Germany , a process which these leftists perceived as a failure or as ineffective, [ 11 ] [ 12 ] as former actual and supposed Nazis held positions in government and the economy.
