4.2.6

Generational Conflict

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Generational Conflict in the FRG

Social tensions were forming between generations. This accelerated as the younger generation became influenced by Western cultural ideas.

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Youth

  • The younger generation, who came of age in the 1960s, began to challenge existing ideas in West Germany.
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Influence of the West

  • The youth in West Germany were heavily influenced by Western culture.
  • Radical new cultural ideas were being formed in the United States and Britain. Particularly through music.
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The ‘apolitical’

  • In the aftermath of WW2, there was no formal political opposition.
  • Therefore ‘apolitical’ media became politicised. This is demonstrated in the role of music.
    • In the 1960s, rock and punk music became a subversive ‘counter-culture’.
  • In the 1960s, opposition to the state came from student movements and left-wing parties.
  • This would come to a head in 1968.
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Addressing the past

  • As the younger generation came of age, they began to question the narrative of German victimhood in WW2.
  • This led to a renewed focus on war criminals, such as an organiser of the Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann (put on trial in 1961 and executed in 1962).
  • Murphy (2005): “[Student radicalism] had an added poignancy due to the legacy of National Socialism; the younger generation challenged the older generation to 'face up to the past' and pointed to many ex-Nazis that were in government and business.”

Jump to other topics

1Political & Governmental Change, 1918-1989

2Opposition, Control & Consent 1918-1989

3Economic Developments & Policies, 1918-1989

4Aspects of Life, 1918-1989

5Historical Interpretations

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