ABSTRACT
Political terrorism in West Germany highlights a paradox of the German tradition and political culture. For opposition to advocate alternatives has been regarded with suspicion in a political environment anxious to defend stability as a precondition of democracy. The political murders, street battles and terrorism which had proliferated during Germany's first Republic and accelerated its destruction, had virtually disappeared from the second. In faraway geo-political locations, terrorism may be about social liberation, political equality, regional independence. In West Germany, it testifies to the failure of creating a legitimate space for conflict in the political culture. Attempts to explain why and how terrorism from the left could erupt at a time when West Germany seemed set to gain recognition as a 'model democracy' have been as plentiful as the answers they found. As in the founding days of the Federal Republic, political stability is valued as a precondition of democracy which appears threatened by terrorism.
