Blue Sheet Questions, Class Exercise.

1. The Baader-Meinhof group began organizing protests in a common, peaceful manner. Many of the activists were very passionate about their cause and willing to devote much time and effort to making a change. Meinhof was only slightly involved in a few of the actual protests or demonstrations that the group carried out. Despite her docile nature, her voice was the most heard because she was originally a journalist that went big when one of her writings was published and enabled the group to gain many followers. She served as the voice of the young rebel group. As Baader and the others started resorting to arson and other violent acts, she stayed in the rear. Until, Baader needed to escape from prison and the group was short on members, forcing Meinhof to take part in the violent extraction of their captive leader. Meinhof was then stripped of her innocence of being just the "voice" of the group.

2. In the beginning, I felt a sort of sympothy and understanding for the rebel group, but as the movie drew on, their actions became too brutal for me to support. I think that they would have been able to bring more followers had their actions not turned so barbaric.

3. Baader's personality had a very profound impact on the group, and without him the group may very well not have formed at all. His blind courage made it possible for the group to break through that barrier of being peaceful protesters to full-blown rebel activists. Normally, leaders are generally charismatic and level-headed people, but in the case of a rebel group like the RAF, a more zealous leader was needed to push the members beyond their comfort zones and into the world of a rebel soldier

4. It was very interesting to see where most the class stood when it came to violence vs. pacifism. I was not quite surprised, though, when a majority of the class took stance on the aggressive side. I think the fact that this exercise was done in a relatively rural area of the Midwest was a major factor of why more people stood on the right side. I took stance in the middle right section, more towards the pro-force side. I think the use of weapons aimed at your oppressor should be a last resort for social change. Many leaders in history were able to make a difference without killing. But, like in the case of the American revolution, a strong opposition of firepower is necessary.