Our Radical Moment’s Antecedents

As chaos grips the streets of Minneapolis in the aftermath of two citizens’ deaths at the hands of federal agents, a reader of Jason Burke’s ambitious new work, The Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s, may look at the turbulent scenes and reflect, with bitterness and a sense of irony: Plus ça change.

In one of many accounts of the revolutionary fervor of the time, Burke describes the protests that spread in Germany in the aftermath of an incident not entirely dissimilar to what has made headlines in Minnesota in the last few weeks — namely, the shooting and killing of Benno Ohnesorg, a young demonstrator, by a policeman. The shooting occurred at a street protest against the Shah of Iran’s visit to Germany in the spring of 1967, and it sparked outrage and gave momentum to a revolutionary movement that spilled over into the 1970s and beyond, when Baader-Meinhof terror became the norm in West Germany.

About the Author

Michael Washburn

Michael Washburn is a New York-based novelist and short story writer. His most recent book is Infinite Desert.

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As chaos grips the streets of Minneapolis in the aftermath of two citizens’ deaths at the hands of federal agents, a reader of Jason Burke’s ambitious new work, The Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s, may look at the turbulent scenes and reflect, with bitterness and a sense of irony: Plus ça change.

In one of many accounts of the revolutionary fervor of the time, Burke describes the protests that spread in Germany in the aftermath of an incident not entirely dissimilar to what has made headlines in Minnesota in the last few weeks — namely, the shooting and killing of Benno Ohnesorg, a young demonstrator, by a policeman. The shooting occurred at a street protest against the Shah of Iran’s visit to Germany in the spring of 1967, and it sparked outrage and gave momentum to a revolutionary movement that spilled over into the 1970s and beyond, when Baader-Meinhof terror became the norm in West Germany.