Bringing the War Home: The Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction, and Revolutionary Violence in the Sixties and Seventies
by Jeremy Varon
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jeremy VaronEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-04-30
ISBN: 0520241193
Number of pages: 407
Publisher: University of California Press
Book Reviews of Bringing the War Home: The Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction, and Revolutionary Violence in the Sixties and Seventies
Book Review: Anarchy in America
Summary: 5 Stars
This was required reading for a graduate course in American history. In the 1960s and 1970s there were revolutionaries all over the world. Most in the third world had good reason to rebel against the establishment. Many governments were ruled by power hungry tyrants who oppressed the masses for their personal economic gain. Other countries suffered under the colonial powers. Jeremy Varon's book Bringing the War Home is a history of two revolutionary groups in the developed world. The Weather Underground operated in the United States and the Red Army Faction in Germany. Both these countries had prosperous economies and had democratic forms of government. Varon endeavors to impartially show the reasons why these two groups came to be. These groups are mainly remembered because of their violent acts. This is an important work because it delves into the motivations behind the members' acts of violence.
Both these groups came to be in the late 1960s and were small. Most if not all members came from prosperous families and had good educational and labor opportunities. Varon's purpose for his book is "to restore a stronger measure of rationality and moral purpose to Weatherman and RAF." Varon believes that they saw themselves as part of the global revolutionary struggle that was taking place at the time. They existed in an era where passive resistance had proven effective yet they subscribed to the violent revolutionary ideas of Franz Fannon and the criticism of society of Herbert Marcuse. They idolized Ernesto "Che Guevara who embodied Fannon's philosophy and believed that violent struggle was the only way to change the oppressive establishment that
existed in every poor country. Guevara believed that the United States was imperialistic and aided the oppressors. He advocated fighting small revolutions or "many Vietnams" to defeat it.
The Weather Underground and Red Army Faction believed that by attacking their governments they were adding to the small revolutions thereby helping in the global struggle against imperialism. They believed that the Vietnam War was a criminal imperialist war and they saw Ho Chi Ming as a freedom fighter. He was successfully fighting the most powerful army in the world with peasants. They idealized revolutionary violence. They saw themselves as being oppressed by the police and they saw violence as a "natural right to resistance."
Varon writes that other reasons for the group's intense radicalism involved the concepts of "white guilt" in the Weather Underground and Nazi guilt on the part of the RAF. The Germans could not believe that their parents had stood by while the Nazis tortured and killed millions. The Weathermen could not understand how some people suffered in horrible poverty in the richest country in the world. Both groups were appalled at the inequalities in the world.
There was also an element of competition. Who was more committed to the revolution? They had to prove themselves as authentic fighters against the establishment. They believed that they had to stand up for their beliefs to the death. Martyrdom was an acceptable risk. Even the Black Panthers considered them extreme. After the 1968 Days of Rage in Chicago, Fred Hampton said "We no not support people who are anarchistic, opportunistic, adventuristic, and Custeristic [i.e., suicidal]."
When the Vietnam War ended so did the Weather Underground. The RAF continued becoming increasingly violent until shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. Their ideology gone and most members in prison, they could not find a reason to exist. Varon's work is very timely because the Cold War mentality has been replaced by the War on Terror mentality. The suicide bombers of September 11 were all from prosperous homes and had
excellent education and job opportunities and like the members of the Weather Underground and the RAF they had no problems being martyrs.
Recommended reading for anyone interested in American history.
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