Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- List of abbreviations
- For Herbert
- Preface
- 1 Comparative research on political violence
- 2 Political violence in Italy and Germany: a periodization
- 3 Violence and the political system: the policing of protest
- 4 Organizational processes and violence in social movements
- 5 The logic of underground organizations
- 6 Patterns of radicalization in political activism
- 7 Individual commitment in the underground
- 8 Social movements, political violence, and the state: a conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- List of abbreviations
- For Herbert
- Preface
- 1 Comparative research on political violence
- 2 Political violence in Italy and Germany: a periodization
- 3 Violence and the political system: the policing of protest
- 4 Organizational processes and violence in social movements
- 5 The logic of underground organizations
- 6 Patterns of radicalization in political activism
- 7 Individual commitment in the underground
- 8 Social movements, political violence, and the state: a conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
West Berlin, June 2, 1967. An official visit in Germany by the Shah of Iran and his wife coincided with the peak of a long-lasting student mobilization. Because of rumors of a possible attack against the Shah, the federal government declared the “highest security level.” The state government mobilized 4,240 policemen to guarantee the security of the guests. Since the early morning, organizations of Iranian refugees and student groups had staged protests everywhere the imperial couple was expected to appear during its Berlin visit. Several times during the day, demonstrators and the Shah's supporters – later said to be organized by the Iranian secret services – clashed with each other, and the police charged the demonstrators. The first confrontations took place in front of the city hall. About four hundred protestors carrying placards calling for “Freedom for Iran” were attacked by a group of about a hundred pro-Shah demonstrators. Once over the police barriers, the attackers advanced on the crowd, armed with iron bars. The demonstrators called on the police to stop the attack. The police charged the anti-Shah demonstrators. Skirmishes continued throughout the day: “12.40 smoking bombs in front of the city hall … 15.50 egg-and-paint bombs thrown in front of the castle … 17.00 a demonstrator throws an egg … 19.47 firecrackers were thrown at the cortege of the Shah” – so the chronicle of the Berlin daily Morgenpost.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Social Movements, Political Violence, and the StateA Comparative Analysis of Italy and Germany, pp. xiii - xviiiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1995