Red Army Faction
- noun
- Offensive
- Well, the women who served in the Red Army in the VOV answered that; they showed that they were just as tough as the men and were just as capable of killing fascists.
- Red Army Faction
Examples
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They paid the price in full... their blood lay on every battlefield fought over by the Red Army.
Blog text (26) -
In 1998, the German Red Army Faction (RAF) made a formal announcement that it was to dissolve.
Academic text (2000) -
In 1998, the German Red Army Faction (RAF) made a formal announcement that it was to dissolve.
Academic text (2000) -
The official forces of WaDC don't have a chance, just as the mighty British Empire, Soviet Red Army, and the United States Military cannot win in Afghanistan against an army of invisible unpaid self-supplying volunteers.
Blog text (26) -
Mind you, most Red Army women served in rear-area slots, freeing men for the front (the Finns did the same thing, by the way), but those who served at the front showed their mettle.
Blog text (26) -
In the 1970s and 1980s, a number of brutal terrorist organizations arose in democratic countries: the Red Brigades in Italy, the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Ireland and the United Kingdom, the Japanese Red Army in Japan, and the Red Army Faction (or Baader-Meinhof Gang) in West Germany.
Academic text (2005) -
In the 1970s and 1980s, a number of brutal terrorist organizations arose in democratic countries: the Red Brigades in Italy, the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Ireland and the United Kingdom, the Japanese Red Army in Japan, and the Red Army Faction (or Baader-Meinhof Gang) in West Germany.
Academic text (2005) -
In the 1970s, the Red Army Faction carried out several bank robberies to fund its operations.
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The Red Army Faction was involved in numerous violent acts against the German state throughout its active years.
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Many members of the Red Army Faction were arrested for their participation in terrorist activities.
Synonyms
A violent left-wing group in Germany active from 1968 to 1977
A terrorist group in Germany active from 1970 to 1998
Surface Forms
Morphology
The parts 'red' (communist/leftist), 'army' (military force) and 'faction' (subgroup) transparently signal a leftist/militant subgroup, so a B1 learner who knows the words would likely infer a politically radical or paramilitary group. However, they would not reliably derive the specific historical referent or the fact that it was a German terrorist organization active in the 1970s–1990s, so full meaning requires prior exposure.
Etymology
Red Army Faction joins red, the color of 'communism', army, a fighting force, and faction, a small group, to create the image of a small revolutionary army. That's why it refers to the German left-wing group, also called the Baader-Meinhof Group, that used violence in the 1970s–1990s.