The Red Army Faction (RAF), an extreme-left terrorist organization, also known as the "Baader-Meinhof Gang" or the "Baader-Meinhof Group," operated in Germany in the 1970s. Its members, who believed in the power of images, initially expressed their militancy in artistic, cinematographic and media-attention grabbing actions. But, faced with the failure of these actions to have the desired impact, the group became more radicalized and resorted to armed struggle, and to even carrying out lethal bombings and assassinations which would contribute to the climate of social and political violence during the "Years of Lead."