The United Red Army is founded in Japan.
The United Red Army (連合赤軍, Rengō Sekigun) was a militant organization, that operated in Japan between July 1971 and March 1972. The URA was formed as the result of a merger that began on 13 July 1971 between two extremist groups, the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Red Army Faction (赤軍派, Sekigunha), led in 1971 by Tsuneo Mori, and the Reformed Marxist Revolutionary Left Wing group, Japanese Communist Party Kanagawa Prefecture Committee, aka Keihin Anti-Security Treaty Joint Struggle Group (京浜安保共闘, Keihin Anbo Kyoutou) led by Hiroko Nagata. The group intended to disrupt the Japanese political system to enable the emergence of Communism in the state. The URA came to a sudden end with the Asama-Sanso incident, a 9-day siege and hostage situation that occurred at the group’s mountain hide out in the Nagano Prefecture in February 1972. This event was widely publicized, with viewers across Japan able to view the shoot-out between the radicals and riot police on TV. Public perception of the group was varied. Many were strongly opposed to the group and their tendency toward violence, whilst others sympathized with them and their desire to bring down the police state.The United Red Army had 29 members and lost 14 due to killings in less than a year. Most were members of the New Left.