Complex sentence: The students were the first in Germany to carry their opinion into the streets and the first to protest against the government with demonstrations, sit-ins and other actions while this seems normal for us today it was absolutely new and provoking at that time.
Split into simpler sentences: The students were the first in Germany to carry their opinion onto the streets and the first to protest against the government with demonstrations, sit-ins and other actions. While this seems normal for us today it was absolutely new and provoking at that time.