by Denis Navickas
Less than a century since the Nazi government’s hatred-fuelled ascent to power and the subsequent genocide of millions of innocent people, far-right groups are rising once again in Germany. They hold seats in the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, and politically motivated crimes have skyrocketed in the past few years. Anti-government sentiments are growing among regular citizens in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen many frustrated individuals turn to far-right conspiracy theories in pursuit of answers during a period of confusion and uncertainty. What forms does the radical right take in germany? Why is it rising? Is it really a threat? And what comes next for Germany, a nation haunted by its past?
But first, a quick breakdown of what the far-right is in the first place. Generally, it is seen as a strand of politics farther right on the left-right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being anti-communist, authoritarian, ultranationalist, and having nativist ideologies and tendencies [Wikipedia]. Examples of far-right governments in history include Nazi Germany (1933-45) and Fascist Italy (1922-43). It is widely accepted that far-right views are extremist and dangerous.
That being said, there are many different far-right groups across Germany with some variation in beliefs, activities, and success. For example, the increasingly extremist “Alternative for Germany” (AfD) party is now a major player in German politics. The party was founded 8 years ago as a eurosceptic alternative to the ruling CDU, but has since skewed farther right; their populist, anti-immigraion, nationalist stances launched the party to third place in the 2017 German federal election. Since then, they’ve publicly attacked minority groups, encouraged violence against refugees, and condemned the Holocaust memorial in Berlin - they’re record speaks for itself... The Reichsbürger movement is another prominent far-right group. They’re known for their violent opposition to the modern German state and liberal democracy as a whole. Reichsbürger is a German term used to describe people or groups who reject the legitimacy and legality of the present-day federal republic of Germany. They maintain that the pre-war german empire still exists and that they’re its rightful representatives. The movement is linked to ultra-nationalist and bigoted views, and its followers have, in the past, refused to pay taxes or fines and even issued their own passports and currencies. Though these are only some of the radical right groups active in Germany, of which there are many with each their own unique idiosyncrasies, such groups have more in common than not, such as their tactics…
Something universal among the vast majority of far-right groups all over the world is the taking advantage of ordinary people’s fears and worries in order to recruit them into their ranks. But how do people fall for such hateful rhetoric in the first place? For one, the 2015 european migrant crisis electrified Germany’s radical right, particularly the AfD, which took advantage of the uncertainty felt by ordinary citizens by providing a convenient scapegoat. The influx of primarily Muslim refugees into the country was blamed for a variety of Germany’s issues; the party used extremist anti-immigration and islamophobic rhetoric as a catapult into political relevance. As already discussed, it worked - the AfD won 94 seats out of the 709 in the Bundestag in 2017, placing them as the largest opposition force in parliament. More recently, the coronavirus has been, in many ways, a gift to Germany’s far-right. The uncertainty of the pandemic has left otherwise normal Germans, fearful for the future and angry at the way things are, scrambling for answers on the Internet, which has acted as a pipeline into right-wing conspiracy theories. Indeed, in 2020, German police recorded 24,000 incidents of far-right crime, the highest level since records began 20 years ago and a rise of 8.5% from the previous year. The victims of all this have been many - refugees, members of the LGBTQ+ community, Jews, and virtually anyone who doesn’t meet the absurd expectations of these hateful ideologies.
Having discussed these beliefs, their proponents, and their rise - exactly how much of a threat do they pose? Firstly, the onset of COVID-19 sent Germany’s right-wing extremists into a dangerous and paranoid frenzy. They saw the coronavirus as a conspiratorial plot orchestrated by the world’s governments to establish authoritarian control over the world’s population; the superspreader anti-lockdown protests that followed often resulted in violent clashes with German authorities. In August 2020, hundreds of such protesters went to the extreme by storming the German parliament building in a disturbing display of rejection of the modern political establishment and democracy as a whole. Altogether, interior ministry figures reported that, of an estimated 24,000 active far-right extremists in the country, almost 53% are inclined towards violence, and a recent report by the Federal Ministry of Defence found that there had been a significant increase in suspected extremism cases connected to members of the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces. Nearly 83% of the cases were for far-right beliefs, another 5.2% were suspected Reichsbürgers. Though this represents only a tiny portion of the Bundeswehr’s active-duty personnel, the figures were nonetheless extremely distressing because of the soldiers’ specialist military training and access to weapons. Nicholas Potter, a researcher at a German anti-racist group, told VICE World News that “these are… soldiers - you don’t need a huge number of them to pose a threat to democracy."
The global consensus is that there is no place for the far-right to play any sort of role in an increasingly inclusive, progressive society. Not in Germany, not anywhere else. Minister of the Interior Horst Steehofer has said that he views the dramatic rise in right-wing crime as a substantial threat to the country’s stability and security. The near 16% rise in antisemitic attcks was, Steehofer said, “not only alarming but owing to the context of our history, also deeply shameful.” Yet, as has been highlighted in this article, intolerance and hatred persist. And in places like Germany, these beliefs are becoming increasingly normalised. Whether this trend continues is dependent on what we do next to combat it. The far-right often exercises an almost cult-like hold on its victims, leaving them practically immune to logic and reason. So, countermeasures need to be taken, counternarratives strengthened against conspiracy theories and bigoted ideology in order to ensure that people don’t fall for far-right rhetoric to begin with. As well as this, we must play an active role in this struggle by speaking out about injustice when we see it. Germany must remember the human suffering that was born of intolerance in the past, and mustn't allow history to repeat itself.
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
- Elie Weasel, Holocaust survivor
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