Is the shock over the rise of Germany’s far right overdone?
Is the shock over the rise of the far right in Germany overdone? The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has placed first in Thuringia’s September 1 election, the first time the far right has won a regional election since the days of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, better known as the Nazis. And the anti-immigration, pro-Russia AfD took second place in the neighbouring state of Saxony.
Cue, shock and horror.
Horror is fine but is the shock somewhat misplaced?
I ask the question because back in January, we knew that AfD was polling very strongly (in fact, it was in second place nationally).
And back in January, we knew that Germans were protesting equally strongly against the rise of the far right.
In fact, on January 31st, my news literacy Substack This Week, Those Books featured the rise of the German far right and protests against it, with the headline “Germans are protesting like it’s 1933” (click here for the free-to-read repost).
That post pointed out the dread in the hearts of so many Germans who felt “there are grave and frightening echoes of 1933”. It was the year that Austrian-born Adolf Hitler took power in Germany, following election wins by his Nazi Party. It was also the year the Reichstag burned down in an arson attack, giving Hitler the excuse to suspend civil liberties and start a 12-year dictatorship. The post also noted Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s insistence that the Nazis’ “ethno-racial ideology” should never again have any place in Germany and the warning by some Germans commentators that words and protests (and even party bans) are not enough to keep down the far right. Instead, they said, Germany needs “better policies”.
Quite apart from everything else, the shock is not warranted because it’s been seven years since the AfD had a national breakthrough and became the main opposition party in the Bundestag.
Go figure.
