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Who Voted for Germany's New Nazis?
Klikauer, Thomas
http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/12/06/who-voted-for-germanys-new-nazis/Date Written: 2017-12-06 Publisher: CounterPunch Year Published: 2017 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX22213 Klikauer examines the rise of the far-Right in Germany, with reference to unresolved inequalities post re-uinification, changing demographics and media interests. Abstract: - Excerpt: As Germany's police attacked anti-Fascist protesters once again with tear gas (as if gas hadn't already done enough damage throughout German history!), Germany's newest Nazi Party, the AfD, held its party convention in early December 2017. Plagued by years of infighting, the party selected, once again, a new leadership. The new leaders will shift the party away from its reactionary-conservatism wing towards its racially motivated völkisch-nationalist wing which positions the AfD even more to the extreme right. Already represented in 14 regional parliaments, elections to the federal parliament (on 24th September 2017) resulted in the fact that for the first time since 1945, a new neo-Nazi party called "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) was elected with 12.6%. Although the AfD is relatively new as a political party, its ancestors date back to Germany’s real Nazis (NSDAP 1920-1945) followed by the short-lived post-World War II "Socialist Reichsparty"(SRP). Like the NSDAP, the SRP was not a socialist party. It was the NSDAP's Nazi successor immediately after the victory over Nazi Germany. Once declared illegal, the SRP's successor became the neo-Nazi party "National-Democratic Party" (NPD). None of these parties were democratic. Neither SRP nor NPD made it big, perhaps because both simply weren’t as good as the AfD in hiding their Nazism. In many ways, however, the NPD has, at least in terms of ideology and voter support, paved the way for today's AfD. Subject Headings |