The dark underside of the human condition never disappears completely.
While in remission, usually in times when the horror of Nazi atrocities remain fresh in a society's collective memory, the scourge hibernates, lurking in wait before the dam rots, spilling its toxicity into the clear waters of constitutionalism.
Hence, Nazism was never irrevocably slain. Moreover, America is resurrecting its own Civil War until a new Gettysburg address puts it to sleep for another string of decades.
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The issue in Germany isn't one of the 'far right/Nazi party' taking over the government. Germans, except for a few, would never go back to a Nazi styled government. It's outrageous to link right to Nazi.
The issue in Germany is that Merkel encouraged open borders and let in a million people who do not respect the culture of their host country. The government and media suppressed the impact of taking in so many and placing them in small towns ill-equipped to handle so many that could not speak the language and had little to no education or skills. This is why voters are moving toward the right, not towards Nazi style government, but towards a common sense approach to immigration and the handling of refugees (i.e. don't let economic immigrants in).
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The article is far from reality.
After one day of sudden shock and a lot of drivel there are many spot-on articles in German press now. The best are the articles by Mr. Alexander in Welt and Ms. Amann in SPIEGEL. While Mr. Alexander went into many important details Ms. Amann put it in a nutshell:
"Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer failed due to the impossible mission to govern CDU while Ms. Merkel is still in power. Whoever succeeds her has to insist on the withdrawal of the chancellor - and this means new elections".
https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/annegret-kramp-karrenbauer-gibt-auf-unter-merkel-ging-es-nicht-a-d159779d-8395-4897-9067-b5445d37e766
Exactly this is the issue.
AKK has a different political approach than Ms. Merkel while Ms. Merkel thought she could instrumentalize AKK as her recipient of orders in the party. AKK refused not only because she has different ideas but also because most of the party expected a new policy approach. Because Ms. Merkel is no friend of internal discussions, to put it mildly, there are centrifugal forces within the CDU and this had lead to clashes in Thüringen recently. Rigid guidelines by Ms. Merkel from top down out of her "Berlin spaceship" are failing. She has no touch on the special situation particularly in the East any more.
When Ms. Merkel acted like party leader herself by ruling party affairs from South Africa AKK had to go because this took away any chance to get on track as party leader in future.
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The Problem of Germany is not the small Thüringen Incident, which will be rectified, even though it is typical for the current Government. Germanys fundamental Problem is Merkel. Firstly Germany should adopt the US System, letting top politicians, especially the Chancellor govern for 2 times 4 years only. Merkel was never a good Leader, nor a good Decisionmaker, and look at her Cabinet. Whenever political Talent came close, she found ways to eliminate or transfer the Competitor. During her Tenure her Party lost Control of the German Government (all time low), she failed to bring the EU forward, which is the Job of Europes foremost power. Berlin sent only second class Politicians to Brussels, instead the best, latest example Germanys incompetent Defense Minister Lady for the Top Job in the EU. Worst of all, her Politics let the extreme Right gain growth at an unbelievable pace. No sane German can approve of this dark and terrible Party. And now Merkel wants even to determine her Successor after 16 years, like the line of succession in a Monarchie, and chooses AKK, the former PM of a small and poor German State. This poor State depends on heavy subsidies from the Republik for as long as 60 years. AKK could not reverse this trend, but wanted to have Germanys top Job, with the help of Nepotism tactics of Merkel. What kind of Politics? Germanys economic strength is not Merkels doing, but the result of Entrepreneurs and decent citizens. Lucky enough AKK had second thoughts.
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The rise of the Alternative for Germany (AFD) party, some members of which support racist, anti-Semitic, and neo-Nazi views, as well as the concomitant rise of the Left Party (die Linke) with its moral relativization of former GDR regime crimes, has been worrying, and I am pleased that the Times is giving this some attention.
If Germany’s present economic prosperity, which may have a shaky foundation as some economists believe, should dwindle, Kramp-Karrenbauer’s “centrifugal forces” will strengthen and could eventually tear apart this republic, which since its emergence from two dictatorships has transformed itself, despite its faults, into a model democracy. That would be a great tragedy.
There are many causes for the “centrifugal forces,” some of which originated in Kramp-Karrenbauer’s own party, the CDU. The middle class feels threatened, and East Germans feel reminded of the former GDR.
As endearing as Chancellor Angela Dorothea Merkel may be with her concern for the fate of Syrian refugees, her decision to violate the Schengen Accords and to open German borders to uncontrolled immigration is the single most important cause of the AFD’s ascent (and of the Left’s in response).
The AFD is a one-issue party. Take immigration away from them, and they will retreat.
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@RHNIII
Insightful comments. Thanks.
"The AFD is a one-issue party. Take immigration away from them, and they will retreat."
Exactly correct.
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@John The otherwise very balanced comment contains a myth that political analysts call the 'stab-in-the-back-myth' of our time, which is the 'constitutional violation' of Angela Merkel.
First of all, it has nothing to do with Schengen. A violation of Schengen would be to introduce border controls between EU member states.
What @RHNIII means is the Dublin Agreement. The Dublin Agreement says that refugees have to apply for asylum in the first EU country they enter, which most of the time is either Spain, Italy or Greece.
However, the Dublin Agreement also allows an EU member state to assume this responsibility voluntarily (see EU Regulation No 604/2013, Article 17). That's what Merkel did. Although both, the German Constitutional Court and the European Court of Justice, unanimously rejected the far right's complaint, the myth still persists.
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@RHNIII Take immigration away from them? In other words, other politicians step up and address the real desires of the citizens impacted by mass immigration?
And if this is their only issue, then why is it not mentioned anywhere in the entire article?
Both questions have obvious answers.
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This is a scary story for anybody old enough to remember World War II -- and for anybody who reads history. What makes it doubly scary is that this same situation -- of both left- and right-wing parties becoming more left and more right -- is what we also have in this country. What makes it most of all scary is that our own right wing party appears to be the stronger one, anyway at present. When and where are either Germany or the U.S. going to rediscover moderation and balance?
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@Piri Halasz Excuse me please for telling you the awful truth, but as a German guy who pays close attention to political developments in America, I have to say the situation is way worse in the US. Your country already elected a demagogue as president, and his increasingly radical and militant right wing party has wrecked havoc in federal and state goverments. In Germany, the similarly radical AfD party polls nationally at 9% and isn't part of any government, federal or state. Merkel's CDU has moved left and is comparable to the centrist wing of the Dems, Social Democrats are like the progressive wing, Greens are WAY stronger than in the US, and the Linke party, more leftwing and more radical than Bernie Sanders, doesn't even exist in America in any way.
So, very different circumstances, in part because of a very different democratic system, and all in all much less dire than on the other side of the big pond. We Germans do have universal healthcare, free tuition plus a solid social net and these accomplishments aren't under attack at all. I worry much less about my own country than about friends in the US and I'm crossing fingers for all brave resisters to kick Trump out of office at the end of the year. Yes, you can! Feel the Bern.
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The far right Thuringian Alternative for Germany offshoot has stained democracy and Germany’s international reputation — by landing a shady coup of national scope, routed in the nearsightedness and disunity of the democratic parties.
Merkel’s chosen succeessor’s fall actually began last week during the Thuringia Prime Minister election: With no majority for any party candidate after two rounds of voting, the AfD proposed their own candidate, as some sort of trojan horse. That candidate did not get a single vote — the entire AfD group had switched to the liberal minority candidate during the final voting round, teaming up secretly with the conservative parties to avoid any left-leaning Prime Minister.
This is what happens, when you give the far right a hand. Never again!
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@Martin Attention please, American readers: German definition of "liberal" rather translates to "libertarian", it's not synonymous for "leftwing". German party FDP, which ran the candidate who benefitted from the political stunt in Thuringia, stands for free market policies, deregulation and low taxes. It ain't leftwing at all, but center/right, and polls at 5% nationally right now (lost 5% because of its role in the shenanigans).
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The mainstream parties in Germany have largely failed to meet the challenges of the 21st century, globalized world. The far left was discredited long ago. So voters fed up with the mainstream are moving right. Does that mean Dachau and Auschwitz are on the horizon? That seems more than doubtful.
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@Jon Harrison There's also a movement to the left. So, voters who are dissatisfied with establishment parties that don't solve problems of globalism, like the real estate bubble, are moving to the fringes. It's like the line in that Yeats poem that opinion writer Elizabeth Bruenig cited some days ago:
"The center cannot hold"
@Gray Goods: You're right. The Greens are taking people away from the establishment left. It's interesting that some (many?) on the right share the Greens' environmental message, while strongly opposing them on social policy.
This article exaggerates the situation and neglects the main cause of the current instability.
In Germany left and conservative party blocks traditionally have a share of 50% each, with a fluctuation of plus minus 5%. The dogma, not to cooperate with the 15-35% of new far right voters, causes a drastic change. The left parties (Left, Green, Socialdemocrats) are now stronger than the remaining conservative block (CDU, DSU, Liberals). This leaves Merkel's party without a realistic government perspective in many states and probably also after the next general election. Naturally, the left block is interested to maintain this situation and does everything to demonize the AfD as the new Nazis to prevent the reunification of the conservative spectrum.
This is Merkel's fatal heritage of her immigration policy, which has split and radicalized the German society. On a longer term her party has only three options left: to disappear together with the fading center, to follow the Austrian example of a much more conservative orientation, or to accept some collaboration with the far right.
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I find it quite curious that this article doesn't mention even once, that the ONLY reason that the conservatives made this pact with the fascists was to keep out the leader of the left party.
The constant equivalence of a perceived far left and actual neo fascist right (a local court declared that the leader of the Thuringia AfD can be called a fascist) is the true reason why this debacle happened.
The former left governor, Mr. Ramelow of Die LINKE, is by no means at all comparable in any way to the fascist AfD leader. He is what a social democrat was like 20,30 years ago before they abandoned their working class constituents.
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The comparison with the rise of Nazism is fallacious. That came about mainly because of the disastrous Versailles treaty, the Great Depression, and the genteel antisemitism that was rampant then. The AfD exists to the degree it does now because of unregulated immigration. The parallel to Trumpism is clear. The next leader of the CDU will need to find a balance between soothing irrational fear of The Other and dealing with justified discontent.
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@Glen Wilson That "Other" is the ongoing islamist invasion of Germany and fearing that is not irrational. It is absolutely rational.
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The disastrous volatility of the Middle East and consequent humanitarian crises have upended European stability.
Humans can be altruistic and accommodating, especially from a position of wealth of union, but tribalism still has fundamental presence.
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The SPD is NOT left-wing.
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@Besar So much for the view from the radical left.
Truth is instead that the SPD is soldly left of center. The problem's rather that nowaday's Social Democrats have become out of touch with working class people and don't present real solutions to their problems, like the disturbing housing crisis. The SPD's left wing policies are well intended, but not well done.
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I don't think you understand the difference between being left and being left-wing (see your first sentence).
@Besar
The SPD is definitely left-wing. They advocate Socialist policies and programs. Merkel wouldn't have gotten elected for over a decade if the SPD wasn't left-wing. Helmut Kohl wouldn't have been elected for years if the SPD wasn't left-wing. Gerhard Schroeder from Niedersachsen was a left-wing Chancellor for the SPD, years ago. To claim the SPD is not left-wing is rather a misinformed statement.
Blaming the CDU‘s demise on the existence of the AfD gives the AfD a lot more credit than it deserves. The CDU is a dinosaur in Germanys political system today - big, old, and (probably) soon extinct. The reasons for Kramp-Karrenbauers failure is manifold, but her legacy will be defined by her dazzling lack of leadership. She failed to produce a vision and narrative that people could identify with after taking over from Merkel. She never determined the policy on cooperating with the AfD in regional and state parliaments. She failed to quash the never-ending Kanzlerkandidat debate. Ultimately, with Merkel running the chancellery, Kramp-Karrenbauer was never the real leader of the party, the voice of authority, even if her job title may have suggested it.
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Yet Britain is the problem for leaving a European Union that is government of the Germans, by the Germans, for the Germans?
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@Frank That's utter nonsense. Germany doesn't dominate the EU at all. It's vastly outnumbered. And actually, EU bureaucrats speak French, not German. Merkel, together with Macron, is one of the most prominent leaders in Europe, because she leads the biggest member state, but that's all.
Anyway, Brexit has never really been about too much German influence in the EU, but is a xenophobic and nationalist movement boosted by unscrupulous demagogues and the UK's overwhelmingly right wing media. It's 'Make England Great Again'. Don't blame Germany for that madness, our bad example of the 1930s should have shown Brits where this leads to.
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The parallels between Germany and America with the splintered GOP and supposed moderates fealty to Trump’s authoritarian grip are frightening indeed.
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@Andy Bachman There is no "splintered GOP", polls show that 90% of Republicans support the serial liar and shady schemer Trump. The situation in Germany's still not even remotely as bad, even though the aloof establishment and growing dissatifation with the main parties has fueled the rise of the right wing AfD party.
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I believe it is good for Germany that Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer stepped down, as I don't think an elected chancellor/leaders should appoint a successor in dynastic style.
Germany turned to the right, like the US, after too many failed left policies. The media labels as far-right any party that opposes immigration even if their policies are progressive and, by American standards, democratic socialist. It is a misleading label, meant to steer fear so people in power can preserve the status quo when many people want change but this change goes against the policies of open-borders Soros. Germans are a great people, smart and industrious, and I am sure they will be all right.
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@Alexgri Reality is more complex than this alleged "move to the right". Polls show there still being a roughly 50/50 balance between right wing and left wing voters. What happened is that Merkel strategically moved her party, the CDU, more to the left, to crush her main rival, the SPD. Social Democrats never found a way to stop this invasion onto their turf and lost half of their voters. However, Merkel's move opened up a political vacuum on the outer right wing, when CDU voters became disenfranchised because of the erosion of conservative stances in their old party.
Merkel's decision to allow unregulated immigration in 2015 opened the floodgates. It was the anti-EU right wing fringe party AfD, barely noticeable at 5% or so, that benefited from this, by adopting a staunchly anti-immigration stance. That's where many voters from the right wing of the CDU went, and Angela Merkel's responsible for this.
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For the CDU to find a clear direction post-Merkel will take most of this year, but there is a fine liberal consensus in party and country that, if after some debate, will resist any lurches to the right. They are the same people who made war refugees feel welcome, incl victims of Isis and Assad's poison gas. A programmatic renewal with younger people at the top is urgently needed. Still, Germany seems more stable these days than France or UK as none of the main parties will step on the populist bandwagon of the AfD and their deeply racist followers. Massive outrage over decisions in Thuringia, a place of only two mio inhabitants, proved that point.
Not least because of developments in the US and UK there is now a much greater sensitivity in Germany re. catching the nationalist "me-first" virus. There is less awareness of the fact that Putin and other authoritarian forces have profoundly destabilized Ukraine, Syria and Turkey, with Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic following close behind (Syria being subject to pressure from other extremists, too). In Poland, the independent judiciary is just being abolished, but Orban is finally being challenged in Budapest, and Czechs are up in arms also.
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Let’s not sound any alarm bells yet. Most people in Germany and in the EU are rather apolitical and want the same things: low taxes, a government that works for the people not for the MNCs, jobs and opportunities for business and the middle class, freedom to travel and work within the EU for all E members and no immigration and refugees from outside the EU.
Of course, there are many far leftists in Germany who are for unfettered immigration and who believe anyone who chooses to move to Germany should be welcomed and considered German right away. They believe Germany is a mere idea not a nation state. The far-right has been a balancing reaction to this extreme trend, an effort to return to the middle. When the pendulum swings too much in one direction, it can be balanced only by a reaction of similar force in the opposite direction. This is what is happening now and it's all good.
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