After German Chancellor Olaf Scholz failed to receive a vote of confidence in the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) on December 16, Germany entered an early election process. In November, disagreements over aid to Ukraine were among the main reasons behind the breakdown of the tripartite coalition. The deepening government crisis in Germany is strengthening the opposition’s position. Among the opposition groups gaining momentum recently, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is at the forefront.
The AfD (Alternative for Germany) is becoming a reflection of the rising right in the country.[1] Founded in 2013, the party initially took a stance against immigration from the Middle East and later gained popularity with rhetoric surrounding violence attributed to migrants. The party enjoys significant popularity, especially among young people, and has attracted attention in German politics due to its radical ideology and controversial positions. In fact, its youth organizations have been labelled as “extremist” by the Federal Government and placed under surveillance.[2]
Following their relative underperformance in the 2019 elections, the AfD made significant gains in recent regional elections, particularly in eastern cities such as Saxony and Thuringia, achieving vote increases unseen since the Nazi era. This, combined with the further weakening of the Traffic Light Coalition, has positioned the AfD as a destabilizing factor in German politics. The party has skillfully leveraged key events such as the Russia-Ukraine War, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Energy Crisis to bolster its influence. Since the 1990s, growing anti-American sentiment has found expression through the AfD, enabling the party to resonate with diverse segments of the population.
The AfD’s rise, especially in eastern Germany, is not surprising. The formation and evolution of political cultures are long-term processes, heavily shaped by historical events. The ongoing tension between eastern and western Germany reflects these deep-seated cultural and political divides.
Before their unification through the efforts of Otto von Bismarck in 1871 and the crowning of Wilhelm I in Paris, the German principalities were fragmented. Among them, Prussia was the dominant power, primarily located in what is now eastern Germany.[3] This dominance can be viewed as the first step in the political-cultural divide between eastern and western Germany. However, the true division occurred after World War II. In the lead-up to the war, the Weimar Republic ended in 1933 with Hitler’s rise to power. Germany then embarked on a path of continuous industrialization coupled with a mercantilist economic model.
The rise of Nazism and the devastation caused by World War II led to significant disputes over the postwar future of Germany. The country’s territories were divided among the victorious powers — France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union. With the onset of the Cold War after 1949, this division became more pronounced. The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was established under the control of the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, while the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) came under Soviet control. As a result, the early postwar years were marked by territorial struggles, and efforts to purge radicals from domestic politics were not highly effective.
This process in history is known as “denazification.” After 1949, it was carried out in sharply different ways in the western and eastern parts of the country. The process itself was fraught with internal conflicts. Although there were initial failures in West Germany, denazification was implemented more harshly there compared to East Germany. In West Germany, the release of many Nazi criminals, who were not sentenced to death in the Nuremberg Trials, and attempts to undermine these proceedings, including the Auschwitz Trials, by higher authorities contributed to the initial failure of the denazification process. Later, the process was accelerated with the support of the Western powers in the country, along with contributions from pro-European integration Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.
In contrast, the nearly forty years of Soviet Union dominance in East Germany led to the formation of a political culture there that was distinctly different from the West. During this period, strict governance prevailed, and a climate of fear developed among the population. However, the key issue was the appointments made by the Soviet Union in East Germany. While the denazification process in West Germany was carried out, it was almost nonexistent in East Germany, remaining limited to bureaucratic levels. There were even instances where some military officials, whether or not they had previously been members of the Nazi paramilitary organization SS (Schutzstaffel), were still included in the East German ranks.
According to Dr. Johanness Kiess, Deputy Director of the Else Frenkel-Brunswik Institute at Leipzig University, East Germany, which reunified with West Germany in 1990, sought to benefit from the capitalist world. Alongside the flow of capital and infrastructure development, many innovative projects were designed. However, many factories and workplaces were closed, leading to unemployment. As a result, the post-reunification process has been a complex and controversial one, open to criticism.[4]
Today, the reason the AfD mainly finds support in eastern Germany is due to the region’s historical processes, particularly after World War II. In the country, several extremist factions, including neo-Nazis, have emerged, with the majority being in the east. The fact that, for the first time since the Nazi era, a right-wing party has become the leading party in Thüringen, located in eastern Germany, explains this connection.[5] The political conflicts the country has been facing in recent times also contribute to the rise of this connection. This situation, which could also be detrimental to the European Union, will undoubtedly cause concern among the left-wing in Europe. However, the argument that the entire country will be influenced by this faction seems questionable. Ultimately, according to polls, the majority of the population holds negative views about the party.
[1] Le Monde (September 2, 2024), “The worrying rise of Germany’s far right.”, https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2024/09/02/the-worrying-rise-of-germany-s-far-right_6724463_23.html, (Date Accession: 31.12.2024).
[2] Benson, Robert (October 30, 2024), “A Bellwether for Trans-Atlantic Democracy: The Rise of the German Far Right.” CAP20, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/a-bellwether-for-trans-atlantic-democracy-the-rise-of-the-german-far-right/, (Date Accession: 31.12.2024).
[3] Baker, Nick & Quince Annabelle (November 13, 2024), “What’s behind the rise of the far right in Germany?”, ABCNEWS, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-14/far-right-alternative-for-germany-afd/104573296, (Date Accession: 31.12.2024).
[4] Ibid.
[5] Hawes, James (September 7, 2024), “Everyone is terrified of a far-right return in Germany. Here’s why it won’t happen.”, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/07/everyone-is-terrified-of-a-far-right-return-in-germany-heres-why-it-wont-happen, (Date Accession: 31.12.2024).
