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After Germany’s coalition government collapsed, along with a subsequent financial crisis, the AFD swept in as popular saviours… sound familiar?
As we’ve all probably heard before, history repeats itself. We’re seeing it in the United States, and now in Germany with the AfD – right-wing extremist parties are having a comeback, but what does this mean for the rest of the world?
The 2025 German election had the biggest turnout in over 30 years – a worrying development in the steady global rise of the far-right. When the Scholz cabinet lost the vote of confidence on the 16th December 2024, the country was plunged into a 7-month early election: the first in twenty years.
The biggest economy in Europe is crippled by its financial crisis, and its government is at threat of collapse. With this instability, the right-wing extremist party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), has swooped in for a second-place majority, now closely creeping behind the Christian Democratic Union party (CDU). With 20.8% of seats, the far-right group poses a growing threat in the global context of rising far-right movements.
The AfD Manifesto: What Does It Mean For Germany, And Why Should We Be Concerned?
The AfD have attained 20.8% of seats in the Bundestag, and with world security hanging on by a thread, these government extremities are concerning. The party proudly prioritise nativism: the prioritisation of native-born residents over immigrants. They express no shame in this twisted view as they discriminate their own population (the population they seek to represent), neglecting the needs or opinions of those who they do not deem important.
A governing body should not assign value to civilians, and yet, they do. The AfD are unashamedly xenophobic and do not attempt to disguise it.
“…the creeping threat of far-right extremism will leak into society, facilitating oppression and segregation.”
As seen in Chapter 7 of their manifesto, the AfD explicitly mentions Islamic religion six times, focusing on the suppressing of culture and encouraging Islamophobia. By extension, within Chapter 8, over half of their policies encourage exclusion – whether that is of the Islamic faith, or gender studies. These political ideologies encourage segregation and normalise cultural discrimination – similar to what’s happening in the U.S.
European Interest
After Donald Trump’s attack on President Zelenskyy in the White House, global stability is cracking like ice beneath our feet. Plus, with Germany – Europe’s largest economy – facing government collapse, humanity is at risk of a deadly plunge into the normalisation of far-right extremism.
“…country alliances have never been more important, nor this uncertain.”
Currently, the U.S. is leading this agenda in Western culture, with Germany not far behind. But with a change in government, policies from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) are uncertain to be carried over.
However, while in power, Olaf Scholz (leader of the Scholz cabinet, the SPD and current chancellor of Germany) announced €3 billion in aid to Ukraine in Germany’s defence, aiding with weapons systems. But now, with Friedrich Merz (member of the CDU) coming into power, he intends to cooperate with the UK and other European powers in a new military defence alignment. Regardless, given that the U.S. is no longer seen as a reliable power, Merz has voiced that he wants Germany to be independent from the U.S.
Since 1945, country alliances have never been more important, nor this uncertain. With these changes in agenda and differences in global unity, the strands of global security continue to wither. The U.S. is one of the most dominant powers in the world, and with the increasingly aggressive presence of the far-right, the rest of the world must remain strong against it.
“What was thought to be the era of freedom and individual expression now becomes clouded by the shadow of a dark history repeating itself.”
Europe, as a whole, needs to unite; Germany has a responsibility to unite against the far-right to maintain the liberty and peace that was fought for 80 years ago. If not, the creeping threat of far-right extremism will leak into society, facilitating oppression and segregation.
@cbcnews Alternative for Germany (AfD) is on course to become the second-largest player in the country’s parliament after Sunday’s election. CBC’s Margaret Evans breaks down where the far-right political party came from, its seemingly contradictory leader and why Elon Musk is getting involved. #news #germany #afd #election
The Digression Of Equality
What people believe to be a “woke” Western civilisation is in fact corrupted by movements that further perpetuate hate crimes against marginalised groups. The far-right see themselves as a retaliation against the “woke” movements of the 21st century, hoping to suppress qualities like self expression.
A prime example: actress Hunter Schafer recently had her passport changed, non-consensually, to state her as male. This reverses years of trans-rights movements, all because of an election that voted in a far-right representative.
World history plays out amidst the ebbs and flows of economic booms and recessions. This is also true for cultural development. Before the oppressive dictatorship of Nazi Germany, was the roaring twenties; exactly 100 years after, we face the same extremes in politics in the mode of Trump and now the AfD.
History Repeats Itself
What was thought to be the era of freedom and individual expression now becomes clouded by the shadow of a dark history repeating itself. The AfD party is the first far-right movement to win the support of the German state since the election of the Nazi party. To ignore this comparison is to abuse the nature of hindsight.
Like Adolf Hitler, Donald Trump and the AfD embody a strong, inspiring voice who courageously speak out in retaliation against the so-called ‘corruption’ of their nation: the integration of cultures, the inclusion of people and true essence of democracy – having everyone’s voice heard. These policies gate keep their nation as if the outer world poisons like alcohol to the liver, or as Trump believes, like an alien invasion.
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Image courtesy of Angelo Abear on Unplash. No changes have been made to this image. Image license found here.
