Conclusion
CONCLUSION
The historic revolution of 1989 leading to the Unification of the Federal
Republic of Germany brought along with it bewildering array of contradictions, viz,
extreme nationalism, political extremism ethnocentrism, racism, anti-Semitism and
rational chauvinism in the largest and most populous country or Western Europe. The
phenomenal rise of political extremism in Germany has raised fear whether it could
transform itself into a "national extremism" or a "right-wing revolution" or rather a
counter-revqlution in German policy. The conclusions of various chapters in this
Doctoral thesis attempt to enlighten our views about the various aspects of this
intriguing question.
The chapter one is introduction and it only introduces the delineation of theme in the
thesis.
In the chapter two entitled "German Unification: Its socio-economic and
Political Consequences". It has been argued that the various consequences of
Unification were both stressful and amazing. The socio-economic reconstruction of
eastern Germany has been a challenging task of colossal magnitude. The problems of
economic transition of the new /aender led to unemployment, elimination of "cradle to-grave social security, and in
sourc~
cases 'under -development' of certain pockets
in the region. During the initial years of Unification, these problems were greatly
responsible for the resurgence of political extremism. The foreigners-immigrants,
refugees & asylum seekers -were made scapegoat, for they were projected by the
rightists as the cause of joblessness, rising crime graph and lowering of the 'Teutonic
pride' of the Great German Nation, with the passage of time, however; as the signs of
economic recovery were visible, there was a declining trend in the surge of
xenophobia & racial extremism.
The political landscape of Germany was also affected, post-unification. The
German party system, though is transition for quite some time, has been radicalized
owing to unification.
From the point of view of political extremism; the New Right parties or rightwing parties belonging to the fascism of 1980s and 1990s & after, viz the
Republikaner, the German People's Union (DVU), the National Democratic Party
(NPD) have been successful in winning seats in elections to various local, city & state
councils & parliaments, they have therefore emerged as the 'respectable' or moderate
face of the nee-Fascism and gained popular legitimacy and important political
mileage. As there xenophobia & right-wing parties try to blur the borderline between
political extremism and democracy; it has proved difficult for the state & Federal
Court for the Protection of (German democratic) Constitution and the Bundestag have
already started actions against the Republikaner & the NPD.
The chapter three, entitled the "Rise of Political Extremism m Germany:
Characteristics, Causes and Consequences" makes some important generalizations. As
regards the characteristics; the nee-political extremism in Germany after Unification
is radically different from the one under the National Socialism.
The New Right Parties viz. the Republikener, German Peoples Union & the
National Democratic Party along with hundreds nee-Nazi organizations are highly
fragmented and disunited in nature. What is more, much of xenophobia, anti-foreigner
166
violence and political extremism is non-ideological in nature. It is more of a 'protest
movement' vis -a-vis the policy of the goverrunent of "unleash" waves of migration
in the wake of unification & after. Millions of immigrants and political asylees
entered Germany after the Unification, following the exodus of economic & political
refugees from war-tom eastern Europe due to liberal asylum policies in the Federal
R~publi<.:.
What is more, all the major political parties capitalized their gains on
immigration politics. The Federal Republic witnessed a neo-Conservatism and
radicalism; even as the mainstream parties moved to the right of political extremism
to win right-wing voters.
Although the immigration of foreigners, refugees and asylum-seekers after
Unification; and the presence of sizeable population of foreigner was the primary
cause of extremism, there were other important causes. The social modernizations and
uncontrolled technological changes in late capitalist and post-industrial societies like
western Germany invariably leads to social disruptions which in tum would create
new lines of·political conflict. The radical right-wing populist New Right Parties like
the Republikaners (REPS) have demonstrated the ability, to appeal to these social
charges & clearages in the value-structures viz concern about clash of cultures, new
values calling for stability security, rising pre-occupation with 'ethnic nationalism'
and marginalisation of the 'Civic nationalism' on the other hand, the transitional
problem in eastern Germany was responsible for unemployment, joblessness and
higher crime rate which was attributed to the foreigners.
167
The difficulty is coming to terms will the past in both the regions of Germany
and the authoritarian polity together with the complete militarisation of the youth
structures and organizations in the ex-German Democratic Republic are other key
factors
Unification meant a merger of two societies to nation or two world views- ossies and
esssies in the federal Republic of Germany. This has led to, amid transition stress, a
socio- psychological divide. between the peoples of the rich western leander & the
poor eastern laender- an 'Ossies vs Wessies' conflict. The social disruptions and
material deprivations in eastern leander might make to a breeding ground for
extremism ·
The resurgence of political reached its peak during the 1992-1993, there after,
it began to decline steadily. The consequences of e><tremism meant placing in order
some important policy programmes and stringent actions. A number of extremist and
openly xenophobic organistioris have been declared illegal and its leaders were
arrested. Some constructive measures were also taken. The constitutional authorities
including the federal chancellor, the president ofthe Bundestag, the interior Minister,
the federa1 prosecutor and the chairman of federal Court for the protection of
Constitution all expensed their views against "despicable & insidious crimes" of
political extremism & sanely condemned them. For example following an on a Jewish
synagogue in Dnsseldorf, the German Chancellor, Schroeder in a conservation win
Spiegel on 4 October 2000, called up the decent people in Germany to rise up against
right-wing extremism in a "revolt of righteous.
1
Some view important institutional &
rehabilitation measures have also been_ put in place. Various programmes & like
Internet web site, "Schroeder calls for decent Germans to rise up against right-wingers" at
:http: II eng. Bundesregierung. DeVdokumente Background_ information /again
.. ./ix3 135_20974.nt,12 May 2002, page Ito 2.
168
"Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance against Right-wing Extremism and
Violence", Initiative, Jobs, and qualification against xenophobia (at DM 25 million),
creations of Federal Security Guard, an internet based programme called "Offence
Against Right-wing Extremism" by the Federal office of Criminal investigation. The
Government was also considering a proposed " foreign exchange programme for
young East Germans to foster tolerance through contact with other cultures. " 2 These
have been able to convince the neo-Nazis and to encourage them to quit groups. To
restrict the uncontrolled immigration, the asylum law was amended in 1993 and
candle light processions were taken out in different cities involving lakhs of people in
what was described as the 'revolt of the decent' following attack on foreigners many
place marches
The chapter four entitled "Political Extremism in Eastern Germany" primarily
argues why the resurgence of Political extremism was greater in the new laenders
than in western
Germany. Hoyersverda, Rostock, Dresden, Berlin, and Dusseldroff became the
epicenters of political extremism in years after unification and hit the international
headlines for their notoriety & violence against foreigners. The regional emphasis in
terms of frequency, intercity and number, was clearly eastern Germany it ha been
contended in the chapter that unemployment (15%in1993), asylum & refugee crisis,
.mJ pa::;L
heritage: uf tht: authoritarian rule in the former GDR were the main factors
for the resurgence and escalation of extremism rather violent extremism. The
extremism has acquired the proposition of a mob culture.
2
Log on internet website, entitled "BBC news /EUROPE/ Germany sets up neo-Nazi net line"
at :http://new.bbc.co.uklhilenglishlwoukd/europe/news id 1182000/1182056.stm,Dated
11122/01, page 1of2.
1~0
The lack of sensitivity of & contact with the foreigners when a critical factor
in fuelling anti foreigner extremism.. Paradoxically the opposite is true in case of W.
Germany. The former- GDR society was a closed society and any form of contact
with the outside world was disapproved of. Therefore, the sudden rush of refugees
after unification was a surprise. Soon economic difficulty & unemployment fuelled
their 'dormant racism3 to its peak. The weak law -and -order, absence of considerable
discipline and absence of a modem rapid reaction force gave the perpetrators of
extremism a difficult time. Another important reason was the leadership,
infrastructure & ideological support extended by the west German neo-Nazis
Various programmes have been undertaken by the Government to reeducate
and reh.abilitate the for-right members in eastern Germany. International youth
exchange projects dealing with racialism & xenophobia have also been initiated by
the government. All this has led to a steady if not sharp decline in the incidents of
extremism and violence.
The chapter five entitled "Political Extremism in Western Germany" discusses
the various ·causes & stages of the emergence of racism & xenophobia. Economic
recession, exodus of economic & political refuges from Eastern. Europe, historical
revisionism and social disruptions in the post-industrial society like western Germany
are the main causes for the resurgence.
There have been three main stages of the resurgence of political extremism in W.
Germany, each dominated by one major extremist party or a group of extremist
'Dormant racism' became soon after the collapse of the communist government, a "sub·
culture of the die-hard fascists began to surface."
170
parties. The First stage occurred during the 1950s till mid 1960s. The
~ocialist
Reich
Party was the main extremist party. During the second phase after 1965, the National
Democratic Party (NPD) was the chief agency of political extremism. The neo-fascist
parties like the Republikaner and the German People's Union (DVU) dominate the
third and the last stage starting in the late 1980s and continuing through Unification
and after. These parties focuss more on immigration, 'ethno-pluralism' (segregation
of the ethnic identities of various nationalities) not multiculturalism), crime, cultural
intermixture, security and stability.
The right-wing extremism and xenophobia have shown a declining trend after
the mid 1990s. The number of incidents of right-wing violence which includes
primarily injuries to persons & damage to property dropped off sharply from a high of
2639 in 1992 to 790 in 1997. However, the number of right wing crimes excluding
violent ones rose from 8328 to
10~929
in 1997 .
. \ numbl!r uf fa~o:tors are responsible for the decline in right-wing extremist violence( 1) Spontaneous reactions by lakhs of Germans in candlelight process against
violence especially after Moelln in numerous towns & cities.
(2) Giving police & judges more powers
(3) Contributions by the dedicated social workers who work will non-hand core
rightist youth.
( 4) 1993 change in Basic low restricting asyhim a sharp decline in the number of
immigrants.
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From the above descriptions it may be concluded that political extremism in
Germany is unlikely to transform itself into "national extremism" on the lines of
the historic National Socialism. The various steps taken by the government have
proved successful
in curbing the tide of extremism, right-wing violence and
xenophobia. The extremist challenges to the democratic polity in Germany are no
longer critical and all the fears of a "Fourth Reich" after unification have
subsided.
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