Right Wing Radicalism And National Socialism In Germany

This book explores the total resistance to Nazism among the Catholic Christian voters of the Zentrum party in the elections in German states in the Interwar period. Kolden explains the unique Catholic resistance by comparing the diverging evolutions of Catholic and Protestant cultures and mentalities since the awakening of German nationalism in the late eighteenth century. During the Empire (1871–1918) both socialists and Catholics were regarded as pariah groups by the dominant non-socialist Protestant majority, and more so after the WWI defeat, when the pariah-parties, together with Protestant liberals, tried to accommodate the new democratic circumstances with their Weimar Constitution. When right-wing radicals, and eventually the Nazis, increased their support—largely on behalf of the rapid shrinking number of liberals—the Catholic church leaders showed a stubborn stance against the rightists, issuing several resolutions of condemnation, whereas no such appeared from their Protestant counterparts. In contrast, many local Protestant clergymen agitated for the Nazi party. The anti-Catholic sentiment, obvious among prominent Nazis, enhanced the antagonism, especially after the publication of Alfred Rosenberg’s The Myth of the 20th Century in 1930. The basic and profound confessional difference appears in the less Christian-profiled agrarian parties: anti-Semitic and right-wing radical Protestant parties confronted by one left-wing and democratic Catholic party. By 1945 the bulk of the former rightist Protestants sided with the Catholics, who reorganized their party to the non-denominational CDU, which has been the mightiest proponent in Europe of the former party’s ambitions of democracy, stability, anti-racism, human rights and European unity.

The Radical Right has represented a major element in German politics and society throughout the history of the united country (i.e. since the 1870s), though the understandable concentration on the Third Reich (1933-45) has tended to distort the wider picture. This book explores the history of the radical right through the full span of Germany's life as a nation, thus putting the Third Reich in its natural context, and also emphasising that the attitudes and policies of the radical right did not begin with Hitler's pursuit of power in the 1920s or end with his death in the ruins of Berlin.

The election success of Right-Wing extremists in West Germany is limited, but surveys have shown that up to 40per cent of the public show themselves to be susceptible to anti-democratic slogans. This book examines causes manifestations of Right-Wing extremism, and discusses possible counter measures.

Rightist assaults on democracy have a long and malignant tradition in Germany. This book seeks to examine the question of whether the new right-wing radicalism is the same as the old, through a series of essays about the history and current status of right-wing radicalism in Germany.

This book highlights recent developments in the radical right providing comparative analysis of current extremist activity in Eastern and Western Europe and the United States. It reveals the growing amount of connections and continuities of rightwing movements and ideologies across national borders. Subjects covered include: Who joins radical right parties and why? Recent developments in parties in Eastern & Western Europe The transatlantic cross-fertilisation of ideological perspectives How the US extreme-right has changed since the emergence of the Tea Party movement This will be essential reading for all students and scholars within an interest in the contemporary radical right and extremism.

This study of the German right-extremist movement looks at the three rightist political parties, neo-Nazi groups, skinhead gangs, and New Right intellectuals. It poses the question whether, at a time of global recession, the existing democratic system is resilient enough to meet the challenges posed by the xenophobic and racist groups.

This book is the first comprehensive academic study of German right-wing terrorism since the early 1960s available in the English language. It offers a unique in-depth analysis of German violent, extremist right-wing movements, terrorist events, groups, networks and individuals. In addition, the book discusses the so-called ‘National Socialist Underground’ (NSU) terror cell, which was uncovered in late 2011 by the authorities. The NSU had been active for over a decade and had killed at least ten people, as well as executing numerous bombings and bank robberies. With an examination of the group’s support network and the reasons behind the failure of the German authorities, this book sheds light on right-wing terrorist group structures, tactics and target groups in Germany. The book also contains a complete list of all the German right-wing terrorist groups and incidents since the Second World War. Based on the most detailed dataset of right-wing terrorism in Germany, this book offers highly valuable insights into this specific form of political violence and terrorism, which has been widely neglected in international terrorism research.