Considered one of the leading countries of European democracy and the driving force of the European Union (EU), Germany faced an incident that would not be welcome in any modern democracy on December 7, 2022, and the country witnessed the coup d’etats. Because on the date, 25 people were detained in connection with the terrorist organization that planned to declare Prince Heinrich 13, who was a real estate agent in Frankfurt in 11 different states of the country, as emperor.[1]
On the structuring organized under the name of “Citizens of the Empire (Reichsbürger)”, the existence of a segment advocating a break from democracy in Germany has once again come to light, although these attempts were unsuccessful. At this point, it is a detail that should not be overlooked that one of the directors of the Reichbürger organization is the former deputy of Alternative for Germany (AfD), Birgit Malsack-Winkemann.[2] Because this situation is remarkable in that it reveals that the extreme right, which emulates Germany’s imperial period, is preparing to take action.[3] Therefore, the ideological ground of the coup plotters is formed by far-right thoughts.
Moreover, the social response of the structures that want to act with reference to Germany’s imperial past through far-right ideas is not to be underestimated. In other words, these intellectually marginalized segments have a social impact that cannot be ignored. As a matter of fact, Germany hosts racist movements such as PEGIDA as well as the AfD. Reichbürger, on the other hand, consists of more than 21,000 right-wing extremists, according to the German Intelligence report for 2021, and 2,100 of these people are ready to use violence.[4]
Moreover, the anti-immigrant and anti-Islamic attacks in the country reveal that the far right has a certain social basis. In this sense, the Berlin administration is not only at risk of coup attempt and, in this context, terrorism; It seems that the West will have to face its most current problem, the far right.
Determining that the far-right structures organized through motifs such as the coup attempt, Islamophobia and xenophobia are basically “terror groups”; in other words, if they open the door for the issue to be named, perhaps a difficult threshold for Western democracy can be crossed. Otherwise, the efforts to return to the empire in Germany and the fascist tendencies in the West in general will maintain their existence, increase their influence and even find a wider field of action due to reasons such as the migrant crisis and economic problems.
As a matter of fact, the rise of the right in Germany and the searches for the imperial past in this context are not a new phenomenon. In this sense, the country has witnessed racist acts for many years. Of course, this situation is closely related to the Nazi stain in German political history. Although the German state, which consists of sensible politicians, has sensitive thoughts about democracy by confronting the country’s past, there are tendencies among Germans that see themselves above other nations. The reference to the imperial past is mainly due to Germany’s rejection of the role assigned to it in international politics and reflects the nostalgia for colonial politics.
To put it more clearly, Germany is one of the key countries in the European pillar of the global hegemony of the United States of America (USA). But the role of Berlin in Continental Europe is limited to the position that the USA has given itself. This limitation, on the other hand, causes the Germans, who have far-right views, to turn to different searches. In other words, certain parts of Germany demand much more in terms of the country’s role in the global system.
This demand, on the other hand, may cause Germany and the West in general to be dragged onto a political ground consisting of divided, fragmented, and conflicting actors. Of course, this may trigger instabilities first at the continental level and then at the global level. Therefore, although the coup attempt in Germany is important in terms of revealing structures that may threaten the regional-global peace, security, and stability environment, it is not only that. It points to a much more advanced situation. This means that if the West does not confront the rising far-right thoughts, or in other words, the ghost of fascism, it may face more radical developments in the future.
There are already examples in many European countries of the rise of the far right, Islamophobic terrorist attacks, racist parties being represented in parliaments and even coming to power. In this sense, although the operation against the Reichbürger organization ensures that this risk is eliminated for Germany at least for a while, it is possible that similar events will occur again if the issue is not moved beyond the collapse of a putschist gang and confronted with far-right ideologies.
Moreover, there is a possibility that far-right groups will suppress the democratic politics of countries, encourage armament policies, and voice modern colonial demands more loudly. Therefore, Reichbürger made the whole world see a serious problem faced by the West in Germany. More importantly, it also opened the rhetoric of Western democracy to debate. Western countries had to face the existence of junta groups and it was seen that the coup option continued to swing like the sword of Damocles on democracies.
As a result, although Germany collapsed a terrorist organization that was preparing to attempt a coup d’etat through the operation against the Reichbürger organization, the developments reminded us of the existence of those who yearn for the country’s historical imperial past. This means that the issue is not limited to the Reichbürger. In other words, in Germany and in the West in general, the far right, which rises from anti-immigration, Islamophobia and, most fundamentally, xenophobia, threatens democracies. For this reason, rather than the collapse of the Reichbürger organization; The attitude that the West will adopt in the fight against the extreme right will be decisive for the future of continental democracies.
[1] “13’üncü Heinrich Darbe Yapacaktı”, Hürriyet, https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/dunya/13uncu-heinrich-darbe-yapacakti-42183984, (Date of Accession: 09.12.2022).
[2] Ibid.
[3] “Ermittler Heben Rechtsextreme Terrororganisation Aus”, Spiegel, https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/ermittler-heben-rechtsextreme-terrororganisation-aus-a-2233c457-4caa-4abb-91e0-3660a3dfcf46, (Date of Accession: 09.12.2022).
[4] “Almanya’da Darbe Operasyonu: 8 Kişi Tutuklandı”, NTV, https://www.ntv.com.tr/dunya/almanyada-darbe-operasyonu-8-kisi-tutuklandi,RNjPyBqTBEaAIEebpVQMCw, (Date of Accession: 09.12.2022).
