Germany Then and Now Resemble Each Other

In the early years of the Weimar Republic, during the 1920s and the early 1930s in Germany, power was held by the Social Democrats. Nevertheless, the far-left caused unrest and incited workers to go on strikes. Eventually, they even attempted a violent revolution, inspired by Vladimir Lenin.

As a result of all this, a backlash arose among the German populace, which was temporarily interrupted when moderate parties formed governments in the mid-1920s. However, the far-left increased its popularity towards the end of the decade, as the runaway inflation caused by war reparations made life increasingly difficult for the people.

For the same reasons and due to the unrest caused by the far-left, national socialism—or the Nazi Party—also gained traction, ultimately taking power in January 1933. This led the country, after various developments, into two interlinked catastrophes: the Second World War and the Holocaust.

* * *

This came to my mind when I read that in Germany, thousands of leftist protesters gathered on Saturday in front of the party congress of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. As a result, the start of the congress was delayed by two hours because the protesters blocked party members from entering the venue.

A large police presence was also on-site, dispersing a sit-in protest that had partially blocked an intersection. They also intervened to stop acts of violence, as some protesters launched fireworks at the police.

It would be worth asking these protesters whether they have any understanding of what happened in Germany between the world wars, and whether they realize that their current actions bear an unsettling resemblance to the behavior of the German left during the Weimar Republic era, which, as a backlash, resulted in the rise of the Nazi regime.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Strengthening Christmas Market Security: Lessons from Magdeburg
The Fall of Germany’s Government Could Open the EU’s Path to a Better Future
Will immigration give rise to a National Socialist party in Finland