Germany’s Weimar Ghosts
Since the beginning of the Federal Republic, in 1949, one question has always haunted German politics: Could the experience of the interwar Weimar Republic be repeated, with the radical right triumphing again? Now that a far-right party has won seats in the Bundestag for the first time, the question has stepped out of the shadows.
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PRINCETON – Germany’s election result presents an odd paradox. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union is unquestionably the strongest party, and a new government without it is unthinkable. But both the CDU and its previous coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SPD), did poorly. Many SPD leaders’ initial reaction to their party’s 20.4% showing (down from 25.7% in 2013) has been to embrace a stint in the opposition.