A look at the surveys across the Rhine is enough to understand the extent of the political rightization that the country seems to take. A few days before the federal elections of February 23, the alternative far right party for Germany (AFD) rose in second political force, around 20 %. In short, a reminder: in the previous election of 2021, AFD arrived 5th, with 10 % of the vote. If these projections in opinion investigations are confirmed, it would be a historical breakthrough for this party with ultra-radical strategy. “This is the exact opposite of that adopted by the national rally in France, namely normalization, notes the historian Elisa Goudin-Steinmann. And what is terrible is that it works”.
But does AFD really have the chance to govern? And is the referral to memories of the 1930s to Germany still relevant? “I think that it is necessary to keep in mind that Germany still has very solid institutions, unlike the Weimar Republic,” said Michelle Lynn Kahn, professor at the University of Richmond (Virginia). The analyzes of these two experts can be found in our new long video format, to find on our site, and all our social networks.