By Greg Oxley of La Riposte
In the recent regional elections in Germany, the far-right nationalist AfD made significant headway in Thuringia and in Brandenburg. In Thuringia, this meant an outright victory for an openly racist political organisation. Its defence of ‘Germanity’ and virulent hostility towards people it considers as ‘alien’ to truly German ethnicity echo the racist propaganda of the Nazis. Indeed, one of the themes pushed by the AfD has been the need to revise the historical interpretation of Nazism and recognise its supposedly positive aspects.
In Brandenburg, the AfD result was not quite enough to secure victory. It would seem that a section of the electorate, alarmed by what happened in Thuringia, rallied around the largely discredited Social Democrats. Nonetheless, there too, the AfD is on the rise.
The AfD poses a direct and obvious threat to the people it deems to be an alien contamination of the German race, but it also threatens the entire workers’ movement and indeed all working people, including those who voted for it.
Seeing itself as a contender for power nationally, the AfD, while claiming to defend the “people” against “elites”, will now try to garner support from the big corporations and banking consortia which control the German economy. This will be an important step on the path to power.
AfD will try to win over big business support
For the moment, big business interests are generally wary of the progress of the AfD and the risk of social instability it carries with it. The AfD must convince the big corporations that if it came to power in Germany, it would apply policies in their interests, facilitated by the age-old strategy of ‘divide and rule’, presenting the failure of capitalism as the failure of “multicultural society”.
As has been the case in France with the Rassemblement National, (RN, formerly the National Front) a growing number of giant corporations are likely to warm to the idea of an AfD government over time. The more ethnic and religious minorities are set up as scapegoats for social and economic problems, the less people will see that the real cause of social inequality and declining living standards is the capitalist system.
The emergence of nationalist and racist trends in society, expressed in the German elections and also in the European elections back in June, is by no means limited to Germany. Every country in Europe, whatever the peculiarities of their social, economic and political contexts, has seen a growth in the social basis of nationalist and authoritarian organisations.
In the European elections of this year, the extreme right scored more than 20% in eight countries. Since the regional elections in Germany, the extreme right has been victorious in neighbouring Austria. In the recent legislative elections in France, which followed the dissolution of parliament by President Macron, more than 10 million people voted for the RN, led by Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella.
In Italy, the extreme right won the legislative elections in 2022, bringing Giorgia Meloni to power. In Britain, also, the vote in favour of Brexit in 2016 was largely fuelled by hostility to ‘foreigners’. The Conservative Party has adopted increasingly blatant and oppressive racist policies, and the riots that took place across the country a few weeks ago, was fueled by far right anti-immigrant organisations.
Long-term decline in real living standards
The backdrop to the present wave of nationalist reaction is the stagnation of the European economy and the general decline of living standards. Increasing rates of inflation has meant a decline in real incomes. The European Union, which promised economic growth, higher levels of employment and rising living standards, peace and security, has instead led to wholesale privatisations, a dramatic decline in public services, a crisis in healthcare, a generalisation of precarious and underpaid employment, and the erosion of workers’ rights.
For years, cut-throat competition in a world of ‘free trade’ and unbridled financial speculation have been destroying traditional industries and trades and undermining working conditions, while at the same time massively increasing the wealth, power and arrogance of giant capitalist corporations. Tens of millions of European citizens feel threatened and vulnerable and they fear for their own future, and that of their children.
Not surprisingly, a reaction has set in against the ‘globalisation’ touted by politicians, bureaucrats, and capitalists, giving powerful traction to the idea of bringing things back under the control of ‘nations’, of closing or restricting frontiers, of reduced immigration and the expulsion of ‘foreigners’.
Where there is a shortage of resources, of affordable housing, good health and education, of decent jobs and prospects, inevitably there are some who will have, and others who will have not. Increased competition among working people is a major driving force behind the spread of nationalist ideas and the appeal of ‘national priority’.
The fears generated by public perceptions of a flow of migrants into Europe are not just about economic issues. There is a feeling, among some sections of the population, that their ‘national’ culture – language, customs, traditional beliefs and social codes – are being undermined and threatened by the presence of ‘foreigners’. Parties such as the AfD in Germany, RN in France, or Reform UK in Britain, are riding on the wave of this nationalist reaction.
Marine Le Pen’s party has a real chance of winning power
But nationalism is a blind alley for working people, as are the parties that foster and exacerbate it. While pretending to defend entire nations and national interests, all of these parties will show themselves to be parties of the rich and powerful, as was the case with Trump in the USA.
The leaders of the Rassemblement National, Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, now feel, with some justification, that they have a chance of coming to power after the next presidential elections. That is why they are openly playing for – and gradually obtaining – the support of big business, and are adapting their policies accordingly, as epitomised by their sudden switch to support for remaining in the European Union.
Poisoning the minds of working people, setting them up against one another on grounds of ethnicity, religion, or cultural practices, providing scapegoats for the social and economic consequences of capitalism, are a means of weakening and breaking resistance to capitalist policies. The populism of the nationalist parties, flattering “the people” and playing on resentment towards the “elites”, is only a cover for this sinister agenda.
Present-day capitalism can only thrive at the expense of the mass of the population. That means permanent austerity for most workers and the risk of restistance and social instability. That is why the capitalist class is increasingly open to the idea of an authoritarian and racist government.
The nationalist onslaught might be depressing to many left-wing militants, but it has a positive side to it, in that it has alarmed workers and young people and it is drawing new layers into political activity and a fight against right-wing extremism. We saw a clear example of this in France, where the left parties – France Insoumise, the Communist Party and the Socialist Party – having spent years point-scoring and bickering between themselves – were obliged, literally overnight, to form an alliance, the New Popular Front, in order to organise a united struggle against the Rassemblement National.
The New Popular Front won the most seats
It was the pressure from the ranks of these parties, and the from the electorate of the left, that forced this radical change upon the left leaders. Following the disastrous results obtained by President Macron’s party in the European elections in early June (a mere 14% of the vote), he dissolved the National Assembly, and convened new legislative elections.
Despite the very short notice – the elections took place just two weeks later – the New Popular Front won the highest number of seats in the National Assembly and prevented a victory of the Rassemblement National. This success has had a galvanising effect on all of the left parties and given a new impulse to grass-roots activism against racism and the extreme right.
The unification of the French left and the early successes of the New Popular Front does not, however, mean that the battle is over. There are serious flaws in the policy of the New Popular Front, and these flaws play into the hands of the extreme right. The Rassemblement National still stands a good chance of coming to power in the next presidential election. Even if the left wins the next presidential election and forms the next government, it may well prove to be no more than a postponement of a Rassemblement National victory at some stage.
The reason for this is that while the programme of the left contains many measures which would improve the living conditions of working people, such as increasing wages, freezing prices and rents and improving pensions, it contains nothing about how a future left government would overcome the resistance and sabotage of the capitalist class. All previous ‘left’ governments which tried to carry out measures in favour of the workers have been derailed by capitalist sabotage. The most striking example of this was the Mitterrand government of 1981-1986.
Mitterrand’s reforms were turned into counter-reforms
Mitterrand carried out a policy of widescale social reform and nationalisations, which meant dealing a serious blow to the profitability of industry and commerce. In response, the capitalist class organised mass redundancies, factory closures, and a flight of capital on massive scale. Within six months, the government was forced to abandon the social reforms and adapt its policy to the needs of big business.
The only way to avoid such capitulation would be to remove the economic power of the capitalist class by means of the public appropriation of all industry, of the banks and financial institutions, of commerce, and of all the essential levers of the economy, opening the way for democratic economic planning in the interests of the mass of the population.
Starmer’s policy will lead to a growth of the far right
The profound demoralisation among workers, which was caused by Mitterrand’s U-turn, was one of the main reasons for the emergence of the extreme right since that time. The same is true in Germany, where the Social Democrats have been in coalition with capitalist parties, offering nothing but austerity to the German working class.
In Britain, where a Labour government has just been elected, Starmer is pursuing a policy which will guarantee further growth of extreme-right nationalism and the Reform party. Thus, an important – and, in the long run, decisive – part of the fight against racism and the extreme right is the struggle genuine socialist policies within the workers’ movement of all countries.
Just as the policy of the European left is one of limited social reforms (when it is not openly carrying out right-wing, pro-capitalist policies) in social and economic affairs, its attitude to the state and so-called ‘democracy’ is equally detrimental to winning mass support and weakening the appeal of nationalist propaganda.
It is increasingly difficult today to find a worker who does not understand that parliamentary democracy, as it is presently organised, does not really represent the majority of the people. They see so many politicians representing themselves rather than the people who elected them, lining their own pockets, basking in all the prestige and perks that come with their positions, while those “down below” are suffering the consequences of the system.
Parliamentary ‘democracy’ is a façade for personal enrichment
Many workers live in poverty. Others feel they might so easily fall into it. To millions of working people, “democracy”, with its parliamentary speechifying and arrogant public officials, looks like a facade, a cover for the iniquity of the powerful and the oppression of the weak. And in truth, that is exactly what it is.
That is why the argument that the extreme right is a threat to democracy cuts little or no ice with a growing proportion of the population, and explains why many are actually attracted to the idea of a strong authoritarian regime, standing above mealy-mouthed politicians and bureaucrats and free from the influence of the “elites”.
To counter this authoritarian movement, the left parties in Europe should not present themselves as mere defenders of the present-day forms of democracy, but offer an alternative, standing for a genuinely democratic and republican government, in which elected officials live as the people live, on the average wage of workers, and are subjected to recall, should they prove to be unworthy of confidence.
Even many of the workers now attracted to right-wing extremism could be won over to clear socialist policies, although others, contaminated with racial prejudices and hatred may not. Once the simplistic formulas of nationalist rhetoric become rooted in the minds of people, they are difficult to remove.
Nationalism and racism will not disappear, whatever the arguments put forward by the left. They will have to be fought and defeated. Working people all over Europe, whatever their nationality or their ethnic backgrounds, whatever their religious beliefs, must join together in a common struggle against the poison of nationalism.
What is needed is a movement to change society along socialist lines, eliminate the power of the capitalists, raise the living standards of all the people, and abolish the hardships, fears, insecurities and the vulnerability upon which nationalist reaction is feeding and growing at the present time.
Greg Oxely is editor of the French Marxist journal and website, which can be found here.
