ADHAM KAWA
Scholar International Relations & Diplomacy (Iraq)
On December 7, 2022, the German authorities announced the dismantling of a network of supporters of an extreme right-wing group that aimed to seize power by carrying out an armed attack on the German Parliament building and controlling it, stressing that it is an operation that has been planned since November 2021. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed He expressed his deep concern that the ideas of extremists have reached this unprecedented level internally. German Interior Minister Nancy Weser described the activists behind the act as “united in their hatred of democracy and the German state.” This attempted coup against power in Germany sparked a great controversy about the movement involved in it, its motives, as well as its repercussions during the coming period.
According to information issued by the official government agencies in Germany, the details of this coup plot can be summarized in the following points:
- The accused: 25 out of 52 wanted far-right extremists were arrested in a sweeping operation that covered all parts of Germany, most of them are elderly, and they are suspected of forming an organized group, and their supposed leaders include:
Heinrich XIII, 71, a scion of a noble family from the state of Thuringia in eastern Germany, whose family origins give him influence among extremists.
- A former lieutenant colonel in the German army named “Rudiger”, who was the commander of a battalion of paratroopers in the 1990s.
- A judge named “Birgit Malsack Wenkmann”, a former deputy of the far-right “Alternative for Germany” AFD party between 2017 and 2021, and she was handed over the justice bag in the “conspirators’ government”, as described by the German authorities.
A spokesman for the German Defense Ministry, Arne Kolatz, also announced that there were other soldiers involved, one of whom belonged to the Special Forces Command.
- Their ideological orientations: The German Federal Prosecutor, Peter Frank, announced that the participants in the planning process for the coup are followers of the ideological ideas of the “QAnon” group, which believes in the conspiracy theory, and they belong to the “Reichsbürger” movement; It is a movement that appeared in the eighties and does not recognize the legitimacy of the current German state, and its supporters refuse to pay taxes or submit to the police, and their total number is estimated at about 20,000, including a small group estimated at about a thousand people who have become highly organized since the end of 2021, as it has a central organizational structure and a military wing. Its members have licenses to own weapons.
- The coup plan: According to a press release issued by the German prosecution, the stalkers prepared concretely to enter the seat of parliament in Berlin (Bundestag) with a small armed group, in a scenario similar to the attack on the Capitol building by supporters of the former US President, Donald Trump. They were also trained to handle weapons, and at least four meetings were held during the summer to expand the network of members of this group. Recruitment efforts specifically targeted members of the German police and army. The military branch of the cell was responsible for purchasing weapons and organizing training.
Multiple dimensions overlapped in an attempt to analyze the timing and objectives of this coup attempt in Germany, the most important of which are the following:
- Hinting at Russian involvement in the coup plot: The German press indicated that there was a partner within the coup network, a Russian citizen named “Vitalia”; A friend of Henry XIII, she attempted to act as an intermediary to coordinate contact with the Russian authorities for possible support. However, the Kremlin strongly denied any “Russian interference” in this file, and the Russian embassy in Berlin denied any involvement in these terrorist activities. Later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented that no Russian Interference of any kind could be discussed.
- The German security services showed their strength: about 3,000 security personnel were mobilized to carry out the coup thwarting operation, and more than 130 searches and raids were conducted, in a procedure that German media described as the largest ever police operation in the country. The campaign of arrests was also carried out in 11 out of 16 German states, and the inspections included army barracks in southwestern Germany, to show that the security system in the country is very strong, and that the intelligence services are working efficiently, after criticism that it had not obtained prior information about The plan to blow up the gas pipelines “Nord Stream 1 and 2” and the failure to find the perpetrators.
- The power of influence of “conspiracy theory” narratives: “Reichscitizens” believe that a “deep state” actually rules Germany, similar to the ideas of the QAnon movement that emerged in the United States and considers that there is a targeting of the white man, which many analyzes linked to the storming of a building The Capitol in January 2021. Supporters of the “Reichsburg” movement tried to enter the German Parliament in August 2020, in protest against the health restrictions imposed during the Corona pandemic, against which resentment was exploited to attract more supporters of their movement. Supporters of this trend have also intimidated some doctors who are vaccinating against Covid-19, and some of them are attributed to trying to plan the kidnapping of the German Minister of Health.
- Evoking the imperial past of Germany: Some supporters of the “Reichsburg” or “citizens of the Reich” believe that the true form of Germany existed between 1871 and 1918, while others consider that the constitution of the Weimar Republic between the two world wars is the constitution of the real Germany, while a third group focuses on considering The legal borders of German lands are the borders that were established in 1937. Most of the “Reichsburgs” refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the current democratic state in Germany, and they aim to return to the former imperial form, but they lack a unified vision about the preferred alternative system, is it akin to a constitutional monarchy For Kaiser Wilhelm II, or the democratic experience of the Weimar Republic, or the experience of Nazi rule? The recent coup attempt and the selection of Henry XIII as the head of power reveals the longing for the restoration of a constitutional monarchy in the style of Caesarean rule.
- Recalling the “Beer Hall” coup in 1923: The failed attempt at the current coup in Germany with the approach of 2023 brought back memories of the coup organized by the German National Socialist Workers’ Party (the Nazi Party) about a hundred years ago, specifically in 1923. Although That coup was successfully suppressed by the police at the time, it changed the course of German history, because it drew the attention of the German people towards Adolf Hitler. At a time when Germany was facing high inflation, Hitler tried to overthrow the Weimar Republic, and although his coup attempt failed, his Nazi party grew significantly after that.
The thwarted coup in Germany could have many repercussions in the near future, the most prominent of which can be explained in the following:
- Tightening control over extremists and preventing their possession of weapons: There were calls to monitor supporters of the far-right to ensure their adherence to the law, and the German Minister of the Interior, Nancy Wesser, came out to stress that the government must do better to combat the violence of the extreme right, and to prevent its possession of weapons, especially within army and police. Organizations and associations that fight the extreme right criticize the previous censorship process, because it was not conducted sufficiently, as extremists managed to cross the red line for a long time despite the huge amount of warnings. There are currently demands to grant the intelligence service the right to wiretap phone calls, subject public sector employees, especially teachers who propagandize and promote the ideas of this trend, to disciplinary measures, and prevent the employment of those suspected of belonging to it.
- Increasing attempts to threaten public order in Germany through violence: In recent years, the German authorities have ranked violent acts of the extreme right as the number one threat to public order. The Reichsburg rejects the Federal Republic of Germany and its democratic structures, and most of them believe that the Allies in World War II, who defeated Nazi Germany in 1945, still rule it in secret, and that Germany is not a sovereign state.
The coup attempt, whichh was recently revealed, indicates that some followers of the “Reichsburg” began to engage in political violence, especially since it was preceded by other acts of violence, such as the killing of a police officer during a raid on a member of this movement on charges of possession of weapons in 2016. It also occurred An attack on a bar in an area near Frankfurt in 2020, leaving 9 dead. An activist in the field of refugee assistance was also assassinated in June 2019, in addition to recording dozens of attacks on the homes of asylum seekers between 2015 and 2020. Also, 2020 saw the dismantling of a network of “neo-Nazis” within the Bundeswehr
- The decline in the popularity of the AfD: In contrast to this right-wing populist party that has adapted its rhetoric to suit the prevailing and acceptable political atmosphere in Germany, some followers of the “Reichsburg” completely ignore the current German laws, as they are known for their anti-democracy. The Alternative for Germany party has always tried to deny any links to the “Reichsburg” movement, but the German Ministry of the Interior confirmed the existence of links between the two parties in some areas. Perhaps the involvement of a former deputy for the “Alternative for Germany” party in the recent coup would have negative repercussions on the popularity of this party, which tended to try to take advantage of the political climate dissatisfied with the performance of the government of the current German chancellor, Olaf Schultz, with inflation reaching more than from 10%.
- Fear of the expansion of political extremism in Europe: The limits of the extremist right’s threats are not limited to Germany only. Attempts to resort to this type of behavior have been monitored in neighboring or close countries in Europe such as Belgium, but on a smaller scale. Some analyzes attribute the reasons for the spread of these violent groups in many European countries to the current rise of political extremism in Europe that question the credibility of democratic systems and are strict in the issue of refusing immigration.
Despite the description of the recent coup attempt in Germany as a marginal act, the fear remains that the ideas of the “Reichsburg” movement will appeal to a broader audience than those who are disaffected by the economic crisis in Germany resulting from the Russian-Ukrainian war, and before that the Corona crisis, or that groups will succeed Armed from this trend to associate with more influential political organizations, which will make it more dangerous, and perhaps that is why the German authorities took this matter seriously.
