Republicans (Germany)
Encyclopedia
The Republicans is a national conservative
political party
in Germany
. The primary plank of the program is opposition to immigration. The party tends to attract protest vote
rs who think that the Christian Democratic Union
(CDU) and the Christian Social Union of Bavaria
(CSU) are not sufficiently conservative. It was founded in 1983 by former CSU members Franz Handlos
and Ekkehard Voigt, and Franz Schönhuber
was the party's leader from 1985 to 1994. The party has since been led by Rolf Schlierer
. The Republicans had seats in the European Parliament
in the 1980s, and in the parliament of the German state of Baden-Württemberg
until 2001.
The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution started observing the party in 1992 and categorized it as a "party with partially extreme-right tendencies," but has since 2006 stopped monitoring the party. The avowedly extreme-right party National Democratic Party of Germany
(NPD) and the far-right German People's Union
(DVU), both of which are more successful than the Republicans, have offered the Republicans a chance to join their electoral alliance
, but the REP leaders refused any cooperation with any openly extreme-right parties. For years and especially under Schlierer's leadership, the party has lost far-right members to the DVU and NPD. The strongholds for the Republicans also differ from those of the more radical right-wing parties, with the former being strongest in the relatively affluent South Germany whilst the latter have had most success in the more economically depressed Eastern Germany
.
In the 2009 federal elections, the Republicans received 0.4 percent of the total national vote. Its strongest showing was in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate
and Baden-Württemberg
, in which it received 1.1 percent of the vote.
parties witnessed increasing dissatisfaction of their right wing in the 1980s, while at the same time the extreme-right National Democratic Party of Germany
(NPD) was in decline. The CDU/CSU policies of European integration and acceptance of the Ostpolitik
led to much criticism initially. Finally, in 1983, in complete breach of the party's long-term opposition to measures that could stabilize the economy of East Germany (GDR), CSU leader Franz Josef Strauss supported a credit of more than ten billion Deutsche Mark to the country. This led several members of the CSU to leave the party, including Members of Parliament Franz Handlos
and Ekkehard Voigt.
n tavern on 17 November 1983 by CSU defectors and MPs Franz Handlos and Ekkehard Voigt, and former radio journalist and television talk show host Franz Schönhuber
, with a past in the NSDAP and Waffen-SS
. Handlos was chosen as the party's first leader, while Voigt and Schönhuber became his deputies. The party was initially considered both by itself and by the media as a Rechtsabspaltung (right-wing splinter) of the CSU. In its early years, the party was able to profit from dissatisfaction with the CSU due to its alleged abuse of power, patronage and limited internal democracy.
Similar to what CSU-leader Strauss had long threatened the sister party CDU with, Handlos wanted to make the Republicans into a bundesweite (federal) right-wing conservative party that would contest elections in the whole of (West) Germany. Schönhuber in turn wanted a more right-wing populist party inspired by the successes of the French National Front. This led to a fierce power struggle, in which Handlos accused Schönhuber of seeking to put the party on a course towards right-wing extremism. Failing in his attempt to expel Schönhuber, Handlos instead resigned from the party, followed by Voigt a year later. Schönhuber was subsequently elected chairperson of the party in June 1985, with former NPD member Harald Neubauer
as his party secretary. This strengthened media allegations that the party was right-wing extremist rather than right-wing conservative.
(DVU). The Republicans chose not to contest the 1987 federal election
as it considered itself too weak, and CSU leader Strauss adopted some of Schönhuber's rhetoric to win back voters. When prospects of German unification became more realistic, the Republicans started to see political success, and the year 1989 marked the party's electoral breakthrough. The party won 7.8% of the vote in the January 1989 election in West Berlin
, giving it eleven local seats. In the European Parliament election in June later the same year, it won 7.1% of the vote and six seats. Its strongest showing was in Bavaria, where it won 14.6% of the vote.
From the start to the end of 1989, the membership of the Republicans increased from 8,500 to 25,000. At the same time, hundreds of editorials, articles and books were written about the party, including some that speculated that it could become the fifth party of the German party system. The party gained some support among the right-wing of the CDU/CSU, and was even considered by some as a possible future coalition partner. Although some experts argued that the Republicans still was a democratic right-wing party, the majority considered that the party was part of the extreme-right.
The Republicans lost its electoral gains in the 1990s as it was torn by internal strife, scandals, and failure to attract voters in former East Germany after the reunification. It contested fourteen elections between 1990 and 1991, but never surpassed the 5% threshold (although it came close in the Bavarian state election with 4.9% of the vote). Internal strife led the leadership of two state branches of the party to be collectively discharged in 1989, and in 1990, open conflict erupted between the 'moderate' Schönhuber and 'extremist' Neubauer. Schönhuber briefly resigned as party leader, until he was reinstated two months later by a majority of the party delegates. After this, the extremists, including Neubauer, were purged from the party leadership, and Neubauer was replaced by the moderate, national-conservative Rolf Schlierer
.
Although the party seemed poised to disappear in the beginning of the 1990s, it won a surprising result in the April 1992 state election in Baden-Württemberg
. In the election, in which the party was headed by Schlierer, the Republicans won 10.9% of the vote and fifteen seats, and became the third largest party in the state. The party still failed to breach the 5% threshold in subsequent elections, although it won as much as 4.8% in the 1993 Hamburg
state council election. Lack of further electoral successes resulted in new strife between the party's moderates and radicals, and in December 1992, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution decided to start surveillance of the party. Disgruntled by the poor showings in the 1994 "super election year", Schönhuber to much surprise agreed to establish cooperations with the DVU, a party that had always been denounced as "extreme-right" by the Republicans. The Republican leadership in turn hastily convened and dismissed Schönhuber as party leader, replacing him with Schlierer.
it won just 1.7% of the vote.
approach. As Schönhuber soon became leader of the party, it however radicalised and became increasingly nationalist. His positions included to abolish trade unions, reduce the welfare state
, expel all foreigners and return to Germany's 1937 borders. The latter included campaigning for the unification of the then-existing West and East Germany, which helped boost the party's popularity in the late 1980s. The party also attacked the European Union
as an infringement on German sovereignty following the enactment of the Maastricht Treaty
. The ideology of the Republicans is mainly characterised by nationalism, although the party itself rejects such a label, instead regarding itself as "national" or "patriotic".
as its foremost goal. The party welcomed the reunification when it occurred in 1990, but considered it to only be a "small reunification" of West Germany and "Central Germany", as the party considered the real East Germany to be the Ostgebiete, namely the former German territories in Poland
, Russia
, Ukraine
and the Czech Republic
. The party saw the 1990 reunification only as a first step towards "full reunification", which would be the return to Germany's 1937 borders. It sought to accomplish a "peaceful completion of German unity" through negotiations and treaties with these states. The party did not however strive for the inclusion of all groups it considered as part of the German ethnic community, such as Austria
ns, South Tyrol
eans and Transylvanian Saxons
.
. The party additionally wants to reduce the size of bureaucracy
and state subsidies. The early programmes of the party sought to protect German agriculture, the middle classes, as well as German small businesses from big corporations and monopolisation. From the 1990s, the party increasingly started to promote the interests of the lower classes. While it maintained a neo-liberal discourse and calls for budget cuts, it began promoting welfare chauvinism, namely only funding German interests. It also included criticising asylum seekers, immigrants and the European Union for taking away too much German money.
since its foundation, but the initial relatively moderate discourse became increasingly radical and outspoken under Schönhuber and Neubauer, as well as becoming one of the major topics of the party literature. The party made notice of the topic of asylum seekers already in the 1980s, when it generally had little importance in the German political debate. As the number of asylum seekers increased heavily in the 1990s, so did media attention on a number of controversies, and the major German parties agreed on a stricter asylum law in December 1992. The party welcomed the tightening of the rules, but continued to advocate stricter laws and criticise the still high arrival numbers of what it considered as "sham refugees". The party criticised Muslim
s in particular for being fundamentalist and not willing to be integrated, expanding their sub-culture all over Europe.
, with the long-term goal of turning into a federal state. Since the signing of the Maastricht Treaty
, opposition to the European Union became one of the party's most important issues, and it turned to support a confederal state instead of a federal one. The party perceives the international community to be especially hostile towards Germany, and criticises what it considers to be certain limitations of Germany's sovereignty.
group with the French National Front (FN) and the Belgian Vlaams Blok
. Together with the Vlaams Blok, the Republicans sought to move the FN away from the Italian Social Movement
, which was in conflict with the Republicans over the territorial dispute of South Tyrol
. The Republicans' alliance with these parties however ended already in 1990, when they accepted Neubauer and his group instead of Schönhuber in the European Right group. After the fall of Communism
in Eastern Europe
, the Republicans was also briefly the inspiration for some short-lived initiatives in countries including Hungary
, Ukraine
, Latvia
and Czechoslovakia
.
National conservatism
National conservatism is a political term used primarily in Europe to describe a variant of conservatism which concentrates more on national interests than standard conservatism as well as upholding cultural and ethnic identity, while not being outspokenly nationalist or supporting a far-right...
political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The primary plank of the program is opposition to immigration. The party tends to attract protest vote
Protest vote
A protest vote is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate the caster's unhappiness with the choice of candidates or refusal of the current political system...
rs who think that the Christian Democratic Union
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
(CDU) and the Christian Social Union of Bavaria
Christian Social Union of Bavaria
The Christian Social Union in Bavaria is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It operates only in the state of Bavaria, while its sister party, the Christian Democratic Union , operates in the other 15 states of Germany...
(CSU) are not sufficiently conservative. It was founded in 1983 by former CSU members Franz Handlos
Franz Handlos
Franz Handlos is a German right-wing politician.Handlos first came to prominence as member of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria , serving the party in both the Bundestag and the Landtag of Bavaria...
and Ekkehard Voigt, and Franz Schönhuber
Franz Schönhuber
Franz Xaver Schönhuber was a German journalist and author. He gained fame as a founder and eventual chairman of the German Party The Republicans.-Career:...
was the party's leader from 1985 to 1994. The party has since been led by Rolf Schlierer
Rolf Schlierer
Rolf Schlierer is a German physician, lawyer and politician and the current leader of the small right-wing party The Republicans .-Early life and non-political career:...
. The Republicans had seats in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
in the 1980s, and in the parliament of the German state of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
until 2001.
The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution started observing the party in 1992 and categorized it as a "party with partially extreme-right tendencies," but has since 2006 stopped monitoring the party. The avowedly extreme-right party National Democratic Party of Germany
National Democratic Party of Germany
The National Democratic Party of Germany – The People's Union , is a far right German nationalist party. It was founded in 1964 a successor to the German Reich Party . Party statements self-identify as Germany's "only significant patriotic force"...
(NPD) and the far-right German People's Union
German People's Union
The German People's Union is a nationalist political party in Germany. It was founded by publisher Gerhard Frey as an informal association in 1971 and established as a party in 1987. Financially, it is largely dependent on Frey....
(DVU), both of which are more successful than the Republicans, have offered the Republicans a chance to join their electoral alliance
Electoral alliance
An electoral alliance may take the form of a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc. It is an association of political parties or individuals which exists solely to stand in elections...
, but the REP leaders refused any cooperation with any openly extreme-right parties. For years and especially under Schlierer's leadership, the party has lost far-right members to the DVU and NPD. The strongholds for the Republicans also differ from those of the more radical right-wing parties, with the former being strongest in the relatively affluent South Germany whilst the latter have had most success in the more economically depressed Eastern Germany
Eastern Germany
Eastern Germany may refer to:* New federal states of Germany, the states that joined the Federal Republic of Germany after 1990Historically:* Former eastern territories of Germany, territories lost by Germany during and after the two world wars...
.
In the 2009 federal elections, the Republicans received 0.4 percent of the total national vote. Its strongest showing was in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
and Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, in which it received 1.1 percent of the vote.
Background
The CDU/CSUCDU/CSU
CDU/CSU, unofficially also referred to as the Union parties or the Union, is the name of the Bundestag parliamentary faction comprising the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and the Christian Social Union of Bavaria , considered to be sister parties...
parties witnessed increasing dissatisfaction of their right wing in the 1980s, while at the same time the extreme-right National Democratic Party of Germany
National Democratic Party of Germany
The National Democratic Party of Germany – The People's Union , is a far right German nationalist party. It was founded in 1964 a successor to the German Reich Party . Party statements self-identify as Germany's "only significant patriotic force"...
(NPD) was in decline. The CDU/CSU policies of European integration and acceptance of the Ostpolitik
Ostpolitik
Neue Ostpolitik , or Ostpolitik for short, refers to the normalization of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and Eastern Europe, particularly the German Democratic Republic beginning in 1969...
led to much criticism initially. Finally, in 1983, in complete breach of the party's long-term opposition to measures that could stabilize the economy of East Germany (GDR), CSU leader Franz Josef Strauss supported a credit of more than ten billion Deutsche Mark to the country. This led several members of the CSU to leave the party, including Members of Parliament Franz Handlos
Franz Handlos
Franz Handlos is a German right-wing politician.Handlos first came to prominence as member of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria , serving the party in both the Bundestag and the Landtag of Bavaria...
and Ekkehard Voigt.
Formation and Handlos leadership
The Republicans was formed in a BavariaBavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n tavern on 17 November 1983 by CSU defectors and MPs Franz Handlos and Ekkehard Voigt, and former radio journalist and television talk show host Franz Schönhuber
Franz Schönhuber
Franz Xaver Schönhuber was a German journalist and author. He gained fame as a founder and eventual chairman of the German Party The Republicans.-Career:...
, with a past in the NSDAP and Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
. Handlos was chosen as the party's first leader, while Voigt and Schönhuber became his deputies. The party was initially considered both by itself and by the media as a Rechtsabspaltung (right-wing splinter) of the CSU. In its early years, the party was able to profit from dissatisfaction with the CSU due to its alleged abuse of power, patronage and limited internal democracy.
Similar to what CSU-leader Strauss had long threatened the sister party CDU with, Handlos wanted to make the Republicans into a bundesweite (federal) right-wing conservative party that would contest elections in the whole of (West) Germany. Schönhuber in turn wanted a more right-wing populist party inspired by the successes of the French National Front. This led to a fierce power struggle, in which Handlos accused Schönhuber of seeking to put the party on a course towards right-wing extremism. Failing in his attempt to expel Schönhuber, Handlos instead resigned from the party, followed by Voigt a year later. Schönhuber was subsequently elected chairperson of the party in June 1985, with former NPD member Harald Neubauer
Harald Neubauer
Harald Neubauer is a German politician and journalist from the far right scene. He was a Member of the European Parliament from 1989 to 1994....
as his party secretary. This strengthened media allegations that the party was right-wing extremist rather than right-wing conservative.
Schönhuber leadership (1985–1994)
The party's first election, the 1986 Bavarian state election, gave the party financial campaign support, which it used to strengthen its organisation; by 1987 it had chapters in all but one German state. In the election, it nevertheless failed to beat the 5% threshold with its 3.1% support. Outside Bavaria, the party gained less support, and ended up behind both main extreme-right parties, the NPD and the German People's UnionGerman People's Union
The German People's Union is a nationalist political party in Germany. It was founded by publisher Gerhard Frey as an informal association in 1971 and established as a party in 1987. Financially, it is largely dependent on Frey....
(DVU). The Republicans chose not to contest the 1987 federal election
German federal election, 1987
The 11th German federal election, 1987 was conducted on 25 January 1987, to elect members to the Bundestag, the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany.-Issues and Campaign:Johannes Rau, vice chairman of SPD, tried to become Chancellor...
as it considered itself too weak, and CSU leader Strauss adopted some of Schönhuber's rhetoric to win back voters. When prospects of German unification became more realistic, the Republicans started to see political success, and the year 1989 marked the party's electoral breakthrough. The party won 7.8% of the vote in the January 1989 election in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
, giving it eleven local seats. In the European Parliament election in June later the same year, it won 7.1% of the vote and six seats. Its strongest showing was in Bavaria, where it won 14.6% of the vote.
From the start to the end of 1989, the membership of the Republicans increased from 8,500 to 25,000. At the same time, hundreds of editorials, articles and books were written about the party, including some that speculated that it could become the fifth party of the German party system. The party gained some support among the right-wing of the CDU/CSU, and was even considered by some as a possible future coalition partner. Although some experts argued that the Republicans still was a democratic right-wing party, the majority considered that the party was part of the extreme-right.
The Republicans lost its electoral gains in the 1990s as it was torn by internal strife, scandals, and failure to attract voters in former East Germany after the reunification. It contested fourteen elections between 1990 and 1991, but never surpassed the 5% threshold (although it came close in the Bavarian state election with 4.9% of the vote). Internal strife led the leadership of two state branches of the party to be collectively discharged in 1989, and in 1990, open conflict erupted between the 'moderate' Schönhuber and 'extremist' Neubauer. Schönhuber briefly resigned as party leader, until he was reinstated two months later by a majority of the party delegates. After this, the extremists, including Neubauer, were purged from the party leadership, and Neubauer was replaced by the moderate, national-conservative Rolf Schlierer
Rolf Schlierer
Rolf Schlierer is a German physician, lawyer and politician and the current leader of the small right-wing party The Republicans .-Early life and non-political career:...
.
Although the party seemed poised to disappear in the beginning of the 1990s, it won a surprising result in the April 1992 state election in Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
. In the election, in which the party was headed by Schlierer, the Republicans won 10.9% of the vote and fifteen seats, and became the third largest party in the state. The party still failed to breach the 5% threshold in subsequent elections, although it won as much as 4.8% in the 1993 Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
state council election. Lack of further electoral successes resulted in new strife between the party's moderates and radicals, and in December 1992, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution decided to start surveillance of the party. Disgruntled by the poor showings in the 1994 "super election year", Schönhuber to much surprise agreed to establish cooperations with the DVU, a party that had always been denounced as "extreme-right" by the Republicans. The Republican leadership in turn hastily convened and dismissed Schönhuber as party leader, replacing him with Schlierer.
Schlierer leadership (1994–present)
The mid-1990s was marked by open conflict between the Schönhuber and Schlierer factions. While Schönhuber sought a "united right-wing" model for the party, Schlierer wanted clear distance to "extremists". Schönhuber resigned from the party altogether in 1995, and the party subsequently contested a series of unsuccessful state elections. The litmus test for Schlierer's leadership occurred in the state election in Baden-Württemberg in March 1996, for which he had stated many times that he would resign as party leader if the party failed to get reelected to the state parliament. Schlierer eventually succeeded in his goal, against most expectations, as the Republicans won 9.1% of the vote and fourteen seats. In the following years, election results for the party again dropped, and in the 1999 European Parliament electionEuropean Parliament election, 1999 (Germany)
The European Parliament election of 1999 in Germany was the election of MEP representing Germany constituency for the 1999-2004 term of the European Parliament....
it won just 1.7% of the vote.
Ideology
Initially, the Republicans was a conservative party close to the CSU, with a moderate nationalistNationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
approach. As Schönhuber soon became leader of the party, it however radicalised and became increasingly nationalist. His positions included to abolish trade unions, reduce the welfare state
Welfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
, expel all foreigners and return to Germany's 1937 borders. The latter included campaigning for the unification of the then-existing West and East Germany, which helped boost the party's popularity in the late 1980s. The party also attacked the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
as an infringement on German sovereignty following the enactment of the Maastricht Treaty
Maastricht Treaty
The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty...
. The ideology of the Republicans is mainly characterised by nationalism, although the party itself rejects such a label, instead regarding itself as "national" or "patriotic".
German nationalism
From its outset, the party saw German reunificationGerman reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
as its foremost goal. The party welcomed the reunification when it occurred in 1990, but considered it to only be a "small reunification" of West Germany and "Central Germany", as the party considered the real East Germany to be the Ostgebiete, namely the former German territories in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. The party saw the 1990 reunification only as a first step towards "full reunification", which would be the return to Germany's 1937 borders. It sought to accomplish a "peaceful completion of German unity" through negotiations and treaties with these states. The party did not however strive for the inclusion of all groups it considered as part of the German ethnic community, such as Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
ns, South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
eans and Transylvanian Saxons
Transylvanian Saxons
The Transylvanian Saxons are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary . For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the...
.
Economy
The economic policies of the Republicans is largely derived from those of the CSU, and its social market economySocial market economy
The social market economy is the main economic model used in West Germany after World War II. It is based on the economic philosophy of Ordoliberalism from the Freiburg School...
. The party additionally wants to reduce the size of bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
and state subsidies. The early programmes of the party sought to protect German agriculture, the middle classes, as well as German small businesses from big corporations and monopolisation. From the 1990s, the party increasingly started to promote the interests of the lower classes. While it maintained a neo-liberal discourse and calls for budget cuts, it began promoting welfare chauvinism, namely only funding German interests. It also included criticising asylum seekers, immigrants and the European Union for taking away too much German money.
Immigration
The Republicans criticised immigrationImmigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
since its foundation, but the initial relatively moderate discourse became increasingly radical and outspoken under Schönhuber and Neubauer, as well as becoming one of the major topics of the party literature. The party made notice of the topic of asylum seekers already in the 1980s, when it generally had little importance in the German political debate. As the number of asylum seekers increased heavily in the 1990s, so did media attention on a number of controversies, and the major German parties agreed on a stricter asylum law in December 1992. The party welcomed the tightening of the rules, but continued to advocate stricter laws and criticise the still high arrival numbers of what it considered as "sham refugees". The party criticised Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s in particular for being fundamentalist and not willing to be integrated, expanding their sub-culture all over Europe.
Foreign policy
In its first programme, the Republicans fully supported European integrationEuropean integration
European integration is the process of industrial, political, legal, economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe...
, with the long-term goal of turning into a federal state. Since the signing of the Maastricht Treaty
Maastricht Treaty
The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty...
, opposition to the European Union became one of the party's most important issues, and it turned to support a confederal state instead of a federal one. The party perceives the international community to be especially hostile towards Germany, and criticises what it considers to be certain limitations of Germany's sovereignty.
International relations
The Republicans has never been particularly active in establishing relations with other parties internationally. After being elected to the European Parliament in 1989, it briefly teamed up in the European RightEuropean Right (1989–1994)
The Technical Group of the European Right was a Far-Right political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1989 and 1994.-History:Following the 1989 elections, the previous far-right Group lost its Ulster Unionist and Greek EPEN MEPs...
group with the French National Front (FN) and the Belgian Vlaams Blok
Vlaams Blok
The Vlaams Blok was a Belgian far-right and secessionist political party with an anti-immigration platform. Its ideologies embraced Flemish nationalism, calling for the independence of Flanders. From its creation in 1978, it was the most notable militant right wing of the Flemish movement. Vlaams...
. Together with the Vlaams Blok, the Republicans sought to move the FN away from the Italian Social Movement
Italian Social Movement
The Italian Social Movement , and later the Italian Social Movement–National Right , was a neo-fascist and post-fascist political party in Italy. Formed in 1946 by supporters of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the party became the fourth largest party in Italy by the early 1960s...
, which was in conflict with the Republicans over the territorial dispute of South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
. The Republicans' alliance with these parties however ended already in 1990, when they accepted Neubauer and his group instead of Schönhuber in the European Right group. After the fall of Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, the Republicans was also briefly the inspiration for some short-lived initiatives in countries including Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
and Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
.
Bundestag
| Election year | # of total votes | % of overall vote | # of seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 German federal election, 1990 The 12th German federal election, 1990 was conducted on December 2, 1990, to elect members to the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany... |
987,269 | 2.1% | 0 |
| 1994 German federal election, 1994 The 13th German federal election, 1994 was conducted on October 16, 1994, to elect members to the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany.-Issues and Campaign:The SPD let its members elect a candidate for Chancellor against Helmut Kohl... |
875,239 | 1.9% | 0 |
| 1998 German federal election, 1998 A German federal election was conducted on September 27, 1998, to elect members to the 14th Bundestag, the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany.- Issues and campaign :... |
906,383 | 1.8% | 0 |
| 2002 German federal election, 2002 The 15th German federal election, 2002 was conducted on 22 September 2002, to elect members to the Bundestag of Germany.-Issues and campaign:... |
280,671 | 0.6% | 0 |
| 2005 German federal election, 2005 German federal elections took place on 18 September 2005 to elect the members of the 16th German Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany. They became necessary after a motion of confidence in Chancellor Gerhard Schröder failed on 1 July... |
266,101 | 0.6% | 0 |
| 2009 | 193,396 | 0.4% | 0 |
European Parliament
| Election year | # of total votes | % of overall vote | # of seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 2,008,629 | 7.1% | 6 |
| 1994 European Parliament election, 1994 (Germany) The European Parliament election of 1994 in Germany was the election of the delegation from Germany to the European Parliament in 1994.-References:... |
1,387,070 | 3.9% | 0 |
| 1999 European Parliament election, 1999 (Germany) The European Parliament election of 1999 in Germany was the election of MEP representing Germany constituency for the 1999-2004 term of the European Parliament.... |
461,038 | 1.7% | 0 |
| 2004 European Parliament election, 2004 (Germany) The European Parliament election of 2004 in Germany was the election of MEP representing Germany constituency for the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament. The vote was held on June 13, 2004.... |
485,662 | 1.9% | 0 |
| 2009 European Parliament election, 2009 (Germany) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Germany was the German part of the European Parliament election, 2009. The voting was held on Sunday, 7 June. A total of 26 parties competed for the 99 seats reserved for Germany in the European Parliament... |
347,887 | 1.3% | 0 |
Leadership
- Franz HandlosFranz HandlosFranz Handlos is a German right-wing politician.Handlos first came to prominence as member of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria , serving the party in both the Bundestag and the Landtag of Bavaria...
(1983–1985) - Franz SchönhuberFranz SchönhuberFranz Xaver Schönhuber was a German journalist and author. He gained fame as a founder and eventual chairman of the German Party The Republicans.-Career:...
(1985–1994) - Rolf SchliererRolf SchliererRolf Schlierer is a German physician, lawyer and politician and the current leader of the small right-wing party The Republicans .-Early life and non-political career:...
(1994–)