This article appears in the September 13, 2024 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
Elections and Demonstrations
Peace Movement Re-Emerges in Germany
[Print version of this article]
Sept. 6—The results of the September 1 state elections in Thuringia and Saxony indicate the revival of a peace movement in Germany, even if it is not yet clearly defined and widespread. The common points of the winning parties in these two states of Eastern Germany were: no to further arms deliveries to Ukraine, and yes to the resumption of diplomacy to resolve the crisis.
The same weekend saw rallies and demonstrations for the annual Sept. 1 “Anti-War Day.” Sept. 1 is the day in 1939 when Hitler’s forces invaded Poland. The actions took place throughout Germany, with a major theme being the demand to end the threat of a nuclear confrontation between NATO and Russia. Most anti-war actions were attended by a few hundred people, but in some cities, including Berlin and Munich, the number was as high as several thousand.
Speaking the day after the elections, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute leader, stressed the significance of what is happening: “The election results in two East German states are overwhelming proof that the war party can suffer a setback, and it should be an encouraging sign for all who want to oppose the direct march to World War III, on which we are already very far. I think this is certainly the most important event of the weekend, and I should also say it is the revival of the peace movement in Germany, which I also think is very hopeful.” Zepp-LaRouche, who is also the national chairman of the Civil Rights Solidarity Movement (BüSo), authored a statement circulated by the BüSo at many of the Sept. 1 anti-war rallies (full text below). The party fielded a slate of 12 in the Sept. 1 elections.
Anti-War Vote Pattern
In both Thuringia and Saxony, the parties with the highest vote gains in the election for state parliament, were the Alternative for Germany (AfD, Alternative für Deutschland) and the anti-war Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW, Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht)—a party only established in February. These two parties alone received more votes than the three parties combined, who make up the Berlin national government. The Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) barely held its position. The losing parties were the three of the national government, known as the Traffic Light Coalition, for their respective colors: the Social Democratic Party of Germany (red), the quasi-libertarian Free Democrats (yellow), and the Greens. This coalition has been shamefully going along with any and all of the United States, UK, and NATO policies coming down the pike, including the U.S.’ intention to emplace long-range, nuclear-capable weapons in Germany as of 2026.
In Thuringia, two parties of this tri-partite coalition lost their vote so badly, they were dumped out of the state parliament altogether: the warhawk Greens and the Free Democrats. In Saxony, likewise, the Free Democrats were dumped from the state parliament, and the Greens retained their presence by only the squeakiest of margins. In both Thuringia and Saxony, the Free Democrats, who have tried to outdo the Greens in their pro-war drive, ended up as a minuscule party with only 1% each.
The election results for Saxony: CDU, 31.9%; AfD, 30.6%; BSW, 11.8%; SPD, 7.3%; Greens, 5.1%; Linke, 4.5%; FDP, 0.9%. The election results for Thuringia: AfD 32.8%; CDU, 23.6%; BSW, 15.8%; Linke 13.1%; SPD, 6.1%; Greens 3.2%; FDP 1.1%.
The BüSo candidates’ vote came in below the threshold, but the party’s policy input had a critical impact, especially on strategic solutions for diplomacy to end the war threat, to rebuild Germany, and to expose the international, British-U.S. pedigree of the secret government perpetrating such atrocities as the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines. Michael Gründler from Dresden headed the slate and the interventions. He is committed to making these elections “the beginning” of a rapidly expanding national peace movement of power.
The Berlin government is unlikely to be able or willing to draw conclusions from these resounding vote patterns. Internationally it is certain, however, that the term “ungovernability” will become synonymous with Germany. None of the three government parties may survive the next national election, which is scheduled for September 2025, and in which the issue of war or peace will be central. In fact, what will characterize the next twelve months in Germany is the call to replace this government before the end of its term. Watch for the next state election results on Sept. 22 in Brandenburg.
Ungovernability is, unfortunately, also threatened for Thuringia and Saxony, because none of the parties wants to make a coalition with the AfD, whose leading figures back other, objectionable policies. Unless the BSW is invited to enter a new state government, both states face forming a minority government or, if that fails, continuing to be run by the old government, as a caretaker. The three-party coalition in Berlin already is a kind of caretaker government, with its 2021 election majority now only on paper: In reality it is hovering around the combined 30% level.
The BSW has already made a national policy move. The party filed a motion for debate in the national government on the U.S.-ordered missile-stationing. The debate is to take place after the end of the current Summer recess.
There Should Be No Great Shock
All told, the election was a great shock to the “established” parties and media, even though, paradoxically, it was no surprise—all the polls before the election had already predicted it. But a news anchor on television on Sunday evening was visibly shaken, as he had to report the results coming in. Within a few hours of the polls closing, the trans-Atlantic narrative machine cranked out custom-narratives to cover up the truth about the anti-war vote. The New York Times condensed the election result into the accusation that right-wing extremists had won the election for the first time in 80 years. The main German TV channel ZDF directly compared the election to World War II.
The rise of the BSW provides insight into the anti-war dynamic. The BSW was created from the circulation of a nationwide petition by Sahra Wagenknecht, a long-time Bundestag member, and Alice Schwarzer, a prominent journalist and feminist, and in the wake of the impressive, 50,000-person Berlin mass rally against the war they co-organized, on February 25, 2023. After the successful premiere of the BSW in Thuringia and Saxony this month, there is potentially great scope for rallies on an even larger scale—now focussed especially against the planned stationing of new long-range missiles by the U.S.A. on German soil. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) acquiesced to this in open disregard for German sovereignty. Even the previous and presumably new Prime Minister of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer (CDU), has shown at least a modicum of recognition of the mood in the country nationwide and has called for a public debate on the missile issue.
Scott Ritter Cross-Fires U.S. Anti-War Support
The weekend Anti-War Day rallies across Germany had all kinds of speakers and topics. A special support intervention from the U.S. occurred in Munich, where, on a big screen, a recorded video message was played, from Scott Ritter, the well-known former U.S. Marine and UN weapons inspector. It was very well received by the approximately 3,500 demonstrators in the Marienplatz.
With the words, “Look back in your history,” Ritter reported in detail on the large demonstrations in Germany in the 1980s against the stationing of U.S. missiles in Germany, which led to the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) Treaty in 1987. He concluded by addressing the extreme danger today of allowing U.S. missiles in Germany in 2026. He received spontaneous applause. “Don’t allow these missiles on German soil! Do the right thing. Take to the streets! It worked then. It will work today, too!”
Many of the German Anti-War Day actions are best understood as parts of a broader campaign by peace activists internationally to raise awareness of the threat of war and mobilize mass numbers of people against it. In the U.S., Ritter is organizing a demonstration for September 28, in Kingston, New York, and other cities. He is committed to making the foremost issue of the U.S. presidential election, the necessity of stopping the threat of nuclear war. Others have scheduled nationwide anti-war rallies in Washington, D.C., for September 28 and 29.
In Germany on October 3, when the nation officially commemorates its 1990 reunification, many peace demonstrations are planned. Around 1,500 groups and individuals will hold events, using the occasion for protest against the present system.
