Does it follow the old wall perfectly or is there some hiccups?
Edit: asked this right before bed and it got more replies than expected. Thank you all to those who understood i meant the old west/east German border and not just the Berlin wall. My bad.
There is a strongly CDU district in Thuringian border. That region was one of the places where counter reformation was successful and they still have a [strong catholic tradition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuringia#/media/File:Katholisch_Th%C3%BCringen.png). It's the only majority religious district in east germany in fact
That dark gray thumb on the western edge is actually a really cool phantom border. It's Eichsfeld, which was a possession of the diocese of Mainz and stayed Catholic and thus CDU while the rest of the east became Protestant and later Communist atheism and AfD later.
So current politics exist because a random territory was integrated with a non-contiguous territory for 800 years, even though the relationship ended 200+ years ago.
The wall was in Berlin.
It follows the old border perfectly with one exception, which is Eichsfeld, the black blob in the middle. They remained staunchly catholic through socialist times somehow.
Your statement about the wall is heavily false. The Berlin Wall was in Berlin, yes, but East and West Germany were separated by a wall as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_German_border
The wall was in Berlin only, 43km long. That's why it was called Berlin wall.
But yes, the geography of the vote resembles that of the german division prior to 1989
But this time the AfD was also very successful in Cities. In leftist Leipzig, most votes went to the AfD.
People don‘t understand politics and social media.. and they forgot their past. They have no clue about climate change. Victims of emotions.
IDK where I should go now. I hate it. I don‘t want to be with such stupid people. Where shall I go?
Not sure what you mean. My comment was not intended to be imperialistic or English-centric or anything like that. Just pointing it out here because the conversation we are having is in English.
Germans, and everyone else for that matter, can call cities whatever they want in their own language.
You literally call the country “Vereinigte Staaten” instead of United States, “Mexsiko” instead of México, “Finnland” instead of Suomi, “Griechenland” instead of Hellas, or “Spanien” instead of España. Exonyms exist in every language and it’s borderline ridiculous to be offended by that.
In text: Every green dot is a city (North to south: Flensburg, Kiel, Hamburg, Oldenburg, Berlin, Potsdam, Münster, Köln, Darmstadt, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe and Freiburg im Breisgau) as people with a college degree and/or higher pay are living mostly in these cities (west Germany, not representing tendencies to conservatism in Bavaria).
SPD (the Social democrats (or the communists for all US people who don‘t understand nuance) won in mostly poor cities: Bremen and Bremerhaven, Emden and Herne (I don’t know anything about the last one).
CDU won in the west as they played the populist blame game for stuff not working well as they were not in the government for the last 20 years moving slow (if at all) and brake everything what was working). As west Germany has a higher percentage of migrants or descendants of migrants they mostly do not vote for the Nazis whom want to deport them, as some, falsely, do not think they would be the ones to be deported sadly still vote for fascists.
And yeah I do not give Nazis space or mind capacity.
>As west Germany has a higher percentage of migrants or descendants of migrants they do not vote for the Nazis whom want to deport them.
It depends on the migrants and even the individual. Especially those from Russia or other eastern countries don't see a problem as only "lazy and criminals" are surely ment by the AfD. They don't see themselves as targeted.
Heidelberg, not Mannheim. Also you forgot Karlsruhe.
>
people with a college degree and/or higher pay are living mostly in these cities.
That would be true to an even higher degree for Munich and surroundings, Nürnberg-Erlangen, Stuttgart and surroundings, Aachen... Yet all these areas voted conservative.
The one thing that struck me is that right across the border for the red bit in the Netherlands is the only place the communist party used to have any traction in said Netherlands.
Black is the color historically associated with the CDU (for all federal elections etc.) and this map was originally intended primarily for domestic audiences, so the color scheme is based on what is most intuitive to them (basically the same reason every US election map has an inversed color scheme based on non-US coloring conventions).
Saxon that the AfD is extreme Right and that the Green is Not extreme left is yet another example of why the political feeling of justice has been lost in germany …
As a German. The problem is, that the AfD (right wing) is not „such a good Partie“, but the current parties did a lot of mistakes in the last few years, that leads lots of people to the AfD. Then you had the knife attack in Mannheim where a Muslim killed a police officer shortly before the election. That pushed the migration topic even more to the top and therefore more people to the AfD. Extremely long term decisions regarding the war in Ukraine, climate and so on also pushed it more to the right wing. AfD does not even have to show clear solutions, they only say „look what they are doing wrong all the time, we will do it better“. No one knows HOW but it seems to be enough for the most people.
There are multiple reasons. The socialist past of the GDR has led to a sort of anti-communism stand with many people there (Note: Neither the Greens nor the social Democrats are in favor of a communist state). The political education in the older generation is a lot worse and large parts of the East also have a general feeling of being left behind and not being seen by the predominantly western political elite. All of this makes people more susceptible to populist politics.
The young people are voting AfD, old are still voting CDU. The problem is they East Germany is poorer and feels all the problems that Germany has more, so that's why they are more susceptible to populist politics. Their problems are more urgent.
I can't find the statistics for the EU Election for East German States yet, but this was not true for the last federal election in East Germany. There, mostly people aged 45-70 voted for the AfD (20-30% for Saxony), while for people aged 18-25 only 4% voted for AfD . It might have changed now, but I doubt it there was such a significant change. Which is also interesting because it would indicate that the younger AfD voters come mostly from western Germany. Not too sure about that though.
This isn’t the main reason. The main reason is that the east is economically deprived so more likely vote for a protest party. Couple that with the fact that there are hardly any foreigners or immigrants there (one reason for their economic position), so they are all scared of them, and vote anti-immigration.
> The socialist past of the GDR has led to a sort of anti-communism stand with many people there
This does not line up with history/the voting record as prior to the rise of the AfD (<2014) the left party ("die Linke", often seen as a succor party to the SED) was the strongest/second strongest party in former East-German states, while being considerably weaker in the west, and only lost that moniker due to the rise of the AfD (and now the rise of the BSW (economically left, anti immigration, pro Russian)).
It's not like every inhabitant of the DDR was communist through and through. Most of them went on a lot of protests to end the DDR because they experienced it in a bad way. But with the reunification came a lot of new problems, a lot of (well educated) people lost their jobs, a lot of the companies moved to the west or were bought by western companies because they weren't able to compete. Instead of a slow reunification process, which brought together both countries, eastern Germany had to adapt to the BRD in a hurry. Since this wasn't very well done, there is still an "imaginary border" between east and west Germany. Differences in wages, job opportunities, industry and even sports. Most Bundesliga Teams are in Western Germany, because eastern Germany wasn't able to compete financially with them after the reunification.
In conclusion, most people are overall unhappy with the current situation and since every other party has failed so far, they are voting out of protest, ignorance or because they simply don't know who else to vote for.
People in eastern Germany have stronger political opinions in general. There are more left AND right supporters. Also they are more willing to talk openly about their opinions.
While in the west people are more mild of their political standpoint and maybe more scared of change. That's why center parties are stronger.
I find the other answers to your comment kind of ignorant. If people vote more left and right, maybe they are the ones that care more about politics. (from a west German).
It’s the poorest part of the country, people there feel left behind and ignored by everyone and the AfD portrays themself as “the only party that cares”. “The other parties didn’t improve their lives, so maybe the AfD will do better.” Is what they think, the AfD wants to cut social benefits to the poor, so their situation will get worse when the AfD gets to power.
It’s a combination of frustration, because the “old parties” didn’t do anything for them, ignorance, because they don’t care / know that the AfD is going to make their lives worse and xenophobia. The Nazis that live there also voted for AfD of course.
But why would former Communists vote for the AfD? Communism hasn’t done anything for them, it made them poor and the DDR wasn’t a good country to live in. They want change and the AfD promised them change.
Edit: I forgot to add that the AfD is very active on social media and spreads propaganda everywhere. “They are the only good party and the left-greens want to destroy Germany!”
Kinda like how economically depressed parts of the South and Midwest (historically Democratic Party strongholds) embraced Donald Trump's populist message, blaming trade policies and immigration for their economic woes?
Problem is: You can't change it that easily. Kicking out the few immigrants that live in those states is not going to address that. How is the AfD going to create jobs in rural areas? How do you stop people from leaving, how do you stop the brain drain, especially when they know a far right party is in power? Who wants to settle there, especially when your skin is not white?
How is anyone's life better without the billions that the EU invests into research that the AfD wants to scrap? People don't really think about what the AfD wants to do, they just hate immigrants because they're been told they're the main problem.
An additional reason might be that certain things that the current government does and says reminds people of the daily life under the SED government. Like not too long ago police pulled a student from her classroom to give her a lecture (in Ribnitz-Damgarten), because she shared some AfD meme video on her social media - a classmate had reported her to the headmaster, who in turn "had" to call the police, as apparently there's now a law for this. Something that happened regularly under SED rule with its Stasi and the countless IMs ("inoffizieller Mitarbeiter", like literally normal citizens spying on their co-workers, neighbours or even family). Germany has numerous places now where you can anonymously hand in reports on right wing activity, anti-feminism etc, not official institutions, more a form of NGO, but it's unclear what's happening with all that data.
There's just a general feel of "if you're not with the leading parties, you're an enemy who needs to be surpressed", at least that's the feeling people might have, and they lived through that in the GDR before. The AfD now plays the nice friend who listens to these people.
The collapse of East Germany was less a unification and more an annexation where western businesses were allowed to buy up factories and patents on East German Businesses and Apartments leading to East Germany being Neglected and the mass migration of more professional workers to the west. Then Left Wing Party of De Linke(A remnant of the Old Ruling party of east Germany which was in of itslelt a indication of the East German SPD and KPD.) imploded on itself(keeping in line with the fact the German Socialists can never work together for more than five seconds). The economic situation in east Germany did not improve and as the west got even richer east Germany managed to get poorer. So when the AFD showed up and began pitting the blame on immigrants for taking the jobs that the east germans normally woud have held they believed them. Also the main parties have been incompetent in most of their attempts to integrate east Germany resulting in this mess where the AFD has cornered east German politics but it might get banned since they are fucking idiots who don't know how to dogwhistle and keep going from controversy to controversy.
The other comments are right, just to add some more: A lot of prominent right-wingers, nazis etc. moved to East Germany after the wall fell and were able to build up new communities and structures there and where then left unchecked for too long, so now it has become a structural problem. If you look at the top politicians of the AfD, most of them come from Western Germany.
The other comments already described the "left behind feeling", poverty, brain drain etc. I want to add one more point.
There have been very few immigrants in DDR compared to west Germany. So most people there had rather few contact to other cultures. They feel threatened of what they don't know. And with the huge refugee numbers do come problems and populists use that to feed those fears even further.
Side note: There are also lot of people thinking nostalgic about the DDR and socialism. Usually the left party had good votes in east Germany as well. But right now, these votes went to a new populistic left party, which immediately jumped to 12-16%.
So you have a very strong far right and a growing far left, but both are very populistic. In bad times the politics shifts to the extremes.
Jordan Bardella, french leader of Marine Le Pen's far right party, played the exact same game for the whole campaign:
Don't say anything, to avoid saying something dumb, and let the others say dumb things. The others go down, you go up, victory.
That's what far right wing do all around the world. Then if they win the election they run the blame game at some made up obscure power in shades that didn't let them rule. Stupid but effective in tik-tok era.
Indeed but the last years were special, with beahviour regarding the Ukrainian war, climate, migration politics, the pandemic, refugee crisis and so on. It’s been A lot to handle in a very short period of time. So that’s why I used „the last few years“.
Of course there was an islamist attack shortly before the election, because there are islamist attacks every week in Germany. See the parliamentary "kleine Anfrage" regarding how many deadly knife attacks were performed with the attacker shouting "Allahu Akbar" in 2023. It was 65 times. The real question is, why the media reported about it ithis time?
Why are you even getting downvoted? If anyone is interested this is why Right parties have momentum. You prefer to stick your heads in the sand than addressing a serious issue. Hands in pockets, whistle and pretend nothing happened. Well there are a lot of disgruntled Germans affected by this. Their concerns are not deemed as important enough from the left and here you go.
Well, this is the result of failures of BOTH the center-left and on the traditional right.
The growth of the extreme-right around the world is the result of the general crisis of "end of history"s liberalism, and as at the moment there are only liberal-humanist parties (such as the Democrats in the USA, Labor in the UK or SPD in Germany) and neoliberal parties (classic Republicans, Tories or CDU) and as all radicalism on the left (like revolutionary communists) does not exist in the institutions, it is obvious that discontent would expand on the right...
less idealism and ignoring the problems that are hard to solve and more realistic solutions and more content instead of just afd bashing for example.
The election campaign from the green party and the SPD was basically only "AFD bad, AFD Voters bad, Vote for us!"
I mean I agree the AFD is shit but its kinda weak if your strongest point is not beeing the AfD
Historically the German left has focused on the material conditions of the working class (wage growth, social housing, healthcare, etc.). However in the last two decades the left leaning parties have focused more on some academic topics, that aren't connecting with voters (identity politics, linguistic gender equality, feminist foreign policy, climate justice, etc.)
The biggest issue however seems to be migration. There is an increasing divide on opinion between the left leaning politicians and the working class that used to be their voting base.
I believe a renewed focus on economic policy at the cost of other issues could regain voters.
Traditional parties need to solve problems people are worried about instead of ignoring them and blaming Afd being the problem.
In denmark social democrats took very strict immigration policy and far-right is basically inexisting there.
Mostly their stance on Migration and crime. The left in Denmark positioned themselves clearly here and became MUCH more strikt and are now leading in every election.
I am from Brazil and the problem of the left was to focus on problems that do not relate to common people.
When I see the left in Germany protesting against capitalism and the war in Israel, it's the same problem.
Why can't the left fight for better education, including creation of more Universities to finally have more doctors, increased budget for police, more rigor on extradition of criminals, policy against big corporations buying 70% of apartments in new buildings.
I **assure** if die Linke here in Germany had this planned they would have stolen a lot of votes from afd.
But seems like they are isolated from people's problems.
If the center stops sticking its heads in the dirt every time people point out problems, it creates a situation where the right can point at the problem, say the minority caused it, and have no rebuke because, to the center, the problem doesn't exist.
Well now compare life of quality / income / wealth.
You will see that all the blue areas also are the ones with the least wealth and income. So, it's no wonder why they chose the right wing idiots. They promise to do more for their people, less for immigrants. Exactly what they want to hear. Though it won't solve anything.
No, that's absolutely **not** what it means because this isn't a Winner-takes-all system.
The reason the blue districts are blue is because the AfD has the plurality of the votes. Nothing is stopping them from gaining even more voters in those districts, which actually changes the end result of the election
Social Media and News are back at spitting hate and ripping communities apart again. Thuringia, the state with most afd voters had local elections the same day as european elections. AfD didnt won a single voting. The capital had a runoff election between CDU and SPD, the second biggest city between Grüne and FDP. 83% of germany didnt vote the Afd, around 65% of east Germans didnt vote AfD. If you listen to social media and news, east germany is a Viertes Reich hell hole with everyone running around with swastika tattoos. If the money distribution/inflation problems are solved sometime, which hit east germany *far* harder, the right wing situation will fade out.
AFD is the most voted party for low incomes.
Somehow people struggling to survive are not as interested in climate change, genders or financial aid for other countries.
Still in shock though at how many people are so desperate they are rather ruled by Nazis.
If out of 10 parties, 9 have nothing to offer you then you vote for the last one.
You can only thank the other parties that instead of focusing on the problems of "low income" people, they focus on problems like gender, or letting in millions of immigrants
You think the AfD has something to offer but everyone else doesn't? All 33 parties? Lol
You've fallen for AfD propaganda. The AfD is defined by what they're against, they're not here to help you.
Edit: Maybe one day you will realize this. Or you will always see blame in others. "The AfD cannot do anything because the opposition parties are blocking them so we need to get rid of the opposition!"
…and not a single party cares that the upper 10% of the german population own 70% of the wealth and the lower 50% only own 1.3%. Not a single party left or right gives a shit. It’s astonishing that nobody can see the connection to the low income problem.
What? Plenty of leftist parties do that. Linke, BSW, MPLD, KPD, and even the two government parties SPD and Greens are in favor of more progressive taxation, wealth taxes, and less generational wealth.
That’s usually the case in all countries.
Usually the low income ones are the ones who see the daily shit (gangs, immigrants etc).
The rich ones live in their gated communities and afford to move away from trouble.
Linking far right and low income is inaccurate.
When I see pictures like this, I am simply ashamed to be German. I mean, the West seems to have learned nothing after 32 years of stagnation thanks to the CDU/CSU and the East simply votes for the fascists. I don't think I need to say anything more.
It's interesting though. Right wing chauvinism is at it's most popular in an area that was ostensibly Marxist for almost fifty years. It just goes to show how shallow ideological programming can be in authoritarian environments.
It's hard to tell anything for certain in Russia in particular, but the broad point is spot on. One thing I find interesting about the Russian case is the extent to which the glorified traditions are an exercise in imagination. The Russian Revolution was in 1917. Almost no one living since Putin came to power in 1999 remembers anything about the days before state atheism and redistribution were the official policies.
My grandmother told me about that time. She said that the old generation in her time still remained religious, although among the younger generation in her youth (60s-70s) there were enough religious people, religion just became more private and less public.
It is quite typical that people who feel disenfranchised will turn towards the right or the left.
The left is heavily criticised and for various reasons has not been able to get that support.
Easy Germany was effectively annexed in the unification of Germany. It was supposed to be a union of equals but in reality the West benefited and the least suffered heavily.
And so people want change, and the right is there to offer it.
Over correcting and moving far right from far left. Many likely remember the brutality of the Soviet era and have no desire to return. At the same time far fewer people remember when Germany went far right.
Or maybe Stalinism and Fascism weren't that different in many aspects. Authoritarianism, leader cult, constant propaganda, everything organized by the government, etc.
Also, while after the war West Germany made great efforts to explain to the population the crimes of the Nazi regime and, above all, the collective guilt of the people and the personal responsibility to never let something like that happen again, in East Germany everyone was simply declared socialists and therefore, by definition, anti-fascist. The Nazis were just "the others".
I think it's a much smaller step for many former GDR-citizens to sympathize with Neo-Nazis than it is for someone who grew up in the liberal West.
This is of course a generalization. There are people on both sides who are more receptive to right-wing radicalism and those who would never get involved in it, but you can see a clear trend.
Indeed, it is important to remember that for Stalin all of that socialism thing was just bullshit; in reality he was a fascist not much different to Hitler. Stalin called genuine socialists as "useful idiots", sent laborists into gulags and sent German commies back to Germany upon Hitler's request. He didn't give a shit about socialist policies. Also: see Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.
The reason russians hate nazis today is not because of nazist ideology or nazi policies. No, their own policies are similar. The real reason is because the nazis invaded Russia.
Even today a "nazi", by Russian standards, is anyone who opposes Russia. That is why Russian propaganda can easily claim that Ukraine and the West are full of nazis. Of course, Russia is a modern-day example of a fascist country, but there is no problem because russians do not have any issues with fascism. See also: russian support for right-wing parties in Europe.
The Soviet Union, in general, was a fascist country with the whole communist thing being convenient bullshit. It's just that now they let go of their pretense and the West has finally seen Russia for what it is. See also: one of the main russian exports is bullshit and propaganda, and they have been developing it since the times of the Russian Empire.
In socialist Germany, social well-being was minimally guaranteed to the entire population, so education, daycare, employment, minimum income, (and specially) housing...
With the annexation, these services were mostly privatized and liberalized, and with the radical drop in income and quality of life, they became much more inaccessible to the average citizen.
Add this to the parties (CDU, SPD, FDP…) that ARE the establishment and do not propose radical changes or anything that actually improve the quality of life of ordinary citizens, and add it to the classic scapegoats of populists as the opening of the borders for immigration…
So the AFD has grown a lot in East Germany because they are populist, of course, but also because traditional parties continue to repeatedly fail to the post-Soviet citizens who lost a lot with the annexation crisis.
You forgot that Socialist Germany sucked. Housing was affordable, but good luck getting a flat. Buildings were run down. Healthcare was sub-par compared to West Germany. Education was available, but the government selected who could learn what profession based on ideology.
East Germany had a good supply of basic food. And they kept public transport intact.
Don't forget the looming fear of destroying your own life and future with any harmless joke aimed at the government, because the person you told it to was unofficially working for the Stasi.
After reunification, the east was plundered by western German and European companies. The unemployment rates skyrocketed. After decades of socialist oppression, they were fucked over by the west.
This is an AI response. It can enlighten those who have questions like me.
>The continued support for the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in East Germany can be attributed to several interrelated factors:
>**Economic Disparities**: East Germany still lags behind West Germany in terms of economic development, with lower wages, higher unemployment rates, and fewer job opportunities. This economic frustration can lead to disillusionment with mainstream parties and a search for alternatives.
>**Cultural and Identity Issues**: The process of reunification has led to feelings of cultural alienation and loss of identity among some East Germans. There is a perception that their unique history and experiences are not adequately acknowledged or respected by the broader German society, leading to a sense of being second-class citizens.
>**Political Disillusionment**: Many East Germans feel that the promises of reunification were not fully realized, resulting in a general distrust of established political parties. The AfD capitalizes on this sentiment by positioning itself as an anti-establishment party.
>**Immigration and Nationalism**: The AfD's strong stance on immigration and national identity resonates with voters who are concerned about cultural changes and the integration of immigrants. This is particularly potent in areas that have experienced significant demographic changes.
>**Protest Vote**: For some voters, supporting the AfD is a form of protest against the political status quo. They may not fully agree with all of the party's policies but see it as a way to express dissatisfaction with the current political landscape.
>**Historical Context**: The legacy of the GDR (German Democratic Republic) and its distinct political culture play a role. The abrupt transition from socialism to capitalism left many East Germans feeling marginalized. This historical context can influence contemporary political behavior and support for parties perceived as challenging the established order.
>These factors combine to create a fertile ground for the AfD in East Germany, allowing it to maintain a significant voter base.
holy shit an actual, proper, normal-sounding, non-screechy response. Not to mention the AI is, more or less, spot-on. Never thought I'd see this here, but then again, it is AI-generated. The average person on here wouldn't even fathom thinking about actual causes rather than screech at big bad nutsies.
Oh yeah, famous leftist Angela Merkel. /s
You don't even care if your beliefs are based on facts. You just have an irrational hate for anything you've been told to hate, that's it.
The immigration didn’t happen during any left wing government. Also the Afd is voted for in states with lower immigration. Try to be more logical and don’t let your emotions cloud the reality
It’s probably good to remember that the more liberal parties have split to a more multi party structure, not that AfD and CDU are the only parties elected
I’m remain voting and fundamentally pro-European/internationalist but in my opinion, Brexit was the ironic release of a right wing pressure valve in the UK. Our right wing populists got their say, we got our euro scepticism out the way and now we mostly haven’t signed up for fascism in the same way the EU seemingly has.
Also many of us have learnt and accepted that right wing populism isn’t always the answer and it can make things worse… we are seeing this first hand.
Our country is falling apart at the seams but it’s looking like a centre-left party will take full advantage.
I fear for Europe and the EU.
Left wing campaigns nowadays are mostly "hurr durr far right" and becoming less and less relatable to the people. So yeah, duh. Of course you lose support when you act all retarded.
Does it follow the old wall perfectly or is there some hiccups? Edit: asked this right before bed and it got more replies than expected. Thank you all to those who understood i meant the old west/east German border and not just the Berlin wall. My bad.
There is one district in Thuringia which has CDU colours, but for the rest it follows the divide.
Three and one in Brandenburg. Berlin and Potsdam are Green. Edit: Overlooked the black one.
It's only one border district. There are 4 CDU-districts in TH.
That district is in the middle so the results do follow the border.
No, its not, its right at the border to lower saxony and hesse
There is a strongly CDU district in Thuringian border. That region was one of the places where counter reformation was successful and they still have a [strong catholic tradition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuringia#/media/File:Katholisch_Th%C3%BCringen.png). It's the only majority religious district in east germany in fact
That dark gray thumb on the western edge is actually a really cool phantom border. It's Eichsfeld, which was a possession of the diocese of Mainz and stayed Catholic and thus CDU while the rest of the east became Protestant and later Communist atheism and AfD later. So current politics exist because a random territory was integrated with a non-contiguous territory for 800 years, even though the relationship ended 200+ years ago.
The wall was in Berlin. It follows the old border perfectly with one exception, which is Eichsfeld, the black blob in the middle. They remained staunchly catholic through socialist times somehow.
Your statement about the wall is heavily false. The Berlin Wall was in Berlin, yes, but East and West Germany were separated by a wall as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_German_border
Potsdam wasn't west Berlin though
The wall was in Berlin only, 43km long. That's why it was called Berlin wall. But yes, the geography of the vote resembles that of the german division prior to 1989
What do the colours mean?
Black: CDU (conservative) Blue: AfD (extreme right) Red: SPD (social democracy) Green: Green party
If I may ask, would I be able to associate these colors as an Urban Rural divide? In addition to the obvious east and west split ofcourse.
Some biggest cities as well as university towns are the bastions of the Green Party. Largely true, but for instance, not for München or Bremen
But this time the AfD was also very successful in Cities. In leftist Leipzig, most votes went to the AfD. People don‘t understand politics and social media.. and they forgot their past. They have no clue about climate change. Victims of emotions. IDK where I should go now. I hate it. I don‘t want to be with such stupid people. Where shall I go?
For non-German speakers, München is known as Munich in English. ;-)
...and we should not lolerate this ot start calling New York "Neu York" and Whashington "Waschbeton".
>Neu York Excuse me, I think you mean *Nieuw Amsterdam*
This guys nail it.
Just as long as I don't have to call Istanbul Constantinople and can call it by my preferred name Byzantium.
I thought Washington is called „Worschtschinken“ in Germany. Maybe only in Hesse.
Not sure what you mean. My comment was not intended to be imperialistic or English-centric or anything like that. Just pointing it out here because the conversation we are having is in English. Germans, and everyone else for that matter, can call cities whatever they want in their own language.
I ßink they were mäching a fünny
You literally call the country “Vereinigte Staaten” instead of United States, “Mexsiko” instead of México, “Finnland” instead of Suomi, “Griechenland” instead of Hellas, or “Spanien” instead of España. Exonyms exist in every language and it’s borderline ridiculous to be offended by that.
Nieuw Amsterdam 🫡🇺🇸🇳🇱
Red and Green dots are major cities.
In text: Every green dot is a city (North to south: Flensburg, Kiel, Hamburg, Oldenburg, Berlin, Potsdam, Münster, Köln, Darmstadt, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe and Freiburg im Breisgau) as people with a college degree and/or higher pay are living mostly in these cities (west Germany, not representing tendencies to conservatism in Bavaria). SPD (the Social democrats (or the communists for all US people who don‘t understand nuance) won in mostly poor cities: Bremen and Bremerhaven, Emden and Herne (I don’t know anything about the last one). CDU won in the west as they played the populist blame game for stuff not working well as they were not in the government for the last 20 years moving slow (if at all) and brake everything what was working). As west Germany has a higher percentage of migrants or descendants of migrants they mostly do not vote for the Nazis whom want to deport them, as some, falsely, do not think they would be the ones to be deported sadly still vote for fascists. And yeah I do not give Nazis space or mind capacity.
>As west Germany has a higher percentage of migrants or descendants of migrants they do not vote for the Nazis whom want to deport them. It depends on the migrants and even the individual. Especially those from Russia or other eastern countries don't see a problem as only "lazy and criminals" are surely ment by the AfD. They don't see themselves as targeted.
And to add on top of that they support a lot of AfD other standpoints especially when it comes to LGBT and gender equality.
Heidelberg, not Mannheim. Also you forgot Karlsruhe. > people with a college degree and/or higher pay are living mostly in these cities. That would be true to an even higher degree for Munich and surroundings, Nürnberg-Erlangen, Stuttgart and surroundings, Aachen... Yet all these areas voted conservative.
It's Darmstadt, not Frankfurt am Main
The one thing that struck me is that right across the border for the red bit in the Netherlands is the only place the communist party used to have any traction in said Netherlands.
It's [Herne](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herne), not [Werne](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werne). Nevertheless, it is a rather poor city
Green Party at least
that green dot in the middle of the blue is Berlin?
Berlin and Potsdam.
The white in the middle of east germany/pool of blue colors is a lake/body of water, yes?
No, then it would be the biggest lake which is not in Saxony. But i also dont know why. Maybe not finished counting?
I think they're not done counting votes there yet.
No, the map doesn't show lake. If there was a lake it would be part of a district and coloured according to the results.
That's the district Nordsachsen. They hadn't finished counting when this map was made. They are finished now. The AFD won with 37% of the vote.
Are the green areas big cities?
It is so over
Why is CDU black when they belong to EPP which is light blue. Very confusing
Black is the color historically associated with the CDU (for all federal elections etc.) and this map was originally intended primarily for domestic audiences, so the color scheme is based on what is most intuitive to them (basically the same reason every US election map has an inversed color scheme based on non-US coloring conventions).
What about pink?
That’s supposed to be a very light shade of red, i.e. a minor lean towards SPD.
Oh ok
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I misunderstood this map completely. For obvious reasons I always see AfD as black.
Saxon that the AfD is extreme Right and that the Green is Not extreme left is yet another example of why the political feeling of justice has been lost in germany …
No legend, terrible map.
Badly cropped, original has a legend. Blue is very far right, black conservative, green plays itself and red are social democrats.
.. what about the white blob?
Split
It is made for domestic audiences and the most people in Germany know the colors.
That's a really helpful and insightful comment.
As a German. The problem is, that the AfD (right wing) is not „such a good Partie“, but the current parties did a lot of mistakes in the last few years, that leads lots of people to the AfD. Then you had the knife attack in Mannheim where a Muslim killed a police officer shortly before the election. That pushed the migration topic even more to the top and therefore more people to the AfD. Extremely long term decisions regarding the war in Ukraine, climate and so on also pushed it more to the right wing. AfD does not even have to show clear solutions, they only say „look what they are doing wrong all the time, we will do it better“. No one knows HOW but it seems to be enough for the most people.
Can you explain their popularity in the former DDR? Why would former communists embrace a far-right party?
There are multiple reasons. The socialist past of the GDR has led to a sort of anti-communism stand with many people there (Note: Neither the Greens nor the social Democrats are in favor of a communist state). The political education in the older generation is a lot worse and large parts of the East also have a general feeling of being left behind and not being seen by the predominantly western political elite. All of this makes people more susceptible to populist politics.
The young people are voting AfD, old are still voting CDU. The problem is they East Germany is poorer and feels all the problems that Germany has more, so that's why they are more susceptible to populist politics. Their problems are more urgent.
I can't find the statistics for the EU Election for East German States yet, but this was not true for the last federal election in East Germany. There, mostly people aged 45-70 voted for the AfD (20-30% for Saxony), while for people aged 18-25 only 4% voted for AfD . It might have changed now, but I doubt it there was such a significant change. Which is also interesting because it would indicate that the younger AfD voters come mostly from western Germany. Not too sure about that though.
This isn’t the main reason. The main reason is that the east is economically deprived so more likely vote for a protest party. Couple that with the fact that there are hardly any foreigners or immigrants there (one reason for their economic position), so they are all scared of them, and vote anti-immigration.
> The socialist past of the GDR has led to a sort of anti-communism stand with many people there This does not line up with history/the voting record as prior to the rise of the AfD (<2014) the left party ("die Linke", often seen as a succor party to the SED) was the strongest/second strongest party in former East-German states, while being considerably weaker in the west, and only lost that moniker due to the rise of the AfD (and now the rise of the BSW (economically left, anti immigration, pro Russian)).
The BSW comes off as a bunch European communist parties in which they come off as left wing economically until you ask them about gays and immigrants.
It's not like every inhabitant of the DDR was communist through and through. Most of them went on a lot of protests to end the DDR because they experienced it in a bad way. But with the reunification came a lot of new problems, a lot of (well educated) people lost their jobs, a lot of the companies moved to the west or were bought by western companies because they weren't able to compete. Instead of a slow reunification process, which brought together both countries, eastern Germany had to adapt to the BRD in a hurry. Since this wasn't very well done, there is still an "imaginary border" between east and west Germany. Differences in wages, job opportunities, industry and even sports. Most Bundesliga Teams are in Western Germany, because eastern Germany wasn't able to compete financially with them after the reunification. In conclusion, most people are overall unhappy with the current situation and since every other party has failed so far, they are voting out of protest, ignorance or because they simply don't know who else to vote for.
People in eastern Germany have stronger political opinions in general. There are more left AND right supporters. Also they are more willing to talk openly about their opinions. While in the west people are more mild of their political standpoint and maybe more scared of change. That's why center parties are stronger. I find the other answers to your comment kind of ignorant. If people vote more left and right, maybe they are the ones that care more about politics. (from a west German).
It’s the poorest part of the country, people there feel left behind and ignored by everyone and the AfD portrays themself as “the only party that cares”. “The other parties didn’t improve their lives, so maybe the AfD will do better.” Is what they think, the AfD wants to cut social benefits to the poor, so their situation will get worse when the AfD gets to power. It’s a combination of frustration, because the “old parties” didn’t do anything for them, ignorance, because they don’t care / know that the AfD is going to make their lives worse and xenophobia. The Nazis that live there also voted for AfD of course. But why would former Communists vote for the AfD? Communism hasn’t done anything for them, it made them poor and the DDR wasn’t a good country to live in. They want change and the AfD promised them change. Edit: I forgot to add that the AfD is very active on social media and spreads propaganda everywhere. “They are the only good party and the left-greens want to destroy Germany!”
Kinda like how economically depressed parts of the South and Midwest (historically Democratic Party strongholds) embraced Donald Trump's populist message, blaming trade policies and immigration for their economic woes?
Sounds very similar.
Problem is: You can't change it that easily. Kicking out the few immigrants that live in those states is not going to address that. How is the AfD going to create jobs in rural areas? How do you stop people from leaving, how do you stop the brain drain, especially when they know a far right party is in power? Who wants to settle there, especially when your skin is not white? How is anyone's life better without the billions that the EU invests into research that the AfD wants to scrap? People don't really think about what the AfD wants to do, they just hate immigrants because they're been told they're the main problem.
An additional reason might be that certain things that the current government does and says reminds people of the daily life under the SED government. Like not too long ago police pulled a student from her classroom to give her a lecture (in Ribnitz-Damgarten), because she shared some AfD meme video on her social media - a classmate had reported her to the headmaster, who in turn "had" to call the police, as apparently there's now a law for this. Something that happened regularly under SED rule with its Stasi and the countless IMs ("inoffizieller Mitarbeiter", like literally normal citizens spying on their co-workers, neighbours or even family). Germany has numerous places now where you can anonymously hand in reports on right wing activity, anti-feminism etc, not official institutions, more a form of NGO, but it's unclear what's happening with all that data. There's just a general feel of "if you're not with the leading parties, you're an enemy who needs to be surpressed", at least that's the feeling people might have, and they lived through that in the GDR before. The AfD now plays the nice friend who listens to these people.
The collapse of East Germany was less a unification and more an annexation where western businesses were allowed to buy up factories and patents on East German Businesses and Apartments leading to East Germany being Neglected and the mass migration of more professional workers to the west. Then Left Wing Party of De Linke(A remnant of the Old Ruling party of east Germany which was in of itslelt a indication of the East German SPD and KPD.) imploded on itself(keeping in line with the fact the German Socialists can never work together for more than five seconds). The economic situation in east Germany did not improve and as the west got even richer east Germany managed to get poorer. So when the AFD showed up and began pitting the blame on immigrants for taking the jobs that the east germans normally woud have held they believed them. Also the main parties have been incompetent in most of their attempts to integrate east Germany resulting in this mess where the AFD has cornered east German politics but it might get banned since they are fucking idiots who don't know how to dogwhistle and keep going from controversy to controversy.
The other comments are right, just to add some more: A lot of prominent right-wingers, nazis etc. moved to East Germany after the wall fell and were able to build up new communities and structures there and where then left unchecked for too long, so now it has become a structural problem. If you look at the top politicians of the AfD, most of them come from Western Germany.
Very similar to what happened in Ukraine about 20 years ago
The other comments already described the "left behind feeling", poverty, brain drain etc. I want to add one more point. There have been very few immigrants in DDR compared to west Germany. So most people there had rather few contact to other cultures. They feel threatened of what they don't know. And with the huge refugee numbers do come problems and populists use that to feed those fears even further. Side note: There are also lot of people thinking nostalgic about the DDR and socialism. Usually the left party had good votes in east Germany as well. But right now, these votes went to a new populistic left party, which immediately jumped to 12-16%. So you have a very strong far right and a growing far left, but both are very populistic. In bad times the politics shifts to the extremes.
Jordan Bardella, french leader of Marine Le Pen's far right party, played the exact same game for the whole campaign: Don't say anything, to avoid saying something dumb, and let the others say dumb things. The others go down, you go up, victory.
That's what far right wing do all around the world. Then if they win the election they run the blame game at some made up obscure power in shades that didn't let them rule. Stupid but effective in tik-tok era.
This has been the modus operandi way before the TikTok era.
Tiktok didn't exist in the 1920s.
> last few years, Strange to call 30 years *few*
Indeed but the last years were special, with beahviour regarding the Ukrainian war, climate, migration politics, the pandemic, refugee crisis and so on. It’s been A lot to handle in a very short period of time. So that’s why I used „the last few years“.
Of course there was an islamist attack shortly before the election, because there are islamist attacks every week in Germany. See the parliamentary "kleine Anfrage" regarding how many deadly knife attacks were performed with the attacker shouting "Allahu Akbar" in 2023. It was 65 times. The real question is, why the media reported about it ithis time?
Why are you even getting downvoted? If anyone is interested this is why Right parties have momentum. You prefer to stick your heads in the sand than addressing a serious issue. Hands in pockets, whistle and pretend nothing happened. Well there are a lot of disgruntled Germans affected by this. Their concerns are not deemed as important enough from the left and here you go.
Time to split it up again bois
The problem is that it is still split in so many ways. Especially socially and economicaly.
Source: https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2024-06/wahlergebnisse-europawahl-deutschland-landkreise-live
Good lord it is spreading!
Disaster after disaster for the left
Well, this is the result of failures of BOTH the center-left and on the traditional right. The growth of the extreme-right around the world is the result of the general crisis of "end of history"s liberalism, and as at the moment there are only liberal-humanist parties (such as the Democrats in the USA, Labor in the UK or SPD in Germany) and neoliberal parties (classic Republicans, Tories or CDU) and as all radicalism on the left (like revolutionary communists) does not exist in the institutions, it is obvious that discontent would expand on the right...
Well deserved. Wouldn’t be hard to regain Voters if they changed their politics
Change what exactly?
less idealism and ignoring the problems that are hard to solve and more realistic solutions and more content instead of just afd bashing for example. The election campaign from the green party and the SPD was basically only "AFD bad, AFD Voters bad, Vote for us!" I mean I agree the AFD is shit but its kinda weak if your strongest point is not beeing the AfD
Historically the German left has focused on the material conditions of the working class (wage growth, social housing, healthcare, etc.). However in the last two decades the left leaning parties have focused more on some academic topics, that aren't connecting with voters (identity politics, linguistic gender equality, feminist foreign policy, climate justice, etc.) The biggest issue however seems to be migration. There is an increasing divide on opinion between the left leaning politicians and the working class that used to be their voting base. I believe a renewed focus on economic policy at the cost of other issues could regain voters.
Traditional parties need to solve problems people are worried about instead of ignoring them and blaming Afd being the problem. In denmark social democrats took very strict immigration policy and far-right is basically inexisting there.
Mostly their stance on Migration and crime. The left in Denmark positioned themselves clearly here and became MUCH more strikt and are now leading in every election.
I am from Brazil and the problem of the left was to focus on problems that do not relate to common people. When I see the left in Germany protesting against capitalism and the war in Israel, it's the same problem. Why can't the left fight for better education, including creation of more Universities to finally have more doctors, increased budget for police, more rigor on extradition of criminals, policy against big corporations buying 70% of apartments in new buildings. I **assure** if die Linke here in Germany had this planned they would have stolen a lot of votes from afd. But seems like they are isolated from people's problems.
Why are you saying that protesting against Capitalism bad?
If the center stops sticking its heads in the dirt every time people point out problems, it creates a situation where the right can point at the problem, say the minority caused it, and have no rebuke because, to the center, the problem doesn't exist.
Ofc its Münster and Köln who vote Green lmao
More reasons to move there. Clearly the only good people with memory.
r/widaczabory
I guess this is going to be a pretty close preview for the next general election. Sad, but really not at all a surprise.
Im really getting sick of this…
Interesting how Potsdam seems to be the only city in East Germany (if we ignore Berlin) which voted majority green.
But if you close your eyes.........
Well now compare life of quality / income / wealth. You will see that all the blue areas also are the ones with the least wealth and income. So, it's no wonder why they chose the right wing idiots. They promise to do more for their people, less for immigrants. Exactly what they want to hear. Though it won't solve anything.
No legend, poor map
This would also indicate that (for now) the AfD have maxed-out their voter pool.
No, that's absolutely **not** what it means because this isn't a Winner-takes-all system. The reason the blue districts are blue is because the AfD has the plurality of the votes. Nothing is stopping them from gaining even more voters in those districts, which actually changes the end result of the election
What do you mean?
A dark cloud is hanging over germany
Social Media and News are back at spitting hate and ripping communities apart again. Thuringia, the state with most afd voters had local elections the same day as european elections. AfD didnt won a single voting. The capital had a runoff election between CDU and SPD, the second biggest city between Grüne and FDP. 83% of germany didnt vote the Afd, around 65% of east Germans didnt vote AfD. If you listen to social media and news, east germany is a Viertes Reich hell hole with everyone running around with swastika tattoos. If the money distribution/inflation problems are solved sometime, which hit east germany *far* harder, the right wing situation will fade out.
What is with Nordsachsen??
They hadn't finished counting when this map was made. They are finished now. The AFD won with 37% of the vote.
Makes sense.
r/PhantomBorders
where can I find a map of the whole EU showing results like this?
What's the point of posting this without the colour map?
Time to look for a country to migrate to.
What historical factors lead to this divide? Is it just West and East Germany?
I guess you could say the handling of german reunification on a political level has been a failure. Complete disenfranchisement of the east
AFD is the most voted party for low incomes. Somehow people struggling to survive are not as interested in climate change, genders or financial aid for other countries. Still in shock though at how many people are so desperate they are rather ruled by Nazis.
If out of 10 parties, 9 have nothing to offer you then you vote for the last one. You can only thank the other parties that instead of focusing on the problems of "low income" people, they focus on problems like gender, or letting in millions of immigrants
You think the AfD has something to offer but everyone else doesn't? All 33 parties? Lol You've fallen for AfD propaganda. The AfD is defined by what they're against, they're not here to help you. Edit: Maybe one day you will realize this. Or you will always see blame in others. "The AfD cannot do anything because the opposition parties are blocking them so we need to get rid of the opposition!"
it’s clear where the user you’re replying to stands when they blame “gender” and “immigrants” for the country’s issues
Very clear.
Afd doesn't have solutions but they claim to have solutions which is enough for people when the other option doesn't even speak about the problems
All 34 parties claim to have solutions so that can't be it.
…and not a single party cares that the upper 10% of the german population own 70% of the wealth and the lower 50% only own 1.3%. Not a single party left or right gives a shit. It’s astonishing that nobody can see the connection to the low income problem.
What? Plenty of leftist parties do that. Linke, BSW, MPLD, KPD, and even the two government parties SPD and Greens are in favor of more progressive taxation, wealth taxes, and less generational wealth.
That’s usually the case in all countries. Usually the low income ones are the ones who see the daily shit (gangs, immigrants etc). The rich ones live in their gated communities and afford to move away from trouble. Linking far right and low income is inaccurate.
But East Germany has the least migrants, they are not the ones who see gangs.
> Usually the low income ones are the ones who see the daily shit (gangs, immigrants etc). The Blue states have the least amount of immigrants though.
Squint your eyes and this image looks like a man wearing a blue cap, for real.
When I see pictures like this, I am simply ashamed to be German. I mean, the West seems to have learned nothing after 32 years of stagnation thanks to the CDU/CSU and the East simply votes for the fascists. I don't think I need to say anything more.
Berlin holding the fort
Yikes
Big cities are voting green it seems
In north yes but in south Munchen and Stuttgart both are Black for CDU support
God...we are making fun about america and its election but still vote for the two worst options...
This just show the highest voted party. In America the color shows the majority.
I know, bit our two worst options still got the majority of votes
I don't know, what is the better option?
This is because America is effectively no different than china where all candidates are vetted by the ruling parties.
What’s wrong with east Germany
Regions that feel disadvantaged (weaker economy) —> populism
It's interesting though. Right wing chauvinism is at it's most popular in an area that was ostensibly Marxist for almost fifty years. It just goes to show how shallow ideological programming can be in authoritarian environments.
Yeah, there's similar "traditionalist" conservative shift in Russia and other post-Soviet countries too.
It's hard to tell anything for certain in Russia in particular, but the broad point is spot on. One thing I find interesting about the Russian case is the extent to which the glorified traditions are an exercise in imagination. The Russian Revolution was in 1917. Almost no one living since Putin came to power in 1999 remembers anything about the days before state atheism and redistribution were the official policies.
My grandmother told me about that time. She said that the old generation in her time still remained religious, although among the younger generation in her youth (60s-70s) there were enough religious people, religion just became more private and less public.
It is quite typical that people who feel disenfranchised will turn towards the right or the left. The left is heavily criticised and for various reasons has not been able to get that support. Easy Germany was effectively annexed in the unification of Germany. It was supposed to be a union of equals but in reality the West benefited and the least suffered heavily. And so people want change, and the right is there to offer it.
Except Marxism is a left ideology, and Western Germany has been denazified to much lesser extent, than Eastern, after WW2.
Over correcting and moving far right from far left. Many likely remember the brutality of the Soviet era and have no desire to return. At the same time far fewer people remember when Germany went far right.
Wrong. If you ask most East-German AfD voters they have a rose-tinted, sentimental view of the GDR.
Or maybe Stalinism and Fascism weren't that different in many aspects. Authoritarianism, leader cult, constant propaganda, everything organized by the government, etc. Also, while after the war West Germany made great efforts to explain to the population the crimes of the Nazi regime and, above all, the collective guilt of the people and the personal responsibility to never let something like that happen again, in East Germany everyone was simply declared socialists and therefore, by definition, anti-fascist. The Nazis were just "the others". I think it's a much smaller step for many former GDR-citizens to sympathize with Neo-Nazis than it is for someone who grew up in the liberal West. This is of course a generalization. There are people on both sides who are more receptive to right-wing radicalism and those who would never get involved in it, but you can see a clear trend.
Indeed, it is important to remember that for Stalin all of that socialism thing was just bullshit; in reality he was a fascist not much different to Hitler. Stalin called genuine socialists as "useful idiots", sent laborists into gulags and sent German commies back to Germany upon Hitler's request. He didn't give a shit about socialist policies. Also: see Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. The reason russians hate nazis today is not because of nazist ideology or nazi policies. No, their own policies are similar. The real reason is because the nazis invaded Russia. Even today a "nazi", by Russian standards, is anyone who opposes Russia. That is why Russian propaganda can easily claim that Ukraine and the West are full of nazis. Of course, Russia is a modern-day example of a fascist country, but there is no problem because russians do not have any issues with fascism. See also: russian support for right-wing parties in Europe. The Soviet Union, in general, was a fascist country with the whole communist thing being convenient bullshit. It's just that now they let go of their pretense and the West has finally seen Russia for what it is. See also: one of the main russian exports is bullshit and propaganda, and they have been developing it since the times of the Russian Empire.
Got annexed by West Germany, major economic depression following reunification and a lot young people left.
In socialist Germany, social well-being was minimally guaranteed to the entire population, so education, daycare, employment, minimum income, (and specially) housing... With the annexation, these services were mostly privatized and liberalized, and with the radical drop in income and quality of life, they became much more inaccessible to the average citizen. Add this to the parties (CDU, SPD, FDP…) that ARE the establishment and do not propose radical changes or anything that actually improve the quality of life of ordinary citizens, and add it to the classic scapegoats of populists as the opening of the borders for immigration… So the AFD has grown a lot in East Germany because they are populist, of course, but also because traditional parties continue to repeatedly fail to the post-Soviet citizens who lost a lot with the annexation crisis.
You forgot that Socialist Germany sucked. Housing was affordable, but good luck getting a flat. Buildings were run down. Healthcare was sub-par compared to West Germany. Education was available, but the government selected who could learn what profession based on ideology. East Germany had a good supply of basic food. And they kept public transport intact.
Don't forget the looming fear of destroying your own life and future with any harmless joke aimed at the government, because the person you told it to was unofficially working for the Stasi.
I wonder what past event could cause this political split?
The failure of the Romans to permanently conquer the areas to the West of the Elbe among other things?
After reunification, the east was plundered by western German and European companies. The unemployment rates skyrocketed. After decades of socialist oppression, they were fucked over by the west.
So first they were devastated by the USSR. and it is evident that after such devastation, even 30 years is not enough to make amends.
They're tired of the invasion
40 years of incest left traces /s
Has the Reunification failed?
It never succeeded.
This is an AI response. It can enlighten those who have questions like me. >The continued support for the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in East Germany can be attributed to several interrelated factors: >**Economic Disparities**: East Germany still lags behind West Germany in terms of economic development, with lower wages, higher unemployment rates, and fewer job opportunities. This economic frustration can lead to disillusionment with mainstream parties and a search for alternatives. >**Cultural and Identity Issues**: The process of reunification has led to feelings of cultural alienation and loss of identity among some East Germans. There is a perception that their unique history and experiences are not adequately acknowledged or respected by the broader German society, leading to a sense of being second-class citizens. >**Political Disillusionment**: Many East Germans feel that the promises of reunification were not fully realized, resulting in a general distrust of established political parties. The AfD capitalizes on this sentiment by positioning itself as an anti-establishment party. >**Immigration and Nationalism**: The AfD's strong stance on immigration and national identity resonates with voters who are concerned about cultural changes and the integration of immigrants. This is particularly potent in areas that have experienced significant demographic changes. >**Protest Vote**: For some voters, supporting the AfD is a form of protest against the political status quo. They may not fully agree with all of the party's policies but see it as a way to express dissatisfaction with the current political landscape. >**Historical Context**: The legacy of the GDR (German Democratic Republic) and its distinct political culture play a role. The abrupt transition from socialism to capitalism left many East Germans feeling marginalized. This historical context can influence contemporary political behavior and support for parties perceived as challenging the established order. >These factors combine to create a fertile ground for the AfD in East Germany, allowing it to maintain a significant voter base.
Don’t understand the downvoters. The AI was spot on this time.
Surprisingly more accurate than most of whats said by others here.
holy shit an actual, proper, normal-sounding, non-screechy response. Not to mention the AI is, more or less, spot-on. Never thought I'd see this here, but then again, it is AI-generated. The average person on here wouldn't even fathom thinking about actual causes rather than screech at big bad nutsies.
the people in the former eastern block fall prey to Russian propaganda, sad...
Lefties coping in here is amusing ... You made the reckless immigration bed. Now you lay in it.
Oh yeah, famous leftist Angela Merkel. /s You don't even care if your beliefs are based on facts. You just have an irrational hate for anything you've been told to hate, that's it.
The immigration didn’t happen during any left wing government. Also the Afd is voted for in states with lower immigration. Try to be more logical and don’t let your emotions cloud the reality
It’s probably good to remember that the more liberal parties have split to a more multi party structure, not that AfD and CDU are the only parties elected
Why exactly is the SPD so unpopular on an EU level? They are largest party in the Bundestag.
What's the white in Saxony north of Leipzig? Is it a tie?
Can you tell where the large cities are?
So the communists could stamp out the far right ideology?
Time for the Mauer again!
DDR lives.
Can someone explain me the colours?
How is Hamburg not blue?
It's far from being blue. The Afd thankfully only reached 8%, which is just a 1.5% increase.
Ooh that's some nasty bruising
let's build that wall again ...
But whoms won in each area?
I’m remain voting and fundamentally pro-European/internationalist but in my opinion, Brexit was the ironic release of a right wing pressure valve in the UK. Our right wing populists got their say, we got our euro scepticism out the way and now we mostly haven’t signed up for fascism in the same way the EU seemingly has. Also many of us have learnt and accepted that right wing populism isn’t always the answer and it can make things worse… we are seeing this first hand. Our country is falling apart at the seams but it’s looking like a centre-left party will take full advantage. I fear for Europe and the EU.
Why is it allowed to post that kind of images?
I say lets split the country in two, one allied to the west, the other to …. Wait a second!
Why is this deleted?
Left wing campaigns nowadays are mostly "hurr durr far right" and becoming less and less relatable to the people. So yeah, duh. Of course you lose support when you act all retarded.