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German Political Parties
Vereinigte Demokratische Partei (VDP) - United Democratic Party: centrist to centre-left, left liberalism, civil liberalism, civil rights, democracy, Republican, Soziale Wirtschaft ("social economy"), Greater Europeanism, moderately interventionist Globale Demokratisierung ("global democratisation").
The successor of the Fortschrittliche Volkspartei of the Kaiserreich and one of the two main liberal parties, it incorporated some small Republican democratic parties, but also a once-famous German Democratic Party (DDP). It is one of the oldest parties of the nation which still has much of the same voter base, and its base can even be said to have expanded in recent years. The split between the two liberal parties which has existed since the times of Wilhelm II. could not yet be healed, however, in 2012, it was proven that a "panliberal" coalition is possible and liberalism can transcend their differences.
The party is open for expanding the Europäische Freiheits- und Demokratiegemeinschaft (European Freedom and Democracy Assication) to include even members which cannot be considered European in a strict geographical sense ("Greater Europeanism"), but are culturally European.
Foreign policy wise, the VDP is moderatly interventionist. It won't intervene in a foreign conflict without good reason, but it certainly will intervene to protect people against violations of human rights and to prevent severe violations of the Haager Kriegsordnung (Hague Cnvention), as well as when democracy is clearly threatened in a nation where it already existed.
Protection of the environment and especially climate change must be tackled with an exit from coal power in the "foreseeable future" (no fixed date is given), but no exit from nuclear power. Technology, education, and uniting economic, social and ecological sustainability are the best ways to protect the environment.
Nationalliberale Partei (NLP) - National Liberal Party: centre right, liberalism, market and economic liberalism, civil rights, social conservatism, monarchism. Factions differ in their variant of liberalism, and some are even minarchist. Conservative Europeanism, interventionist Weltdemokratie.
As secularisation increased and denied both Zentrum and CSV of much of their voters, the Nationalliberale Partei (NLP) has become the main centre-right party of the nation. In 2012 under Katrin Esser, the first "panliberal" coalition was agreed on.
The NLP is definitely pro-European and pro-EFDG, but it does not want to expand the EFDG into a trans-European Association. They say the environment must be protected, climate change tackled (in general), but the NLP is known for quite lax environmental policies. A few politicians of the NLP - notable during the Katrin Esser chancellorship was a speech by Arnold Vaatz - are open or at least hidden climate change denialists and/or want environmental protection to be on the backburner behind economic growth and industrial interests. The NLP can get quite interventionist, as was seen in 2013-2017 with the intervention of Germany in the Zambian civil war.
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) - Social Democratic Party: social democracy, social economy, workers' rights, democracy, light socialism, republican, Europeanism/Greater Europeanism, Weltdemokratie.
The SPD, one of the oldest parties of the nation and one which already existed in the Kaiserreich, is once again considered the party for classical blue-collar workers after it had expanded its voter base far into the center during the Husemann chancellorship. The SPD is also considered the party furthest to the left which does not want to completely reform (let alone overthrow) the current system. It also is moderately republican, but ever since the failed referendums of 1978 and 2006, even most republicans have acquiesced and made peace with the monarchy.
Its stance on Europeanism and the EFDG is not too clear. It is clearly pro-European, but the question of whether to allow geographically non-European nations into EFDG (and possibly rename it to FDG, as the VDP advocates) is hotly debated.
Environmental protection has become a clear part of the SPDs program ever since the NSB arose, but it remains second fiddle to workers' right and a social economy. The SPD wants to exit coal power generation "in 2040", but their main demand is that structural changes in every coal-mining region must contain a social safety net.
Naturschutzbund (NSB) - Nature Conservation League: Green politics, civil rights liberalism, democracy, moderate social conservatism, rural interests, monarchist, Europeanist.
The NSB originated in the more conservative wing of the Lebensreform movement and, like many other parties, was founded in the somewhat chaotic (party-wise) aftermath of the 1935 Constitutional Convention. Back then and during all of the Husemann and Kampschulte chancellorships, it was a small party popular with about 3 % of voters who devoutly followed Lebensreformer, anthroposophists, or one of several other sects/small groups. Some even considered NSB a far-right unelectable party.
When, however, environmental problems became more apparent and debates about the environment more prominent after the Zweites Fortschrittszeitalter ("Second Era of Progress") of the 1940s to late 1960s, popularity of NSB soared. This was especially clear when American, French and Polish scientists alike warned of the consequences of unlimited use of pesticides and of the dangers of nuclear power. The NSB gained 8,9 % in the 1960 election and was incorporated into a coalition.
Ever since, the Naturschutzbund has been the prime option for environmentalists, lovers of nature, and anybody who believes technological progress should have ethical limits and thoroughly be tested for its health effects.
It has expanded its plethora of policies far beyond environmental and rural issues, though. It is staunchly pro-EFDG, but a trans-European association is not what the NSB prefers. The Naturschutzbund is not interventionist, it might intervene when the Hague Conventions are severely violated though.
NSB wants the complete exit from coal power generation and coal mining in Germany before 2035, with uranium mining (yes, it still exists in areas around Aue, Annaberg-Buchholz and Pirna) shut down before 2025. Nuclear power generation shall also be exited "as soon as it is possible". Forests shall be restored, and ideally, wolves and moose should feel at home in areas west of the Oder river (wolves do, but only in a few areas). In the "great forests of Germany", meaning mostly the Harz and Bayrischer Wald, bears are beginning to be reintroduced. Also, NSB subsidiaries frequently educate German citizens about the forest, birds, nature in general etc. -and about the German tradition of walking through the forests.
Fringe factions and politicians of the Naturschutzbund, however, can be surprisingly far right! Reports of antisemitism, xenophobic statements on new social communities, or anti-LGBTQI statements stir up media controversies from time to time. Nevertheless, the Naturschutzbund under Ireneusz Strzelecki was able to win the 2017 federal election in the wake of recent increased activism and climate change becoming a main focus of many people again.
Fluctuating parties with potential:
Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands (SAPD) - Socialist Workers' Party of Germany: democratic socialism, syndicalism, Reform Europeanism, moderately interventionist
The SAPD was the first splinter from the SPD post-Great War, as several SPD politicians, among them a talented Walter Ulbricht, opposed Burgfriedenspolitik and regretted having supported the war. In the first years of its existence, reprisals against the SAPD were a common occurrence and the von Kahr government, at least after the Gesetz gegen die Gefahren des Sozialismus, der Gewerkschaftsidee und des Kommunismus ("Law against the Dangers of Socialism, of the idea of trade unions and of Communism") of 1925, had effectively banned SAPD. But the ruler of the Union of French Communes, Antoine Moro, tolerated the secret underground organisation and thus, the ideas of SAPD (and its later split, the even more radical PDK).
After the Constitutional Convention of 1935, hurdles for banning parties became very high as only the verdict of at least one Staatsobergericht (highest court of a Land or a duchy etc.), which must be confirmed by the Reichsverfassungsgericht (Reich Consitutional Court) that a party is unconstitutional and/or collaborates with "an enemy in war" makes a party illegal. The latter clause dled to the SAPD being illegalised again by the Staatsobergericht Westfalen in 1941, however, when the war was over, relegalisation followed in 1954.
And the SAPD became popular with many workers, but also with people who believed the US (or other powers) to be the greater threat than the left-wing nations of East Asia. The SAPD is a party with a heavily pro-Asian policy, and during its stints in government (and even when the SAPD was not in government, though relations somewhat cooled) German-Asian relations and exchanges thrived. This also means that Japanese and Southeast Asian people are one of the largest minorities in Germany, some of them having high positions.
With this program, the SAPD is able to win 8 to 18 % of the vote in each election. Except for 2004, when the charismatic orator, firebrand syndicalist and sharp critic of the Mangold and Hammerschmidt reforms, citizen of Leer Elmar Strittmatter, was selected as SAPD candidate. He led the SAPD to 29,8 % and a narrow victory over SPD. The Strittmatter government proved surprisingly stable, and thus, the SAPD has become one of the parties with the potential to (co-)govern the nation.
The SAPD is the party you should vote for when you:
- believe in democratic versions of socialism, especially in the potential of the East Asian Workers' Prosperity Sphere
- are a blue-collar worker who believes the SPD has betrayed you/the working class
- are a uranium or coal miner. The SAPD does not want to stop either uranium or coal mining in Germany, despite otherwise being in favour of "socially and environmentally sustainable structural change" (without a fixed date).
- want trade unions to be strong/believe in syndicalism.
- believe that the US and/or the Romanists/Proactivists are the greater threat to world security than the Japanese sphere of Asia.
- believe that the EFDG should be reformed and given more competences regarding social policies. Ideally, the EFDG for you would resemble a trade union and cater to the interests of workers and the poor.
Zentrum (Z) - Centre: Catholic interests, economic liberalism, Christian social ethics, Soziale Wirtschaft, fiscal conservatism, social ultra-conservatism, anti-Laicism, Conservative Europeanism.
The oldest party in Germany, the Zentrum was also one of the most popular parties during the Kaiserreich, but also during the early days of the German Reich. It was never illegalised, and until the 1960s, the Zentrum united most Catholics in Germany. Protestants meanwhile took until the late 1930s to unite in one party. The Zentrum has been part of many coalitions, but with increasing secularisation - a trend which began in the 1930s when the Second Constitutional Convention in Germany abolished the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss and turned Germany Laicist - the party could no longer unite German Catholics. Until the 1980s-90s, most Catholics indeed voted Zentrum and the Hammerschmidt chancellorship proved that Zentrum is still a potential coalition leader.
The Zentrum has gone along and proved open to the creation and liberalisation of the EFDG, however, it is not open to expanding the EFDG beyond Europe and it was a major player in delaying the admission of the Ottoman Empire to the Association.
Vote Zentrum if you:
- are a churchgoer, a practising to devout Catholic.
- believe that God's creation is the most important thing, want to protect and endear it and out of this love for God's creation protect the environment, protect threatened species around the world and tackle climate change.
- want churches to get funding or other privileges from the state and/or think that Germany should become an explicitly Christian state.
- are socially very conservative, are against LGBTQI+ marriages (most Zentrum voters by now have acquiesced to legality of homosexuality and de-pathologisation)
- are pro-life and against new biotechnology, opposing PGID and euthanasia staunchly. You also don't like genetic manipulation and other technologies (CRISPR-CaS et al.) which would "fiddle with God's creation".
- think that humanitarian aid for the poorest, helping the old, the infirm, the disabled, children and the socially deprived are a Christian duty and that the countries' policies should enable people to be charitable.
- and nevertheless believe in a market economy, combined with Catholic social ethics.
- think that intervention in a foreign country is necessary from time to time, especially to protect Christians or democracy and human rights, but are not an outright hawk.
A fringe Member of the Westphalian Provinztag (parliament of the province) has recently stirred a lot of controversy with
Christlicher Solidaritätsverein (CSV) - Christian Solidarity Association: non-Catholic Christian interests, economic liberalism, Christian social ethics, Soziale Wirtschaft, fiscal conservatism, social ultra-conservatism, anti-Laicism, Conservative Europeanism.
In the late 1930s/early 1940s, the Zentrum was the go-to party for Catholics. However, Protestants, Lutherans and (few) other Christians in the German Reich had no united party. It was clear that most of them were democrats, monarchist and anti-communist, and thus, few voted for SPD or VDP, but among Zentrum members, Catholics were so overrepresented that other Christians did not feel at home either. And so, in 1938, the CSV was founded.
Increasing secularisation of Germany also hit the CSV in the 1970s-1990s (with the start of the 73er-Bewegung, some would say), but to a lesser extent than the Zentrum. It is thus well within the realm of plausibility that the CSV will lead a coalition at some point ahead of Zentrum.
Like the Zentrum, CSV has gone along and proved open to the creation and liberalisation of the EFDG, however, it isn't open to expanding the EFDG beyond Europe and it was also involved - but not as steadfastly as Zentrum - in delaying the admission of the Ottoman Empire to the Association.
You should vote CSV for exactly the same reasons listed under Zentrum, but the CSV is more lenient on many of those topics. For example, if it has proven healthy, safe and beneficial, the CSV will not oppose genetic modification, and the CSV has - contrary to some of the right wing of the Zentrum - found peace with the current abortion laws.
Umwelt, Mensch, Sozialismus (UMS) - Environment, Man, Socialism: democratic socialism, eco-socialism, anti-nuclear, green politics, human and civil rights,
The left-wing, socialist splinter of the Lebensreformbewegung and thus of the Naturschutzbund formed in its early days. Reasons for the split were a different view on the use of nuclear power and on capitalism. The left of the Lebensreformbewegung wanted a more radical pro-environmental stance and believed this was only achievable when nuclear power was rejected. The left wing warned of dangers of nuclear power and possible accidents beyond the scale of a GAU (=maximum credible accident), and regarding capitalism, UMS adopted a much more socialist stance. Later, divergences became even greater as UMS adopted socially liberal to progressive stances.
Still, Naturschutzbund (NSB) is the more popular green party and even in 2017, Naturschutzbund leads the green-green coalition by a significant margin.
Vote Umwelt, Mensch, Sozialismus if:
- you think that regenerative energies are the only path forward, and that nuclear energy is not one of them.
- you believe that (democratic) socialism is the best way to protect nature, to protect the environment and to combat climate change.
- you want Trans-European cooperation within and beyond the EFDG, and your ideal is the restructuring of EFDG into a more global FDG.
- you are convinced that stricter laws, higher taxes and redistribution, along with some bans, are a way forward in tackling climate change.
- you are ardently opposed to industrial agriculture and factory farming in any form
- you believe capitalism to be the cause of most or all environmental woes.
Partei Deutscher Kommunarden (PDK) - Party of German Communards: communism, Marxism, pro-French policies, fundamental opposition, state Atheism, proletarian revolution
The Partei Deutscher Kommunarden is the main left-wing splinter, to the left of SAPD. The split was mainly about which form of communism to follow - the SAPD wanted Germany to become syndicalist and remain democratic, and thus cooperated in parliament, while the PDK favoured the revolutionary approach. The German proletariat, in the view of PDK, only has one alternative: to rise up and overthrew the capitalsts and their stooges, the "imperialist monarchy". The party, illegal until the 1970s and first legalised by a much more progressively composed Staatsobergericht in Breslau in 1974, did not even take one single seat until 2004 when their chairman Henri Fittkau "advised" (read: ordered) the 13 elected deputies to take seats in the Reichstag. To this day, however, the PDK will not enter any coalition or confidence and supply agreement and has voted against proposed laws in 94 % of cases.
Many believe that the PDK has untapped potential which could in the future be used to the benefit of the German people instead of "wasted" on theoretical discussions about the precise form of communism etc.
Vote PDK if you:
- have read Karl Marx's writings; are an ardent communist.
- want Germany to be governed like France. Some even propose unification as the "European Workers' Republics"
- believe religion is opiate for the people and that Germany's Laicism is not enough yet, that Germany should actively propagate atheism.
- want Germany to introduce either the French Republican Calendar or a Germanised version of it.
- want technology and the means of production in the hands of the proletariat.
Specific interest/regional parties:
Dänenpartei (Dänen) - Danish Party: Danish regional interests, otherwise centre to centre-left, civil rights liberalism, more monarchist than the VDP, conservation of local nature and culture.
The minorities in the Empire, at least some of them, enjoyed representation in the Reichstag since the days of the Kaiserreich, and with the liberalisation of Germany from 1935 until the 1970s, this desire became greater and minority parties evolved from just representing their minority. However, most minority parties still don't gain many votes beyond the region where the represented minority lives. They have started entering coalitions, however, and thus, such minority parties have acted as kingmakers, if not as kings.
Vote Dänenpartei if you:
- are a Danish German (mostly in Schleswig)
- want Danish culture and language to be represented and supported by state or even federal funds.
- think that the VDP is too Republican
- want Schleswig's and Holstein's coasts and natural wonders like the Wattenmeer and the Hallig Islands to be protected.
- oppose blighting the landscape of Schleswig-(Holstein) with endless numbers of wind turbines for the sake of climate protection.
Polenpartei (Polen) - Polish Party: Polish minority interests, centre to far-right, conservation of local culture, economically left-wing, coal-mining interests.
Vote Polenpartei if:
- you are a Polish German, especially if you are Catholic
- believe the Polish language should be taught to Polish-Germans. Some factions even think the Polish language is "under threat" in Germany.
- oppose non-European immigration, oppose Greater Europeanism as you see Catholicism/Christianity under threat.
- want Silesian coal mining and other heavy industry to be preserved by subsidies from Berlin and Budapest
- think that the jobs in the Silesian mining and heavy industry are more important, at least locally, than any Kohleausstieg.
- believe that wolves, moose and bears do belong to the forests of Prussia, but locals should at least be compensated for the damages such animals wreak.
Sorbischer Bund (SB) - Sorb Association: Sorb interests, centre to centre-right, conservation of local culture and industry, economically left-wing policies.
Vote Sorbischer Bund if you:
- are Slavic, but not Polish.
- are Polish, but not as devoutly Catholic or as right-wing as parts of the Polenpartei are.
- want lignite mining to go on in Lusatia (the Lausitz).
- want to preserve the Sorb language with funding from Berlin and Budapest.
Memelbund (MB) - Memel Association: Lithuanian interests, conservation of local culture and nature, otherwise centrist to centre-left.
Vote Memelbund if you:
- are a Lithuanian-German or of Lithuanian descent
- believe that wolves, bears and moose do belong to the Frisches Haff/Kurische Nehrung region.
Partei Freies Frankreich (PFF) - Free France Party: French interests, centre-right to right-wing, anti-communism, conservation of local nature and culture.
Vote PFF if you:
- are French or Franco-German and live in Elsaß-Lothringen
- think both Frances are oppressive and oppressed and want to keep "Free French" culture alive.
- want to preserve the natural beauty of the Vosges and of Alsace-Lorraine.
Partei für Freiheit und Solidarität (PFS) - Freedom and Solidarity Party: immigrant's interests, decolonisation, Afro-German interests, centre-left to far-left economic policies, quite interventionist Weltdemokratie, Greater Europeanism.
The PFS was founded in the early 1950s with the aim of representing the Afro-German and Asian-German minorities and the population of colonies like Togo, Dahomey and Tsingtau. At first, some people demanded making the party illegal, but since no violent conduct or "treasonous behaviour" was advocated in the program of PFS, no court agreed with these demands. During the chancellorship of Adolf Hauswald, and to a big part thanks to the PFS and the conducive and constructive assistance of the colonies (which had been built up to a mostly German standard of infrastructure), Compacts of Free Association could be negotiated for Dahomey, New Guinea, Kamerun, the Tsingtao, Shanghai and Hongkong Free States and Tansania (former German East Africa). These African and Asian nations have, for the most part, stayed democratic and none of them has withdrawn from such a compact.
Surprisingly, Togo's referendum on a Compact of Free Association on the "Day of Referendums" (August 4, 1974) revealed that the citizens of Togo wanted to stay German.
Ever snce the Free Association agreements were negotiated, the PFS has lost much of their voter base (even though voting requires only six months of residence in the country where you vote), however, it has won much of the Afro-German and parts of the left-wing Asian-German immigrant vote by representing their interests, mostly interests of immigrant workers. Thus it is still considered a left-wing party: more left-wing than SPD, but not quite as left-wing as SAPD.
Vote PFS if you:
- belong to an ethnic minority and believe ethnic minorities to be at a structural disadvantage.
- want Togolese and Namibian interests to be represented.
- believe that the Compacts of Free Association are a great achievement and possibly, more independence can be achieved for Germany's former colonies.
- want to actively fight racism in Germany.
Parties that have not been part of a coalition:
Nationalkonservative Partei (NKP) - National Conservative Party: far-right, economically right-wing, nationalism, hawkish interventionism, anti-communism, xenophobia, militarism, anti-EFDG, partly right-wing populist, many members antisemitist. Factions of it want to abolish democracy and want to return to Kaiserreich-type dominant monarchy, or introduce illiberal democracy or stratocracy.
The NKP descends from nationalist parties of the German Kaiserreich, but it was discredited with the rise of Romanism and the liberalisation of the Empire. However, recently it has won back quite a few votes as society is changing rapidly and some believe that the NKP is on the rise again. Ever since they have celebrated an 18,9 % share of the votes in the Provinztag elections in Silesia in early 2013, the NKP is feared...
Vote NKP if you:
- are an arch-conservative ultranationalist
- are racist and/or xenophobic
- believe that leaving Africa into independence was wrong,
- believe that left-wing governments have done everything wrong.
- loved Prussia and would love Germany to be "an Army with a Nation".
- would love Germany to "liberate" nations around the globe, starting with France once again
- want to restore "German glory"
- want to see the 1930s back.
Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands - Leninisten (KPD-L); Kommunistische Arbeiterpartei (KAP); Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (KPD); Sozialistische Arbeitervereinigung (SAV), and many other communist parties: communism, Marxism, Leninism, Vinicius Junior Doctrine, Sakaiism, Sarism, etc.
Vote one of the plethora of communist parties if you:
- are a follower of a specific communist ideology different from SAPD and KPD
- want your specific type of proletarian revolution
- think that any other person calling themselves a "communist" is a bourgeois shill or a traitor to the proletarian cause.
Partei Volksdeutscher Arbeiter (PVDA) - Party of (völkisch) German Workers: far-right, national populist, ultra-statist, antisemitism, racism, xenophobia, national socialism.
Vote PVDA if you:
- believe in panem et circenses ("bread and circuses")
- believe Romanist countries to be the best nations on earth
- believe the Leese Prime Ministership in Britain to have been an utopia as well as the Rodzaevsky leadership in Russia.
- liked the ideas of Franz Dreher in his work Das Land: Frei, Sozial und National ("The Country: Free, Social, National").
Libertas (L) - Liberty: libertarian, minarchism, radical liberalism, centre, capitalism
Libertas was founded in 2006, as a splinter from VDP in reaction to the Strittmatter chancellorship. The SAPD-SPD led government was seen as "oppressive" and "increasingly statist", and thus, business owners together with libertarians and radical liberals founded the "movement" Libertas. Its campaigns have been extremely well-funded, and the new movement gained some popularity with protest voters, and some aspects of the program appeal to many a voter, however, its positions mostly on environmental issues - near-universal denial of climate change, which many politicians (including vice-chairman Holger Thuß and "environmental policy speaker" Klement Osswald) denounce as a "left-wing Amero-Brazilian inside job", a "conspiracy from Paris" or "deliberately wrought upon us" - make this party unelectable for most Germans. They did gain some seats in local parliaments (Kreistage, Gemeinderäte) and a few even in rural Provinztage.
Vote Libertas if you:
- think that the market is the best of all regulators and state intervention is only harmful.
- believe in a very small state and think that the state is only there to protect your freedom and property
- Libertas is also the only alternative if you like the idea of Elena Lunina and believe in unregulated anarcho-capitalism.
Political Parties in Germany:
Das deutsche Parteiensystem - The German party system
Major parties:Das deutsche Parteiensystem - The German party system
Vereinigte Demokratische Partei (VDP) - United Democratic Party: centrist to centre-left, left liberalism, civil liberalism, civil rights, democracy, Republican, Soziale Wirtschaft ("social economy"), Greater Europeanism, moderately interventionist Globale Demokratisierung ("global democratisation").
The successor of the Fortschrittliche Volkspartei of the Kaiserreich and one of the two main liberal parties, it incorporated some small Republican democratic parties, but also a once-famous German Democratic Party (DDP). It is one of the oldest parties of the nation which still has much of the same voter base, and its base can even be said to have expanded in recent years. The split between the two liberal parties which has existed since the times of Wilhelm II. could not yet be healed, however, in 2012, it was proven that a "panliberal" coalition is possible and liberalism can transcend their differences.
The party is open for expanding the Europäische Freiheits- und Demokratiegemeinschaft (European Freedom and Democracy Assication) to include even members which cannot be considered European in a strict geographical sense ("Greater Europeanism"), but are culturally European.
Foreign policy wise, the VDP is moderatly interventionist. It won't intervene in a foreign conflict without good reason, but it certainly will intervene to protect people against violations of human rights and to prevent severe violations of the Haager Kriegsordnung (Hague Cnvention), as well as when democracy is clearly threatened in a nation where it already existed.
Protection of the environment and especially climate change must be tackled with an exit from coal power in the "foreseeable future" (no fixed date is given), but no exit from nuclear power. Technology, education, and uniting economic, social and ecological sustainability are the best ways to protect the environment.
Nationalliberale Partei (NLP) - National Liberal Party: centre right, liberalism, market and economic liberalism, civil rights, social conservatism, monarchism. Factions differ in their variant of liberalism, and some are even minarchist. Conservative Europeanism, interventionist Weltdemokratie.
As secularisation increased and denied both Zentrum and CSV of much of their voters, the Nationalliberale Partei (NLP) has become the main centre-right party of the nation. In 2012 under Katrin Esser, the first "panliberal" coalition was agreed on.
The NLP is definitely pro-European and pro-EFDG, but it does not want to expand the EFDG into a trans-European Association. They say the environment must be protected, climate change tackled (in general), but the NLP is known for quite lax environmental policies. A few politicians of the NLP - notable during the Katrin Esser chancellorship was a speech by Arnold Vaatz - are open or at least hidden climate change denialists and/or want environmental protection to be on the backburner behind economic growth and industrial interests. The NLP can get quite interventionist, as was seen in 2013-2017 with the intervention of Germany in the Zambian civil war.
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) - Social Democratic Party: social democracy, social economy, workers' rights, democracy, light socialism, republican, Europeanism/Greater Europeanism, Weltdemokratie.
The SPD, one of the oldest parties of the nation and one which already existed in the Kaiserreich, is once again considered the party for classical blue-collar workers after it had expanded its voter base far into the center during the Husemann chancellorship. The SPD is also considered the party furthest to the left which does not want to completely reform (let alone overthrow) the current system. It also is moderately republican, but ever since the failed referendums of 1978 and 2006, even most republicans have acquiesced and made peace with the monarchy.
Its stance on Europeanism and the EFDG is not too clear. It is clearly pro-European, but the question of whether to allow geographically non-European nations into EFDG (and possibly rename it to FDG, as the VDP advocates) is hotly debated.
Environmental protection has become a clear part of the SPDs program ever since the NSB arose, but it remains second fiddle to workers' right and a social economy. The SPD wants to exit coal power generation "in 2040", but their main demand is that structural changes in every coal-mining region must contain a social safety net.
Naturschutzbund (NSB) - Nature Conservation League: Green politics, civil rights liberalism, democracy, moderate social conservatism, rural interests, monarchist, Europeanist.
The NSB originated in the more conservative wing of the Lebensreform movement and, like many other parties, was founded in the somewhat chaotic (party-wise) aftermath of the 1935 Constitutional Convention. Back then and during all of the Husemann and Kampschulte chancellorships, it was a small party popular with about 3 % of voters who devoutly followed Lebensreformer, anthroposophists, or one of several other sects/small groups. Some even considered NSB a far-right unelectable party.
When, however, environmental problems became more apparent and debates about the environment more prominent after the Zweites Fortschrittszeitalter ("Second Era of Progress") of the 1940s to late 1960s, popularity of NSB soared. This was especially clear when American, French and Polish scientists alike warned of the consequences of unlimited use of pesticides and of the dangers of nuclear power. The NSB gained 8,9 % in the 1960 election and was incorporated into a coalition.
Ever since, the Naturschutzbund has been the prime option for environmentalists, lovers of nature, and anybody who believes technological progress should have ethical limits and thoroughly be tested for its health effects.
It has expanded its plethora of policies far beyond environmental and rural issues, though. It is staunchly pro-EFDG, but a trans-European association is not what the NSB prefers. The Naturschutzbund is not interventionist, it might intervene when the Hague Conventions are severely violated though.
NSB wants the complete exit from coal power generation and coal mining in Germany before 2035, with uranium mining (yes, it still exists in areas around Aue, Annaberg-Buchholz and Pirna) shut down before 2025. Nuclear power generation shall also be exited "as soon as it is possible". Forests shall be restored, and ideally, wolves and moose should feel at home in areas west of the Oder river (wolves do, but only in a few areas). In the "great forests of Germany", meaning mostly the Harz and Bayrischer Wald, bears are beginning to be reintroduced. Also, NSB subsidiaries frequently educate German citizens about the forest, birds, nature in general etc. -and about the German tradition of walking through the forests.
Fringe factions and politicians of the Naturschutzbund, however, can be surprisingly far right! Reports of antisemitism, xenophobic statements on new social communities, or anti-LGBTQI statements stir up media controversies from time to time. Nevertheless, the Naturschutzbund under Ireneusz Strzelecki was able to win the 2017 federal election in the wake of recent increased activism and climate change becoming a main focus of many people again.
Fluctuating parties with potential:
Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands (SAPD) - Socialist Workers' Party of Germany: democratic socialism, syndicalism, Reform Europeanism, moderately interventionist
The SAPD was the first splinter from the SPD post-Great War, as several SPD politicians, among them a talented Walter Ulbricht, opposed Burgfriedenspolitik and regretted having supported the war. In the first years of its existence, reprisals against the SAPD were a common occurrence and the von Kahr government, at least after the Gesetz gegen die Gefahren des Sozialismus, der Gewerkschaftsidee und des Kommunismus ("Law against the Dangers of Socialism, of the idea of trade unions and of Communism") of 1925, had effectively banned SAPD. But the ruler of the Union of French Communes, Antoine Moro, tolerated the secret underground organisation and thus, the ideas of SAPD (and its later split, the even more radical PDK).
After the Constitutional Convention of 1935, hurdles for banning parties became very high as only the verdict of at least one Staatsobergericht (highest court of a Land or a duchy etc.), which must be confirmed by the Reichsverfassungsgericht (Reich Consitutional Court) that a party is unconstitutional and/or collaborates with "an enemy in war" makes a party illegal. The latter clause dled to the SAPD being illegalised again by the Staatsobergericht Westfalen in 1941, however, when the war was over, relegalisation followed in 1954.
And the SAPD became popular with many workers, but also with people who believed the US (or other powers) to be the greater threat than the left-wing nations of East Asia. The SAPD is a party with a heavily pro-Asian policy, and during its stints in government (and even when the SAPD was not in government, though relations somewhat cooled) German-Asian relations and exchanges thrived. This also means that Japanese and Southeast Asian people are one of the largest minorities in Germany, some of them having high positions.
With this program, the SAPD is able to win 8 to 18 % of the vote in each election. Except for 2004, when the charismatic orator, firebrand syndicalist and sharp critic of the Mangold and Hammerschmidt reforms, citizen of Leer Elmar Strittmatter, was selected as SAPD candidate. He led the SAPD to 29,8 % and a narrow victory over SPD. The Strittmatter government proved surprisingly stable, and thus, the SAPD has become one of the parties with the potential to (co-)govern the nation.
The SAPD is the party you should vote for when you:
- believe in democratic versions of socialism, especially in the potential of the East Asian Workers' Prosperity Sphere
- are a blue-collar worker who believes the SPD has betrayed you/the working class
- are a uranium or coal miner. The SAPD does not want to stop either uranium or coal mining in Germany, despite otherwise being in favour of "socially and environmentally sustainable structural change" (without a fixed date).
- want trade unions to be strong/believe in syndicalism.
- believe that the US and/or the Romanists/Proactivists are the greater threat to world security than the Japanese sphere of Asia.
- believe that the EFDG should be reformed and given more competences regarding social policies. Ideally, the EFDG for you would resemble a trade union and cater to the interests of workers and the poor.
Zentrum (Z) - Centre: Catholic interests, economic liberalism, Christian social ethics, Soziale Wirtschaft, fiscal conservatism, social ultra-conservatism, anti-Laicism, Conservative Europeanism.
The oldest party in Germany, the Zentrum was also one of the most popular parties during the Kaiserreich, but also during the early days of the German Reich. It was never illegalised, and until the 1960s, the Zentrum united most Catholics in Germany. Protestants meanwhile took until the late 1930s to unite in one party. The Zentrum has been part of many coalitions, but with increasing secularisation - a trend which began in the 1930s when the Second Constitutional Convention in Germany abolished the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss and turned Germany Laicist - the party could no longer unite German Catholics. Until the 1980s-90s, most Catholics indeed voted Zentrum and the Hammerschmidt chancellorship proved that Zentrum is still a potential coalition leader.
The Zentrum has gone along and proved open to the creation and liberalisation of the EFDG, however, it is not open to expanding the EFDG beyond Europe and it was a major player in delaying the admission of the Ottoman Empire to the Association.
Vote Zentrum if you:
- are a churchgoer, a practising to devout Catholic.
- believe that God's creation is the most important thing, want to protect and endear it and out of this love for God's creation protect the environment, protect threatened species around the world and tackle climate change.
- want churches to get funding or other privileges from the state and/or think that Germany should become an explicitly Christian state.
- are socially very conservative, are against LGBTQI+ marriages (most Zentrum voters by now have acquiesced to legality of homosexuality and de-pathologisation)
- are pro-life and against new biotechnology, opposing PGID and euthanasia staunchly. You also don't like genetic manipulation and other technologies (CRISPR-CaS et al.) which would "fiddle with God's creation".
- think that humanitarian aid for the poorest, helping the old, the infirm, the disabled, children and the socially deprived are a Christian duty and that the countries' policies should enable people to be charitable.
- and nevertheless believe in a market economy, combined with Catholic social ethics.
- think that intervention in a foreign country is necessary from time to time, especially to protect Christians or democracy and human rights, but are not an outright hawk.
A fringe Member of the Westphalian Provinztag (parliament of the province) has recently stirred a lot of controversy with
Christlicher Solidaritätsverein (CSV) - Christian Solidarity Association: non-Catholic Christian interests, economic liberalism, Christian social ethics, Soziale Wirtschaft, fiscal conservatism, social ultra-conservatism, anti-Laicism, Conservative Europeanism.
In the late 1930s/early 1940s, the Zentrum was the go-to party for Catholics. However, Protestants, Lutherans and (few) other Christians in the German Reich had no united party. It was clear that most of them were democrats, monarchist and anti-communist, and thus, few voted for SPD or VDP, but among Zentrum members, Catholics were so overrepresented that other Christians did not feel at home either. And so, in 1938, the CSV was founded.
Increasing secularisation of Germany also hit the CSV in the 1970s-1990s (with the start of the 73er-Bewegung, some would say), but to a lesser extent than the Zentrum. It is thus well within the realm of plausibility that the CSV will lead a coalition at some point ahead of Zentrum.
Like the Zentrum, CSV has gone along and proved open to the creation and liberalisation of the EFDG, however, it isn't open to expanding the EFDG beyond Europe and it was also involved - but not as steadfastly as Zentrum - in delaying the admission of the Ottoman Empire to the Association.
You should vote CSV for exactly the same reasons listed under Zentrum, but the CSV is more lenient on many of those topics. For example, if it has proven healthy, safe and beneficial, the CSV will not oppose genetic modification, and the CSV has - contrary to some of the right wing of the Zentrum - found peace with the current abortion laws.
Umwelt, Mensch, Sozialismus (UMS) - Environment, Man, Socialism: democratic socialism, eco-socialism, anti-nuclear, green politics, human and civil rights,
The left-wing, socialist splinter of the Lebensreformbewegung and thus of the Naturschutzbund formed in its early days. Reasons for the split were a different view on the use of nuclear power and on capitalism. The left of the Lebensreformbewegung wanted a more radical pro-environmental stance and believed this was only achievable when nuclear power was rejected. The left wing warned of dangers of nuclear power and possible accidents beyond the scale of a GAU (=maximum credible accident), and regarding capitalism, UMS adopted a much more socialist stance. Later, divergences became even greater as UMS adopted socially liberal to progressive stances.
Still, Naturschutzbund (NSB) is the more popular green party and even in 2017, Naturschutzbund leads the green-green coalition by a significant margin.
Vote Umwelt, Mensch, Sozialismus if:
- you think that regenerative energies are the only path forward, and that nuclear energy is not one of them.
- you believe that (democratic) socialism is the best way to protect nature, to protect the environment and to combat climate change.
- you want Trans-European cooperation within and beyond the EFDG, and your ideal is the restructuring of EFDG into a more global FDG.
- you are convinced that stricter laws, higher taxes and redistribution, along with some bans, are a way forward in tackling climate change.
- you are ardently opposed to industrial agriculture and factory farming in any form
- you believe capitalism to be the cause of most or all environmental woes.
Partei Deutscher Kommunarden (PDK) - Party of German Communards: communism, Marxism, pro-French policies, fundamental opposition, state Atheism, proletarian revolution
The Partei Deutscher Kommunarden is the main left-wing splinter, to the left of SAPD. The split was mainly about which form of communism to follow - the SAPD wanted Germany to become syndicalist and remain democratic, and thus cooperated in parliament, while the PDK favoured the revolutionary approach. The German proletariat, in the view of PDK, only has one alternative: to rise up and overthrew the capitalsts and their stooges, the "imperialist monarchy". The party, illegal until the 1970s and first legalised by a much more progressively composed Staatsobergericht in Breslau in 1974, did not even take one single seat until 2004 when their chairman Henri Fittkau "advised" (read: ordered) the 13 elected deputies to take seats in the Reichstag. To this day, however, the PDK will not enter any coalition or confidence and supply agreement and has voted against proposed laws in 94 % of cases.
Many believe that the PDK has untapped potential which could in the future be used to the benefit of the German people instead of "wasted" on theoretical discussions about the precise form of communism etc.
Vote PDK if you:
- have read Karl Marx's writings; are an ardent communist.
- want Germany to be governed like France. Some even propose unification as the "European Workers' Republics"
- believe religion is opiate for the people and that Germany's Laicism is not enough yet, that Germany should actively propagate atheism.
- want Germany to introduce either the French Republican Calendar or a Germanised version of it.
- want technology and the means of production in the hands of the proletariat.
Specific interest/regional parties:
Dänenpartei (Dänen) - Danish Party: Danish regional interests, otherwise centre to centre-left, civil rights liberalism, more monarchist than the VDP, conservation of local nature and culture.
The minorities in the Empire, at least some of them, enjoyed representation in the Reichstag since the days of the Kaiserreich, and with the liberalisation of Germany from 1935 until the 1970s, this desire became greater and minority parties evolved from just representing their minority. However, most minority parties still don't gain many votes beyond the region where the represented minority lives. They have started entering coalitions, however, and thus, such minority parties have acted as kingmakers, if not as kings.
Vote Dänenpartei if you:
- are a Danish German (mostly in Schleswig)
- want Danish culture and language to be represented and supported by state or even federal funds.
- think that the VDP is too Republican
- want Schleswig's and Holstein's coasts and natural wonders like the Wattenmeer and the Hallig Islands to be protected.
- oppose blighting the landscape of Schleswig-(Holstein) with endless numbers of wind turbines for the sake of climate protection.
Polenpartei (Polen) - Polish Party: Polish minority interests, centre to far-right, conservation of local culture, economically left-wing, coal-mining interests.
Vote Polenpartei if:
- you are a Polish German, especially if you are Catholic
- believe the Polish language should be taught to Polish-Germans. Some factions even think the Polish language is "under threat" in Germany.
- oppose non-European immigration, oppose Greater Europeanism as you see Catholicism/Christianity under threat.
- want Silesian coal mining and other heavy industry to be preserved by subsidies from Berlin and Budapest
- think that the jobs in the Silesian mining and heavy industry are more important, at least locally, than any Kohleausstieg.
- believe that wolves, moose and bears do belong to the forests of Prussia, but locals should at least be compensated for the damages such animals wreak.
Sorbischer Bund (SB) - Sorb Association: Sorb interests, centre to centre-right, conservation of local culture and industry, economically left-wing policies.
Vote Sorbischer Bund if you:
- are Slavic, but not Polish.
- are Polish, but not as devoutly Catholic or as right-wing as parts of the Polenpartei are.
- want lignite mining to go on in Lusatia (the Lausitz).
- want to preserve the Sorb language with funding from Berlin and Budapest.
Memelbund (MB) - Memel Association: Lithuanian interests, conservation of local culture and nature, otherwise centrist to centre-left.
Vote Memelbund if you:
- are a Lithuanian-German or of Lithuanian descent
- believe that wolves, bears and moose do belong to the Frisches Haff/Kurische Nehrung region.
Partei Freies Frankreich (PFF) - Free France Party: French interests, centre-right to right-wing, anti-communism, conservation of local nature and culture.
Vote PFF if you:
- are French or Franco-German and live in Elsaß-Lothringen
- think both Frances are oppressive and oppressed and want to keep "Free French" culture alive.
- want to preserve the natural beauty of the Vosges and of Alsace-Lorraine.
Partei für Freiheit und Solidarität (PFS) - Freedom and Solidarity Party: immigrant's interests, decolonisation, Afro-German interests, centre-left to far-left economic policies, quite interventionist Weltdemokratie, Greater Europeanism.
The PFS was founded in the early 1950s with the aim of representing the Afro-German and Asian-German minorities and the population of colonies like Togo, Dahomey and Tsingtau. At first, some people demanded making the party illegal, but since no violent conduct or "treasonous behaviour" was advocated in the program of PFS, no court agreed with these demands. During the chancellorship of Adolf Hauswald, and to a big part thanks to the PFS and the conducive and constructive assistance of the colonies (which had been built up to a mostly German standard of infrastructure), Compacts of Free Association could be negotiated for Dahomey, New Guinea, Kamerun, the Tsingtao, Shanghai and Hongkong Free States and Tansania (former German East Africa). These African and Asian nations have, for the most part, stayed democratic and none of them has withdrawn from such a compact.
Surprisingly, Togo's referendum on a Compact of Free Association on the "Day of Referendums" (August 4, 1974) revealed that the citizens of Togo wanted to stay German.
Ever snce the Free Association agreements were negotiated, the PFS has lost much of their voter base (even though voting requires only six months of residence in the country where you vote), however, it has won much of the Afro-German and parts of the left-wing Asian-German immigrant vote by representing their interests, mostly interests of immigrant workers. Thus it is still considered a left-wing party: more left-wing than SPD, but not quite as left-wing as SAPD.
Vote PFS if you:
- belong to an ethnic minority and believe ethnic minorities to be at a structural disadvantage.
- want Togolese and Namibian interests to be represented.
- believe that the Compacts of Free Association are a great achievement and possibly, more independence can be achieved for Germany's former colonies.
- want to actively fight racism in Germany.
Parties that have not been part of a coalition:
Nationalkonservative Partei (NKP) - National Conservative Party: far-right, economically right-wing, nationalism, hawkish interventionism, anti-communism, xenophobia, militarism, anti-EFDG, partly right-wing populist, many members antisemitist. Factions of it want to abolish democracy and want to return to Kaiserreich-type dominant monarchy, or introduce illiberal democracy or stratocracy.
The NKP descends from nationalist parties of the German Kaiserreich, but it was discredited with the rise of Romanism and the liberalisation of the Empire. However, recently it has won back quite a few votes as society is changing rapidly and some believe that the NKP is on the rise again. Ever since they have celebrated an 18,9 % share of the votes in the Provinztag elections in Silesia in early 2013, the NKP is feared...
Vote NKP if you:
- are an arch-conservative ultranationalist
- are racist and/or xenophobic
- believe that leaving Africa into independence was wrong,
- believe that left-wing governments have done everything wrong.
- loved Prussia and would love Germany to be "an Army with a Nation".
- would love Germany to "liberate" nations around the globe, starting with France once again
- want to restore "German glory"
- want to see the 1930s back.
Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands - Leninisten (KPD-L); Kommunistische Arbeiterpartei (KAP); Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (KPD); Sozialistische Arbeitervereinigung (SAV), and many other communist parties: communism, Marxism, Leninism, Vinicius Junior Doctrine, Sakaiism, Sarism, etc.
Vote one of the plethora of communist parties if you:
- are a follower of a specific communist ideology different from SAPD and KPD
- want your specific type of proletarian revolution
- think that any other person calling themselves a "communist" is a bourgeois shill or a traitor to the proletarian cause.
Partei Volksdeutscher Arbeiter (PVDA) - Party of (völkisch) German Workers: far-right, national populist, ultra-statist, antisemitism, racism, xenophobia, national socialism.
Vote PVDA if you:
- believe in panem et circenses ("bread and circuses")
- believe Romanist countries to be the best nations on earth
- believe the Leese Prime Ministership in Britain to have been an utopia as well as the Rodzaevsky leadership in Russia.
- liked the ideas of Franz Dreher in his work Das Land: Frei, Sozial und National ("The Country: Free, Social, National").
Libertas (L) - Liberty: libertarian, minarchism, radical liberalism, centre, capitalism
Libertas was founded in 2006, as a splinter from VDP in reaction to the Strittmatter chancellorship. The SAPD-SPD led government was seen as "oppressive" and "increasingly statist", and thus, business owners together with libertarians and radical liberals founded the "movement" Libertas. Its campaigns have been extremely well-funded, and the new movement gained some popularity with protest voters, and some aspects of the program appeal to many a voter, however, its positions mostly on environmental issues - near-universal denial of climate change, which many politicians (including vice-chairman Holger Thuß and "environmental policy speaker" Klement Osswald) denounce as a "left-wing Amero-Brazilian inside job", a "conspiracy from Paris" or "deliberately wrought upon us" - make this party unelectable for most Germans. They did gain some seats in local parliaments (Kreistage, Gemeinderäte) and a few even in rural Provinztage.
Vote Libertas if you:
- think that the market is the best of all regulators and state intervention is only harmful.
- believe in a very small state and think that the state is only there to protect your freedom and property
- Libertas is also the only alternative if you like the idea of Elena Lunina and believe in unregulated anarcho-capitalism.
- Red Arturoist
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