Just to annoy everyone...
Political Parties of the Greater German Reich
From an alternative world where the anti-Hitler Nazi opposition group lead by Rudolf Hess invented by Polish propagandists for propaganda purposes was real. Though ultimately this is as much of a multi-party system as East Germany in OTL was, it is slowly disintegrating under the pressure of economic decline and due to the attractions of EU membership, and reforms have been made.
Legal Parties
NSDAP - Erneuerungsbewegung -
National Socialist German Workers Party - Party Renewal Movement - The breakaway party lead by Rudolf Hess that opposed the invasion of the Soviet Union is still one of the largest political parties in Greater Germany. Though originally to the left of it's banned counterpart, the Renewal Movement has consistently drifted to the right after democratisation due to the emergence of stronger left-wing and radical national socialist parties. The Renewal Movement, despite it's loud trumpeting of it's role in overthrowing Hitler and ending the war, is Eurosceptic and drags it's feet on political reforms, fearing too much democratisation will result in the designation of the Greater German Reich and the it's unique National Socialist identity. Like most establishment parties in Germany, it will hear nothing of a Jewish right of return or Czech independence, though it has shown flexibility on the issue of Polish resettlement.
Alle-Grossedeustche Kommunistische Partei -
All-Greater-German Communist Party - This Moscow approved Communist Party has been reviled by opponents of Pan-Germanism as the 'party of working class chauvinism' and the 'apparatus of the Nazi Labour Aristocracy'. Set up by Stalin's order to merge the Communist Parties of Austria and Germany, the A-GKP combines traditional Marxist-Leninism with an 'acceptence of the German
volks historical destiny in Europe' and a 'recognition of the uniqueness of the German political situation'. Often campaigning in partnership with the Black Front, the A-GKP is Germany's largest Marxist party due to the fact it is the least harassed and that the KDP and KPÖ remain banned. However, it is still regarded as corrupt by many workers who prefer to support the establishment by voting for the establishment parties, rather than a pseudo-oppostion party like the A-GKP. It's opposition to the Jewish right of return and silence on Czech Independence damns the party in the eyes of many Western leftists. As is the norm among all Moscow aligned Communist Parties, it opposes the entry of Germany into the European Union. It's main political goal is to control the German Workers Front from within, rather than the more common opposition policy of breaking it up.
Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands -
Socialist Unity Party of Germany - The largest opposition party in the Reichstag, the Socialist Unity Party is the heir of German Social Democracy adapted to the Nazi system. Too large to ban outright, the establishment divided the Social Democrat movement up into categories during democratisation, suppressing radicals but giving relative freedom to moderates. The strategy has largely worked, in that the Socialist Unity Party largely ignores anything not related to welfare and the workplace and thus poses little threat to the status quo for the time being. However, it is suspected that the Party is Pro-Europe and maybe willing to dismantle the Greater German Reich in favour of a 'New Weimar' when the time is right. The parties most controversial policy at present is it's demand to break up the German Workers Front into 'free unions'.
Kampfgemeinschaft Revolutionärer Nationalsozialisten -
Combat League Of Revolutionary National Socialists - The Strasserite KGRNS (known commonly as the 'Black Front') styles itself the 'party of National Socialist Opposition', and it's party historians compete savagely with those of the Renewal Movement for the title of the main anti-Hitlerite group within the National Socialist tradition. Pro-Europe, Pro-Soviet, anti-Prussian, anti-Corruption and Christian, the Black Front colourful mixture of policies has made it a party capable of maintaining a support base but not really able to expand it. It is also notable that for a party so adamantly Pro-Europe and oppositional in it's rhetoric, the Black Front authoritarian polices would in fact make Germany more, and not less, like it was under Hitler. When it is pointed out that a Black Front Germany would never qualify for EU membership, the parties press is quick to maintain that what they support is not 'the Europe of Brussels, International Finance and Americanism' but a 'true European
Volksgemeinschaft.'
Nationalliberale Volks Partei -
National Liberal Peoples Party - Born of the Pan-German liberal tradition, the National Liberals seek to maintain the Greater German Reich's "territorial integrity and independent status in Europe" while pushing for "further democratisation at home" at the same time. Openly using the old
Schwarz-Rot-Gold as the proposed flag of Greater Germany, the National Liberals have the unique status of being one of the only parties openly committed to the de-Nazification of German life that is on cordial terms with the German establishment, even entering into coalitions with the right-wing parties on occasion. The National Liberals, analysts have claimed, are the party for Liberal youths who are interested in the Liberal West but still immersed in the mythology of Greater Germany that they learned in National Socialist youth organisations. However, it was not always so. Before democratisation, the National Liberals were considered a highly dangerous group due to their refusal to accept that democratic Liberalism was 'bankrupt', something that almost all parties of the post-Hitler period took for granted. The Party is divided on the matter of a right of return for Jews, on the one hand acutely aware of Western opinion on the matter but on the other still regarding Jews as 'not German' even if the party isn't anti-Semetic. Czech Independence is opposed by the National Liberals, who mimic the German establishments characterisation of Czech Nationalists as terrorists and insisting that the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia will have enough freedom within a federal and democratic Greater Germany.
Deutschnationale Volkspartei -
German National People's Party - Carefully disentangling itself from the NSDAP after the overthrow of Hitler and shelving the possibility of reviving the monarchy in the near future, it is largely due to the DNVP's refusal to be re-assimilated into Hess's new reformed Nazi Party combined with it's equally firm resistance to the creation of a 'New Weimar Republic' that we owe the existence of the current system in Germany. Aligning themselves with the military officers of the
Schwarze Kapelle who had made Hess's takeover a possibility, the DNVP negotiated the creation of a 'non-party authoritarian state' in which only 'true Germans' would have a right to political representation and a unelected 'aristocratic' elite would 'manage' the state, against the peoples will if necessary. While many democratisers loath the DNVP for this, many historians point out that if democratisation had immediately followed the coup "Hitler's corpse would have lead us into a third world war" as at the time of his death Hitler was still one of the most popular leaders in German history. The second largest party after the coup, the DNVP remains the largest right-wing conservative party in Germany which is not a regional party. Fiercely anti-Europe and anti-reform, the DNVP uses it's permanent majority in the unelected upper chamber to water down or stop any reforms that emerge from the Reichstag.
Die Grossedeustche Christen Social Partei -
The Greater German Christian Social Party - Founded by Claus von Stauffenberg, this is the most moderate of the German establishment parties. Though unflinching on the matter of Greater German 'territorial integrity', it is the only party of importance to openly consider right of return for Jews and a repeal of the Nuremberg Laws. It is Pro-Europe and pro-reform, and has the largest pro-reform bloc in the upper chamber. It's close links with the Catholic Church has given it a huge majority in South Germany and Austria, and an interest in the outside world hard to find outside of the opposition. Despite Stauffenberg's noted disdain for democracy, it was his party that oversaw the democratisation process that opened up the Reichstag to a variety of oppositional parties.
Die Volksdeutscher Parteien -
The Folkgerman Parties - Many "Volksdeutscher" parties sit in the Reichstag, a testament to the failure of the Greater German Reich to properly integrate the areas it annexed during the Hitler-era. Distracted by the war and the political and economic turmoil that followed the coup, successive governments of the Renewal Movement and the DNVP failed to sufficiently raise the standards of living in places like the Sudetenland and the regions annexed from Poland, resulting in a feeling of resentment towards the supposedly privileged
Reichsdeutsche. Another group that suffered neglect were those who emigrated to Germany from outside the Reich, who had difficultly settling down in the strife-ridden country. This, in return, resulted in prejudice towards the so-called 'Annexed yokels' and 'Baltic backpackers' in Germany proper. The main purpose of these parties, like most regional parties in Europe, is to secure funds and autonomy from the central government. The above flag is that of the
Hanseatic Front, other examples of "Volksdeutscher" Parties are the
Sudeten German Party, the and the
East German Association. These parties exist on the egde of legality, as they are often nests of both anti-Reichism and Hitlerism (Hitler being remembered as having "cared about" the Folk Germans.)
Illegal Parties
Frei Sozialdemokratische Partei -
Free Social Democrat Party - This party of young activists and militant trade unionists is one of the most heavily repressed of the forbidden parties within Germany proper. Due to the fact that most of it's members are able to operate under the moniker of the Socialist Unity Party, it is a party that is extremely hard to track down before it's members have caused some serious trouble. Supported by Western intelligence services who use it as a basis for spy recruitment within Germany, the Free Social Democrats seek to replicate the prosperous welfare systems of Western Europe. Remembered for the famous slogan, "Yes, we want Swissifcation!" (Swissifcation being a degatory term for any attempt to break up the Reich) the Free Social Democrats are proudly anti-Reichist, supporting Austrian and Czech Independence and eventual EU membership to replace the Reich's centralised government. High unemployment and debt has lead many into the arms of the Free Social Democrats in recent times.
Roter Frontkämpfer-Bund -
Alliance of Red Front-Fighters - Named after the Communist street fighters of the Weimar period, this organisation consists of those Communists who refused to bow to the Comintern's orders to accept the Hess regime and the creation of Greater Germany. Mainly active among industrial workers who fear that the establishment seeks to tighten control over the workplace after democratisation, the Roter Frontkämpfer-Bund often resorts to violent actions that borders on terrorism.
České Národní Armáda -
Czech National Army - A militant terrorist organisation fighting the German occupation of Bohemia and Moravia by any means necessary, the CNA galvanises opinion about the Greater German Reich's continued rule over and colonisation of non-German lands.
NSDAP - Werwolves - This Pro-Hitler, SS based underground organisation could once proudly say 'if there was an election tomorrow, we would win the Reichstag and the War again.' However, as time went on and the memory of Hitler faded, so has the support for the so-called werewolves. They continue spasmodic acts of violence against the "traitors" and "revolutionaries" whom they believe denied the German mastery of the world.
