The proxy war in Ukraine is heading to a denouement with the US and Russia dividing the spoils while the European powers stand bewildered by events they have been wilfully blind to, says KEVIN OVENDEN
In Germany, fascists are on the up and Die Linke is in a worsening crisis
VICTOR GROSSMAN assesses the impact of the Ukraine war on the German economy, the far-right and the Left party — and what may happen next
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PLEASANT, hilly Thuringia, the “green lung” of Germany, has not always had pleasant times. One hundred years ago, after a socialist revolution had been squelched following World War I, Social Democrats and Communists in Thuringia and neighbouring Saxony defiantly elected coalition governments.
This could not possibly be tolerated. So the Berlin government, run by reliable, “correct” Social Democrats, sent in troops to put things back in order. Which they did.
Seven years later, in 1930, Thuringia became the first state to include Nazi ministers in its cabinet. Only two at first. But in August 1932 the Nazis took over completely, four months before doing the same in all of Germany.
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VICTOR GROSSMAN reports, with a little chuckle, on how US readiness to work with Russia, not just on peace for Ukraine, has thrown a spanner into the German electoral machine
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Although Chancellor Scholz has ruled out sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine, the atmosphere in Germany is one of mounting ‘war readiness,’ while the left remains worryingly divided, warns VICTOR GROSSMAN
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We can only hope the charismatic leftist Sahra Wagenknecht’s new party can beat the AfD, as the increasingly out-of-touch ruling caste in government prepares Germany for huge, belligerent ‘war games,’ writes VICTOR GROSSMAN
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The same vested interests have survived from over a century ago, now allied to the US but still hellbent on war with Russia, writes VICTOR GROSSMAN
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The new party is growing and winning not only due to its refusal to beat the war drums over Ukraine, but because of its fearless scepticism of liberal orthodoxy from cancel culture to immigration, writes NICK WRIGHT
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Although Chancellor Scholz has ruled out sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine, the atmosphere in Germany is one of mounting ‘war readiness,’ while the left remains worryingly divided, warns VICTOR GROSSMAN