Though most of us think of fascism as a relic of the past, right wing extremist movements in Europe and North America have seen a steady surge in popularity over the last few years. This may be due many current global conditions similar to those that gave birth to Hitler’s Third Reich, including unemployment, global financial crises, and massive government debt and inflation. The recent European Union elections illustrate just how much support these radical parties have gained in the face of these issues.
Though they may seem like fringe parties, it’s nonetheless crucial to recognize them and be aware of their ascent to power on the world stage. Here are five of the most prominent parties in the growing fascist movement.
National Front (France)
In the recent European Parliament elections, the National Front took over 25 per cent of the popular vote in the country, beating out both the ruling Socialists and the opposing Union for a Popular Movement. They also came in second in the 2002 presidential election, which became the first presidential run-off without a leftist candidate in the second round in French history.
The man who ran in that election, founder of the party and father of current leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, referred to the Nazi gas chambers as “a point of detail of the history of the Second World War,” hinting at the problematic views of the party.
Among the party’s other beliefs are support for harsher sentencing for criminals and the deportation of certain groups of immigrants, along with halting the migration of Muslim peoples. They are highly protectionist, and have criticized the European Union as a “puppet of the New World Order.”
United Kingdom Independence Party (United Kingdom)
Another shock to come out of the recent European Parliamentary election was the performance of Nigel Farage’s United Kingdom Independence Party, which took 27 per cent of the nation’s votes, marking the first time in over a hundred years that neither Labour nor the Conservatives won the most votes in a nationwide election.
Like the National Front, the UKIP are very strongly anti-EU, believing that money spent on EU membership would be better spent at home. Furthermore, they believe that the massive waves of immigrants from the Union — most recently from Bulgaria and Romania — are responsible for Britain’s debt, and have expressed an intention to reintroduce border controls which the EU forced the nation to abandon.
While they have distanced themselves from the far more extreme and openly fascist British National Party, the group’s far right views don’t exactly inspire confidence. It remains to be seen how they will fare in Britain’s upcoming general election next year.
Golden Dawn (Greece)
Of all the groups on this watchlist, Golden Dawn is likely the best known. The Greek nationalist party, known for its xenophobic and racist tendencies, has been making headlines in Europe for several years. Despite rejecting labels such as neo-Nazi and fascist, this group has made use of Nazi symbolism and praised the figures of Nazi Germany in the past.
The party has also been accused of carrying out acts of violence against immigrants, political opponents, and ethnic minorities. Clashes in the streets between anarchists and Golden Dawn members have become commonplace in Greece, and investigations proved that many police have aided the latter party by providing weapons and ammunition. Citizens have also joined in, as many native Greeks view the Golden Dawn party as heroes.
Unlike other parties on this list, Golden Dawn is also spreading outside of their native country. The party has now set out to establish cells wherever there are Greeks, opening offices in Germany, Australia, the United States, and even here in Canada.
National Democratic Party (Germany)
Though they only managed to win one per cent of the German vote in the European Parliamentary elections, that one per cent was enough to earn the National Democratic Party of Germany one seat in that assembly. Unlike Golden Dawn, which attempts to deny its neo-Nazi traits, this group is openly neo-Nazi, and were labelled by Chancellor Merkel as an “anti-democratic, xenophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-constitutional party.”
Given that the party is the spiritual successor to the actual Nazi Party, having been founded by former party members in 1964, their far right views should come as no surprise. They have announced their belief that “Europe is a continent of white people,” and that it should stay that way. They’ve backed up this belief by calling for the expulsion of Jews, Turks, and immigrants in general from Germany.
Udo Voigt, the party’s former leader, will represent them in their new European parliament seat. Voigt is well known within German political circles for inciting violence in 1998 after he called for voters to engage in “armed combat,” and was found guilty in 2004 of promoting Nazism after he referred to Hitler as “a great man.”
Tea Party (United States)
Potentially the most prominent party on this list, the Tea Party has managed to infiltrate and hijack the United States’ Republican Party, moving the already conservative group even further towards the right. They may not be as radical as Golden Dawn or the National Front, but trust me when I say they are just as dangerous.
The Tea Party has also managed to take control of the United States House of Representatives, which has given them an incredible amount of influence on American politics; after all, it was the Tea Party Republicans who were responsible for the shutdown of the United States government last year, in protest of the passage of Obama’s Affordable Healthcare Act — and of Obama in general.
Support for the party continues to grow as America’s debt continues to skyrocket, as the Tea Party promises cuts to spending and lowered taxes for citizens. These are noble goals, but the party’s tendency to blame America’s problems on immigrants (legal and illegal) and the social policies of liberal governments undermine their value as a political faction.
