The Rise of the Radical Right: A Comparative Analysis of Far-Right Parties in Germany and Austria

Abstract

In March of 1938, Adolf Hitler annexed Austria into Nazi Germany, implicating both countries in the infamous war crimes and mass genocides of the Second World War. Today, Austrians largely deny their role in the crimes of the Third Reich, while Germans acknowledge their responsibility in – and express contrition for – the perpetration of these atrocities under Hitler. This theme is, moreover, reflected in the contemporary national politics of the two countries. Although the extreme right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) has seen incredible electoral support from Austrian voters, receiving an astounding fifty-two seats in the Nationalrat election of 1999, the far-right Republikaner (REP) party of Germany has been far less successful in German politics, failing to amass more than 2.5% of the total vote in any Bundestag election to date. Given the two countries’ shared history, language, and culture, the significantly divergent trajectories of the Far Right in Germany and Austria pose an intriguing puzzle for scholars and researchers alike.

This thesis thus examines the two main bodies of explanations for the rise of the Far Right in western Europe – demand-side theories and supply-side theories – and evaluates the strength of their arguments by using the Austrian FPÖ and German REP as case studies. By comparing historical data on modernization, globalization, immigration, and unemployment rates with past far-right electoral outcomes, this study reveals that demand-side theories cannot account for the increasing support for the far-right parties on their own. In a subsequent review of the secondary literature on the third wave of right-wing extremism, this study shows that supply-side theories may better describe and explain the current situation in western Europe. Finally, the thesis concludes with a discussion of the limitations of this analysis and presents potential areas for future study.