Dear Reader,
The dominant motivation behind pushing Trump-esque deportation policies is so prevalent in the AfD that it is easy to overlook the substantial ideological divides that split the party beneath the surface.
In fact, while the AfD can agree on its approach to mass migration, the ideological underpinnings of two broad camps can even be seen within this contentious issue.
On the one hand, there is the völkische wing, influential in the east of the country, which places the integrity of German ethnicity at the centre of its ideology. This faction of the party views the preservation of a German Volk as a goal in itself. They advocate the removal of migrants from German lands out of a desire to preserve the native population, its culture, and language.
While comparisons are often drawn between this group’s ideology and that of the Nazis, it is interesting to note that they spend less time publicly vilifying migrants than the party’s other wing. For them, it is simply self-evident that Germany belongs to the Germans—no further justification is needed for wanting to ensure it remains so.
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This perspective is also subtly reflected in how they discuss migrants themselves. Raised in East Germany, many leaders of this wing are still influenced by the anti-capitalist narratives of communism. They view migrants as instruments in the machinations of wealthy ‘globalists’ or as victims of Western imperial wars. (Given that many of the migrants who arrive in Germany come from Iraq and Afghanistan, that certainly isn’t a crazy proposition.)
When it comes to world affairs, this faction of the party is almost indistinguishable from the hard left in its idealism. They see Germany’s current rearmament programme as a provocation to Russia, believe NATO is an imperial, expansionist project, and blame it for the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. They argue that ending the war in Ukraine requires compromising with Putin.
At the leadership level, the völkische wing is represented by co-leader Tino Chrupalla—a former painter and decorator from Saxony. Chrupalla isn’t known for harsh rhetoric against migrants. Instead, he has gained attention by claiming that Germany is a “vassal state” of the US. Chrupalla has tried to rebrand the AfD as a “party of peace”—his faction has even held hippie-style “peace concerts” calling for an end to the war in Ukraine.
Recently, Chrupalla stated that Germany should consider leaving NATO because it “isn’t a defence alliance” but rather an organisation through which “Europe has been forced to implement America's interests.” He suggested that Europe needs a new alliance that takes account of Russian concerns.
On the Middle East, Chrupalla’s rhetoric also mirrors that of the anti-imperialist left. Although his public statements are carefully phrased, he makes it clear that he holds Israel responsible for inflaming regional tensions. On October 7th, 2023, he referred to the civilians massacred by Hamas as “war dead” and called for restraint. When the Israeli air force began attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities last month, he claimed they had “lit a fuse on the Middle East powder keg.”
Still, Chrupalla’s criticism of Israel is moderate compared to that of völkische AfD lawmakers in less prominent positions. Dominik Kaufner, an AfD member of the Brandenburg state parliament, has said the Arab world has been “bought by the Zionist-Atlantic side” and warned that Israel’s actions could “escalate into a Third World War and drag us all in.” Others accuse the Jewish state of committing genocide and claim Israel “emotionally blackmails” Germany into silence over its (alleged) war crimes.
Compact, a magazine closely linked to the völkische faction, felt so betrayed when Trump joined the war that it removed a “Trump hero medal” from its merchandise store and replaced it with an “Ami go home” flag.
On the other side of the party, there is a loosely aligned coalition that sees itself as the defender of bourgeois ideals such as private property rights, threatened by what they view as creeping socialism disguised as environmental policy.
This faction, with its power base in the west, is not opposed to migration per se. Rather, it perceives Muslim immigration in particular as an existential threat to European ideals of individual liberty. This wing considers itself the final bulwark against the spread of Islamic fundamentalism.
The party’s other co-leader, Alice Weidel—who is married to a woman of Sri Lankan descent—cites her homosexuality as a reason for her strong opposition to Muslim migration. Unlike Chrupalla, Weidel does not hesitate to make direct value judgments about other cultures. She has described Islam as a “stone age” religion and frequently refers to Muslim “knife men” stalking the streets of German cities and preying on German women.
On Russia, little on the surface appears to divide the two wings—both advocate lifting sanctions on the Kremlin. Look more closely, though, and the differences become clear. The Weidel faction opposes sanctions primarily for economic reasons but does not share the Soviet-style analysis that NATO is the aggressor.
Chrupalla’s repeated calls for negotiations with Putin and his suggestions that Germany should leave NATO have provoked outrage within the bourgeois wing, where he has been accused of being a traitor to his country—or even of being a “paid propagandist” for the Kremlin.
The ideological chasm is especially pronounced when the AfD discusses the Middle East. The bourgeois wing sees Israel as the front line in a civilisational conflict between the West and Islam. They view themselves as protectors of Jewish safety in Germany, guarding against the antisemitism of Muslim migrants (a role that few Jews are willing to ascribe to them).
While Weidel measures her language for the sake of internal party unity, other senior AfD figures from western Germany are far more blunt. “In my opinion, as Germans, it is not our place to condemn Israel when it defends itself against an aggressor who murders Jews and dreams of eradicating the Jewish state,” former party leader Alexander Gauland said recently of the IDF’s actions in Gaza. “Israel can’t allow Hamas to exist any longer,” he added.
Media outlets aligned with the bourgeois wing, such as Nius, run by former Bild editor Julian Reichelt, are urging the party to adopt a much more aggressively pro-Israel stance.
After Chrupalla called for diplomacy during the Iran crisis, one AfD lawmaker retorted that he was using the “naive do-gooder talk” of the left. The völkische wing fired back, branding the bourgeois faction “trans-Atlanticists”—that is, vassals of the US.
This week, we saw a striking illustration of how fluid the boundaries between the völkische AfD and the anti-imperial left can be. Chrupalla announced that he had opened talks with Sahra Wagenknecht, the former communist whose new party narrowly missed entering the Bundestag in February. Working with Wagenknecht would be “good for German citizens,” Chrupalla claimed.
Notably, Wagenknecht’s BSW has already held meetings with the most extreme figure in the völkische wing—AfD leader in Thuringia, Björn Höcke. There have even been rumours in the press that the two parties are plotting to topple the CDU-led state government there.
Like Chrupalla, Wagenknecht grew up in the GDR. Like him, she is a central figure in the “peace movement” advocating concessions to Putin, and is staunchly anti-Israel.
It remains unclear how the Weidel faction views the prospect of an alliance with Wagenknecht. On one hand, it may be seen as a tactical move to help the AfD secure its first parliamentary majority. On the other, Weidel has made no secret of her disdain for Wagenknecht, describing her earlier this year as a “deeply red socialist… who would destroy Germany’s economy within a year.” Striking a deal with the BSW - who advocate massive taxes on private property - would not sit well with many bourgeois voters.
It is not entirely clear which of these two factions currently holds the upper hand. In the last election, seven million of the AfD’s ten million “second votes” came from western Germany, suggesting the bourgeois faction are in the ascendency. However, the AfD won nearly all their constituency seats in the east, a fact that evens out the parliamentary arithmetic. Probably, the balance of power is pretty even. Just as Weidel carefully tempers her language on Israel, Chrupalla has often had to walk back his more pro-Putin comments after facing flak from west German colleagues.
Very interesting article