Tens of thousands protest in Germany against the rise of the far right

> The right's position in Europe is that it would like to preserve borders and stop people moving between countries.

That is the most charitable view possible - but let's say that's the case. What happens if they win and somehow achieve that? Will they just wash their hands and say - now we're done, enjoy, friends?

No, politicians always need to stay in power. Those who don't - never get to power in the first place. The more unstable the world is - the more incentive would there be for them to double down on nationalistic tendencies. So, what do you do with millions of non-ethnic germans that were born in Germany, but are still in some sense considered 'immigrants'? What do you do about the fact that the land where the Prussian kings of old were anointed is now under the yoke of barbarians from the east? Irredentism is a story as old as humanity itself; it can - and I can't see how it won't - be used to rally the electorate. Who would've thought that the senseless Russia-Ukraine war was a possibility? But that is, because that is the logical conclusion of a nationalistic ressentiment. And what do you do when there's not enough people to do fuel the economy - will it be kinder kuche kirche again (because, what else)? Etc, etc.

So, will nationalistic parties just stop at low and order - or, perhaps, there are some other stories, old like the world itself, lurking in the shadows? I can't see the future, but I personally have a strong prior on the latter.

> WW1 or WW2, which were wars intended to abolish all borders

Today I learned.

This. I don't follow German politics (nor European politics for that matter) but we have to check why the perceived opinion is shifting to the right.

Russia didn't induce the 2015 migrant wave. The small child on the beach and "refugees welcome" have happened months before Russia's involvement in Syria began.

The way you state your sentence indicates that you see this as a problem?

Was there a court case? I can only find reference to an accusation that he might have said in a speech "Everything for our homeland, everything for Saxony-Anhalt, everything for Germany", which apparently everyone should know shares the last three words with an SS slogan and that therefore saying it is indisputable signs of wanting to conquer Poland. Also Höcke claimed he didn't know this but, according to his critics, being a history teacher, he must have known really.

This supposedly famous SS slogan is a "motto applied to the blades of uniform daggers worn by the SA and National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK)."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_Nazi_Germany

For sure everyone in Germany memorizes literally everything ever printed on any physical object made by the Nazis. A totally reasonable expectation that is not at all driven by a desire to ban their political opponents. According to the Glossary, the Nazis were also fond of criticizing Das System, which is what they called the Weimar Republic. I'm sure nobody on the German left has ever railed against The System because that would be Nazi language, and certainly the Verfassungsschutz would investigate such things promptly and without bias.

This kind of thing makes Germany look ridiculous and sinister.

> The original Nazis also did not do socialism, but rather elimenated their socialist wing soon after taking power.

Hitler killed fellow Nazis for the same reasons Lenin and Stalin killed fellow Soviets. It's wrong to assume a socialist dictator would not kill fellow socialists. They always do. It's one of the things that makes them scary, even their allies aren't safe. As for the "original" Nazis, here's a quote for you:

"Socialism as the final concept of duty, the ethical duty of work, not just for oneself but also for one’s fellow man’s sake, and above all the principle: Common good before own good, a struggle against all parasitism and especially against easy and unearned income. And we were aware that in this fight we can rely on no one but our own people. We are convinced that socialism in the right sense will only be possible in nations and races that are Aryan, and there in the first place we hope for our own people and are convinced that socialism is inseparable from nationalism"

> the quotes he uses, well, I assume you understand german, so maybe read for yourself?

I spot checked a few of them but none of the sources check out. Some are 404s or paywalled. Other quotes come from writing by Landolf Ladig. From Googling it appears the German left think this was once a pseudonym for Höcke, but he denies it. The journalist who makes this claim based it on the fact that Höcke once used the term organic market economy, and that term also appears in this article. That's such a weak standard of evidence it's insufficient to make such incendiary claims.

Quote 14 says Germany isn't a real democracy because of speech controls. That he complains about being censored is then used as evidence he's a Nazi who should be censored.

In another place Höcke is quoted as saying "this Merkel system is all cartel parties that do not mean well for this country" which the page paraphrases as "Höcke wants to abolish all other parties", which is not what he said.

Another: "I am taking this party down a long and difficult path. But it is the only path that leads to a complete victory" which is paraphrased as him wanting a "Final victory" which is then presented as evidence of being a fascist.

Quote 24 says the AfD should only consider a coalition with other parties if they change their positions. This is scandalous because refusing to consider coalitions is something only his opponents are allowed to do, apparently.

This compilation comes across as untrustworthy. They have to rephrase everything he said and attribute things not written under his name, because if they didn't their thesis wouldn't hold.