Children of a new fatherland : Germany's post-war right-wing politics

This is a study of the growth of the right wing in a reunited Germany. Since the end of the Cold War, an explosion of xenophobia and attacks on foreigners - some of them asylum-seekers - has attracted world-wide media attention. Coming after the seemingly miraculous celebration of freedom accompanying the fall of the Berlin Wall and the country's reunification, these events have caused acute anxiety within Germany itself. These phenomena are not exclusive to Germany, but their undertones of Nazism have prompted the question: how could this happen in a country that had so firmly repudiated its past and rightly prided itself on its anti-fascism and liberal democracy? The author sets this development in its historical context, showing the long-established continuity of right-wing influence and power in German conservative politics, and he explores the effects of the end of the Cold War on German society and politics. He also examines the growth of xenophobia and right-wing attitudes in the former GDR since the implosion of communism.Germany's current position as a regional super-power and its contribution to European economic progress, make this text a significant and topical contribution.

Children of a New Fatherland is a powerful study of the growth of the right wing in a reunited Germany. Since the end of the Cold War, an explosion of xenophobia and attacks on foreigners—some of them asylum-seekers—has attracted world-wide media attention. Coming after the seemingly miraculous celebration of freedom that accompanied the fall of the Berlin Wall and the country's reunification, these events have caused acute anxiety within Germany. These phenomena are not exclusive to Germany, but their undertones of Nazism have raised the question: how could this happen in a country which had so firmly repudiated its past and rightly prided itself on its anti-fascism and liberal democracy?

Jan Herman Brinks sets this development in its historical context. He shows the long-established continuity of right-wing influence and power in German conservative politics and explores the effects of the end of the Cold War on German society and politics. He also examines the growth of xenophobia and right-wing attitudes in the former GDR since the implosion of Communism. The backdrop of twentieth-century German history and Germany's position as a regional super-power and the engine-room of European economic progress make Children of a New Fatherland an especially important and topical contribution.

German Politics and Society

Brink's accessible style makes it especially useful for the classroom and for the general reader.

This is a powerful study of the growth of the right wing in a reunited Germany. Setting this in its historical context, and especially in the context of the end of the Cold War, the author examines the implosion of communism and of the growth of xenophobia and right-wing politics in modern and contemporary Europe. The backdrop of 20th century German history and of Germanys position as the European regional super-power make this book an especially important and topical contribution. A study of the growth of Germany's Right Wing in the reunited Germany. Setting this in its historical context, and especially in the context of the end of the Cold War, Brinks examines the implosion of communism and of the growth of xenophobia and Right-wing politics in modern and contemporary Europe. This is a study of the growth of Germany's right wing in the reunited Germany. It examines the implosion of communism and the growth of xenophobia and right-wing politics in modern and contemporary Europe MOST West Germans equated the national identity of the former Federal Republic with the German constitution, the Deutschmark and a Western view of democracy.