Imperial delusions

The coup d’etat that supporters of a German imperial revival are accused of plotting may look like a joke. But it could have led to bloodshed and to a very difficult time for the country.

Although it is certain that the people would not rise up to support the “restoration” of the Kaiser’s Reich, the plotters appear to have had the equipment, the training and the plan that would have resulted in a clash with the guards of a democracy which has learned the tough lesson of the 20th century – that democracy must defend itself. If the putschists thought the state was weak and listless (as the Weimar Republic’s enemies on the left and right saw it), the current German polity proved ready to protect itself.

The plot included the violent takeover of the Bundestag and a general uprising that would lead to the restoration of imperial grandeur. How this would be achieved remains unclear, as the nostalgists for the Reich, conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers from whom the organizing team sprang up, numbers only some 21,000, of whom about 2,100 are considered willing to employ violence to achieve their aims.

The would-be putschists inhabit a world of delusion, like all those fanaticized by visions of an idealized past. They believed (and believe) that it is enough for them to sow the seed of an idea and the rest will follow, their enemies will bow before them, they will triumph. They are emboldened by the fact that in some other countries, nostalgists of an imperial past are in power, most notably Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Also, the ease with which Donald Trump’s supporters took over the Capitol on January 6, 2021 must have thrilled the (more heavily armed) German rebels.

In most societies, people who are fixated on past glories hover around the edges of politics. In others, they are in power, driving society and the broader region to a dead end. Germany’s adventure of the past few days shows how important it is for the state to be alert to domestic threats. Ukraine’s drama shows what happens when the international community underestimates the threat of “visionary patriots,” as the Putins and Erdogans of the world like to see themselves.