Free German Workers' Party
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Free German Workers' Party
Freiheitliche Deutsche ArbeiterPartei |
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|---|---|
| Leader | Michael Kühnen 1979-1989 Friedhelm Busse 1989-1995 |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Dissolved | 24 February 1995 |
| Headquarters | Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany |
| Membership (1987) | 500 |
| Ideology | Strasserism Neo-Nazism |
| Political position | Far-right |
| International affiliation | N/A |
| Colors | Red, Black |
| Party flag | |
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The Free German Workers' Party (German: Freiheitliche Deutsche ArbeiterPartei, FAP) was a neo-nazi political party in Germany. It was outlawed by the Constitutional Court in 1995.
History[edit]
The FAP was founded in 1979 but was largely insignificant until the banning of the Action Front of National Socialists/National Activists in 1983 when Michael Kühnen encouraged members to infiltrate this tiny group. A minor party (around 500 members in 1987) it experienced something of a growth after German reunification and sought, unsuccessfully, an alliance with the National Democratic Party.[1] It contested the 1987 federal election and the 1989 European elections although in both instances it attracted negligible support.[2]
Associated with Strasserism, the FAP party managed to gain some support amongst football hooligans but was damaged by Kühnen's homosexuality, and took a stand against him. The party continued under Friedhelm Busse from 1989 but it lost a number of members to new groups loyal to Kühnen, including the German Alternative (1989) and the National Offensive (1990).[3] The group is no longer active, although some former members are active in the NPD, others in local Kameradschaften.[citation needed]
On 24 February 1995, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany outlawed the FAP.[citation needed] The court ruled that it wasn't a political party but an association that aimed to overthrow democracy.[citation needed]
References[edit]
- ^ D. Childs, 'The Far Right in Germany Since 1945' in L. Cheles, R. Ferguson & M. Vaughan, The Far Right in Western and Eastern Europe, 1995, p. 301
- ^ Paul Hainsworth, The Extreme Right in Europe and the USA, Pinter, 1992, p. 63
- ^ C. T. Husbands, 'Militant Neo-Nazism in the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1990s' in L. Cheles, R. Ferguson & M. Vaughan, The Far Right in Western and Eastern Europe, 1995, p. 329
