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Free German Workers' Party

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Free German Workers' Party
Freiheitliche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei
AbbreviationFAP
LeaderMartin Pape (1979–1988)
Friedhelm Busse (1988–1995)
Founded1979
Banned24 February 1995
HeadquartersBonn, Federal Republic of Germany
Membership (1987)500
IdeologyStrasserism
Neo-Nazism
Political positionFar-right
ColorsRed, black and white
Party flag

The Free German Workers' Party (German: Freiheitliche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; abbreviated FAP) was a neo-Nazi political party in Germany. It was outlawed by the Federal Ministry of the Interior in 1995.

History

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The FAP was founded in 1979. However, it 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]

Tiwaz rune on flag variant of the party[3]

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).[4]

The party was outlawed by the Federal Ministry of the Interior on 24 February 1995.

References

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  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ Paul Hainsworth, The Extreme Right in Europe and the USA, Pinter, 1992, p. 63
  3. ^ Photos show use of this flag in the early 1990s
  4. ^ 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
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