Free German Workers' Party
Free German Workers' Party Freiheitliche Deutsche ArbeiterPartei | |
|---|---|
| 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
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new groups loyal to Kühnen, including the German Alternative (1989) and the National Offensive (1990).[3] The group is no longer active, although some former members are active in the NPD, others in local Kameradschaften.
On 24 February 1995, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany outlawed the FAP. The court ruled that it wasn't a political party but an association that aimed at overthrowing democracy.
References
- ^ 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