Is Austria going fascist?

[Worried Comrade]

I was shocked to read the newspapers today. I don't know if this is old news or not, but two neo-nazi parties have got a total of 29% of the vote! They plan to unban the swastika, promote Holocaust denial, and want to kick all the immigrants out of Austria. Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of one of these parties, has apparently referred to female muslims as "ninjas" (as a reference to the burkha). I cannot yet post a link as I do not have the required posts, but the quotes from this neo-nazi are in both the guardian and independant newspapers.

Why does the Austrian government tolerate this??? I thought they had laws against neo-nazism in Austria?? Why is nothing been done? :(

While I do not live in Austria myself (I live in the UK, and I thought things were getting bad here, but the BNP don't have anywhere near the support of these neo-nazis) I fear for all our comrades out there.

Is there anything we can do? :crying:

[Forward Union]

you read the guardian don't you! good call.

My advice is get involved here, build up workers organisations, make our class strong and aware of itself before shit hits the fan.

[Dr Mindbender]

Why does the Austrian government tolerate this??? I thought they had laws against neo-nazism in Austria?? Why is nothing been done? :(

i blame the spineless liberal lobby.

[Worried Comrade]

Ulster Socialist, I too cannot believe the liberals have allowed this to happen. I'm all for allowing the fascists a little freedom of speech, in order that the general public will realise how abhorrent their ideas area (much like what happens with the BNP today, though I am dissappointed in their rising support- of course they aren't on the verge of taking power like this gang in Austria) and so they will never get elected. But enough is enough! When fascists are in political obscurity, with the public soundly against fascism, the government should perhaps back off a little in order to give the fascists enough rope to hang themselves, so to speak.

But these bastards pose a real danger to Austria and her ethnic minorities. I just wonder how it ever came down to this. Did Europe not learn from WW2 that fascism was bad? :(

Thankfully my local community here in Britain opposes all types of fascism. There's not that much activism to do as over here we thankfully realise that ethnic minorities are people too. There's much work to be done on building up communism though- Britain, I find, is anti-fascist, but also anti-communist as well, which is sad.

I just hope and pray it never gets like that in Britain, with the BNP taking so much of the vote. I had long thought the concerns about a rising level of racism and fascism in Europe to be exagerrated, and instead we should focus on the likes of the Labour and Conservative parties who are actually the ones in power screwing the workers over.

Today I got a rude awakening that the fascists are indeed on the march and do pose a threat in some areas. I'll definetly be a lot more vigiliant in identifying fascist behaviour from now on, though like I said, there's no known fascists round here.

We should start active campaigning for communism however. If the fascists can do it with their abhorrent ideology and gain votes, there's no reason why us leftists cannot either!

[rednordman]

We should start active campaigning for communism however. If the fascists can do it with their abhorrent ideology and gain votes, there's no reason why us leftists cannot either!
Good point, its strange this. Is it me, or has it become perfectly ok for far-right parties to campaign, but completely politically incorrect and 'old fasioned' for any socialist or communist party to even set up. I'v had occasions where i'v been labelled a 'dinosaw' when talking politically with some people. Thing is, i do not hear the same kind of things thrown at the far-right, which is interesting as fascist states lasted nowhere near as long as the soviet block did and 'died' almost fifty years prior. Yet its the soviet block that gets all the flack for 'collapsing' when it actually desolved, and fascists get nothing other then attacks on rascism (no one bothers to actually attack the system, its even recieveing 'reminisant' praise right now in Italy) when it did in fact internally combust.
Its very sad what has just happened in Austria and actually a shock as i always thought that Austria was rather anti-fascist after the effects and memories of WW2. The cold fact remains though, and that is that appr. 29% of the population of Austria (depending on turnout) voted for a neo-nazi party.

[Bilan]

I'd be shocked if it got that far...They might just get banned.

[rednordman]

I'd be shocked if it got that far...They might just get banned.
How is banning them going to make a difference? it seems the damage has already been done and pandoras box is on the verge of opening up. I mean authorities most likely banned the nazis in the 1930s, and look what happened there. Its always very ironic to see stringently undemocratic parties compete in so called democratic elections, as they (far-right) have historically had absoulte zero respect for civil institutions.

[Tower of Bebel]

A nice example of why letting neofascists take power doesn't end the threat of neofascism.

[communard resolution]

I mean authorities most likely banned the nazis in the 1930s, and look what happened there.

No, they didn't ban the Nazis. The laws of the Weimar Republic permitted any political party to stand for elections and made it possible for the Nazis to get elected into power by legal, democratic means. In order to prevent this from happening again, post-WW2 Germany introduced laws against "anti-constitutional" parties which have been used againt both Nazi and revolutionary Communist parties since. Some Nazi parties (or extreme nationalist parties with a certain percentage of Nazis) manage to evade a ban by presenting themselves as 'democratic nationalists' (e.g. the NPD) while some Marxist-Leninist parties manage to do the same by playing the Eurocommunist card.

As for Austria: are the two parties in question full-blown neo-Nazis or right-wing populist groups? What are the names of the parties?

[Worried Comrade]

Good point, its strange this. Is it me, or has it become perfectly ok for far-right parties to campaign, but completely politically incorrect and 'old fasioned' for any socialist or communist party to even set up. I'v had occasions where i'v been labelled a 'dinosaw' when talking politically with some people. Thing is, i do not hear the same kind of things thrown at the far-right, which is interesting as fascist states lasted nowhere near as long as the soviet block did and 'died' almost fifty years prior. Yet its the soviet block that gets all the flack for 'collapsing' when it actually desolved, and fascists get nothing other then attacks on rascism (no one bothers to actually attack the system, its even recieveing 'reminisant' praise right now in Italy) when it did in fact internally combust.
Its very sad what has just happened in Austria and actually a shock as i always thought that Austria was rather anti-fascist after the effects and memories of WW2. The cold fact remains though, and that is that appr. 29% of the population of Austria (depending on turnout) voted for a neo-nazi party.

It does seem to be getting more socially acceptable for far-right campaigners. I'm still confident that here in the UK at least, the vast majority of people hate the BNP and what they stand for, though obviously the situation is different in continental Europe.

I've never encountered been called a dinosaur/having someone say communism is "out of date". The racists are reminded that it's not the 1930's anymore, we're in the 21st century, where thankfully for the most part common sense has prevailed against fascism. :)

I too thought Austria was an anti-fascist nation. You can (on paper at least!) go to jail for denying the holocaust there, or for promoting nazism, or displaying the swastika. Though it seems the rules are not enforced when it comes to those running for government. :(

Democracy in the past has capitulated to fascism willingly, just like Italy in the 1920's. Let us hope we're not in for a revival of that again.


As for Austria: are the two parties in question full-blown neo-Nazis or right-wing populist groups? What are the names of the parties?They obviously deny they are neo-nazis (but this is just like the BNP deny they are fascist when they clearly hold fascist beliefs).

One of the parties is the Freedom Party (ironic name considering that fascists like to take away peoples freedom) which Heinz-Christian Strache leads. This guy has said women in Islamic dress are "female ninjas". He wants to unban the swastika. According to the Independant newspaper, he failed to win a court battle against a magazine which claimed he had neo-nazi contacts. He has pledged to set up a government ministry with the sole task of deporting "unwanted foreigners". His party got 18% of the vote.

The other group is the Alliance for the Future of Austria, headed by Jörg Haider. This guy has also praised Hitler and the SS. The Daily Mail (yes I know it's a shitty right wing newspaper) has pictures of Strache in military uniform. Just search around online, their comments are everywhere showing their xenophobic nature.

They're not just right wing populists, we can honestly state they are neo-nazis, and our evidence is their actions, their quotes, and their policies.

Comrades in Austria MUST take to the streets over this. The people need to hear that it's not immigrants that's the problem, it's capitalism that's the problem!

[Edelweiss]

As for Austria: are the two parties in question full-blown neo-Nazis or right-wing populist groups?

Clearly they are not neo-Nazi parties, but right-wing populists.

[KarlMarxVotesLabour]

Bomb Austria.

Nazis fear the United Kingdom.

[Pirate turtle the 11th]

^ Troll

[KarlMarxVotesLabour]

^ Troll

Excuse me?

[Revolutiondownunder]

when it did in fact internally combust.


Fascism didnt really internally combust, It might have but the red army and the US army jumped up and down on it so it never got the chance to prove itself completely bankrupt.

These parties are much like other Right-populist parties in that they bring together a broad range of far-right opinion, you get a range from people who dont like muslims and some of the not so nice parts of Islam all the way down to the neo-fash who dress up old ways in new clothes.

A good tactic that seems to work would be to expose the neo-fash as much as possible to drive away as many of the other far right types as can be got at.

Let the broader far right hook up together and you get serious problems, keep them split up and yelling at each other like the UKIP vs BNP stuff in the UK and everyone can breathe a sigh of relief.

[communard resolution]

I don't think there's a big point in hysterically shouting "Nazis" at such populist parties. I think this only gives them and the average 'angry white man' voter a sort of martyr status: "We are being persecuted just because we say what everybody thinks. They call us Nazis when clearly we aren't."

Silly as it may sound, if you really want to drive the masses away from such parties, I think these methods are more effective:

1) Humour: Ridicule these parties, make fun of them, make them seem ludicrous. No one wants to look ridiculous, especially the angry citizens who wish their concerns to be taken seriously.

2) Expose the sleaze: are any party members involved in shady deals? Corruption? Criminal records? Any sexual offenses? Drugs? Alcoholism? Paedophilia? This is what the angry citizen is afraid of, and there's always plenty such things to be found in parties of that type. As we know from history (e.g. Bill Clinton), nothing brings about the downfall of a politician like a tiny bit of sleaze.

3) Point out wherever chaos, incompetence, infighting, economic diffculties, and weakness are evident. After all, the main thing the angry citizen expects from those parties is that they "restore order". Show them that these parties won't be able to restore order - instead, they will drive the country into chaos. Show everybody that these people are LOSERS. Nobody wants to be a loser or vote for one.

Be clever. Push the 'angry white man' buttons.