German Election CRISIS (Explained with History)

German Elections are coming after coalition collapse. How did it happen, and what is the historical context?

Social Media ▼
Twitter➜ @williamcfox
Instagram➜ @williamcfox
TikTok ➜ @williamcfox

★ NOTE ON SOURCING IN CAPTIONS:
At the end of a sentence with sourcing, something like this will appear:
"The sky is blue. The ocean is blue (17,89)."
In this example, the 1st number represents the source # from the source list in this description. The 2nd number represents the page number, if the source is a book. If the numbers are separated by a semicolon ie (2;3), the numbers represent two different sources.

1. “Germany’s social democrats name…” Politico. October 8, 2024. Nöstlinger
2. FDP ließ schon zweimal Koalitionen platzen, Tobias Bluhm 06.11.2024
3. “Gerhard Schröder (1998 - 2005)” Bundeskanzleramt. 27 April 2018
4. “Angela Merkel – her political career…” 17.07.2024 deutschland de
5. “Helmut Schmidt (1974 - 1982)” Bundeskanzleramt. 27 April 2018
6. Pollock JK. The German Elections of 1928. American Political Science Review. 1928;22(3):698-705
8. “Vizekanzler Robert Habeck: Liberale Demokratien unter Druck” Nov 9, 2024
9. 04.12.2017 “Freie Demokraten stehen für eine Politik der vernünftigen Mitte”
10. Tagesschau. “"Wir rücken nicht raus aus der Mitte” 05.05.2024
11. “Kanzler Scholz: „Mehrheit der Mitte ist viel größer“ 24.09.2024. Deutschlandfunk
12. ZDFheute “Ampel-Aus besiegelt: Bundeskanzler Scholz entlässt…” Nov 7 2024
13. “Germany's far-right AfD seeking to…” Reuters. Escritt March 12, 2024
15. ARD “Sahra Wagenknecht und ihr Weg in die Politik” Jun 10, 2024
16. Frontline PBS. “Why an Influential Figure in…” July 2024
17. Pew. “7 Facts about…” Ramones. Sept 20, 2024
18. Political Germany National Parliament voting intention
19. WELT. “US-WAHL 2024: Donald Trump” Nov. 6, 2024
20. Alice Weidel: „Trump ist ein Vorbild für die AfD“ November 2024
21. “Donald Trump would have little chance” DW. Fürstenau 11/01/2024

Further Articles I read in preparing this video:
Damien McGuinness for BBC. “Germany engulfed by political crisis”
Kinkartz for DW. “Germany's coalition government falls”
Ehl for DW. “What next for Germany”
DW. 11.6.24 “Germany's governing coalition collapses”

0:00 Intro

Mapping software licensed through MapTiler,and GEOlayers. Thanks to OpenStreetMap and Natural Earth.

Stock video and imagery provided by Getty Images.

[manueldellarosa]

As an Italian i hope Germany doesn't end up in the infinite cycle of meaningless coalitions, between very different partyes, just to take the power.

[ChuJungyin]

2:08 "Still young"?
Germany has been operating under its current governing system since 1949 which is longer than France's Fifth Republic.

[Red_Duc]

16:02 Actually it's not a high point. It was around 22% 10 months ago, after which it began falling to todays level.

[Lukiul]

11:29 „Democratic instability empowers narratives of those for whom democracy is an obstacle.“ very wise words!

[felixnimo]

3:57 | The FDP is only economically right (Capitalism), not socially (Liberalism)

[trevinbeattie]

Thanks for explaining what the German parties stand for to an American who’s unfamiliar with anything but their names.

[lordn]

Very informative great video I respect the work that went into it

[berndhofmann]

I'm German, management consultant and i totally agree. ❤❤❤

[LaienLaymen]

Its would have been probably outside the scope of the video, but since I feel even most german media like only to quickly brush over this question I'd like to add my opinion to the question WHY the extremist parties surge in germany.
And it is the fault of the one who form currently the government + CDU.
Many feel simply if they vote them nothing will change.
The last years only showed to much of their inseccerity.
Not consequences for scandals. Ursula von der Leyen got the presidency of the european union seat and the scandal she produced in germany was never taken seriously.
Olaf Scholz was promoted to chancellor and allegations to crimes in his younger past in political office were never even investigated.
All of the parties have such scandals.
In addition the so called center parties make at best center-left policies for years.
Like the closing of atom energie, the migrant crisis. All this happened under the so calledright-center party.
So who can the peoplevote for?
There are only two parties who get a relevant amount of votes that are not part of this established circle that was already part of the government and seemingly didn't act like servants of the state:
BSW and AFD

[ipaddy]

This was interesting to watch as a German. From my perspective the most likely coalition will be CDU-SPD. It definitly brings stability, however its not healthy for democracy when the two large parties have to come together and there usually isn't much getting done either. Furthermore it leads to an even more divided parliament and strengthens the far right and far left. It is also important to underline that the AfD and the BSW (the latter at least on a federal stage) have no pathway to power in this election, nobody wants to work with them. It's just problematic that neither the democratic right nor the democratic left have majorities which forces them to work together and it gives many people a picture that only a vote for the AfD or the BSW brings change. Surely a difficult time, but we have very strong institutions and I'm sure that we will have a functioning government once again. Scholz just lacked authority and I believe he is the most unpopular head of state in western europe.

[Niuk]

I want to point out how successful you were in giving a wagered overview on the current political landscape in germany. I dont know your content yet and I am always suspicious when I see content creators on youtube diving into german politics and commenting on it. Thank you so much for putting in the work! Already subscribed to your channel <3

[boraulusoy]

This is a very well informed and informative video usimg the past to explain today. We need more like this. Thanks a lot

[jxyzbxt]

as a German I can say: this was fair enough. For a 17 min video, this really wasn't too bad.

[limeliciousmapping]

It was not the first three party coalition. In fact, even counting the CDU and CSU as one party together, there was even a four party coalition in the 60s

[hape]

As much as I appreciate your sensible approach to German politics, I still have to disagree with the perspective from which you view three-party coalitions - as if they were something bad or to be avoided. As a German, I see it very differently. Having more parties is a good thing, because opinions within a population are hardly black and white, and forcing a country into a two-party system leads to division and disenchantment with politics, as you can see in the UK and the US. It also makes stupid outcomes like Brexit or Trump more likely. In Germany, we had a de facto three-party system for decades, in which the tiny F.D.P. (and its relatively few voters) always tipped the scales. Just like in the U.S. a few independent voters lift one party or the other over the 50% (I know, electoral college blah, blah, which makes it even worse because only a handful of states decide). Now in Germany we have more and more parties getting less and less votes each. You might think that's a bad thing, as you seem to do. But our constitution was written with this in mind! The three parties of the past were only a consequence of the strong party loyalty in the electorate. Back then, many Germans would never have voted for a party other than the one they or even their parents were used to vote for. Today, strategic voting is the order of the day and party loyalty is almost non-existent anymore (except here in Bavaria). Three-party coalitions don't work when an outdated us-versus-them tribalism prevails, as the recent failure of the traffic light coalition shows. But at least the SPD and the Greens have already recognized that compromises must be made in order to be successful as a government. Insisting on party ideology, as practiced by Christian Lindner and his F.D.P., leads to failure and to voters apportioning blame. It may take another legislative term or two for all parties to realize that their confrontational way of doing politics no longer works. And then we will get the calm, rational, consensual politics that we long for and deserve. Populism à la Orbán or Trump will not stand a chance in Germany - precisely because we have so many parties.

[pirukiddingme]

Do you think there’s a chance of a coalition between afd and bsw being the largest bloc or being able to form a govt? Genuinely sounds terrifying

[berndhofmann]

The fourth industrial power of this planet functions even without good politicians! 😂😢😮😅😊
Because we have very good companies acting worldwide.

You can compare Germany better with California.

[Geistkaempferin]

Endlich mal eine richtig gute Zusammenfassung ohne Propaganda 👍

[Kretek]

"German democracy is still young". Give me a break. If German democracy is still young because of nazi party, then what post-communist countries are? Super duper young democracies? War ended in 45. Before nazis there was Weimar Republic. And dont even start with your "History is long, friend". If so, then US is super young country in comparison to anything in Europe or rest of the world. Would you say then that US government is unstable because country is practically in baby mode? This is ridiculous. "Still young", what a joke.

[Bardyakhosraviani]

This was very informative, thank you. Who do you anticipate to be in the next uncomfortable coalition?