Germany is one of the world’s most successful liberal democracies. It is an unlikely place for a coup. Yet attempts to seize power – such as the far-right plot exposed by the country’s security services, that resulted in the arrest of 25 people this week – are more common in Europe than we might like to admit.
Those held in custody in Germany are accused of plotting a putsch to overthrow the German government and replace it with a hereditary monarchy headed by an obscure prince. Three thousand police officers were involved in rounding up the suspects in this plot. Usually when such a swoop is mounted in Germany – and they are more frequent than we might like to suppose – the targets are Hitler-worshipping neo-Nazis, often with worrying links to the armed forces or police. So the news that the current suspects belong to an ultra-conservative movement called ‘Reich Citizens’ bent on returning lands lost to the Fatherland after World War Two and re-drawing Germany’s post-war frontiers, is a change to the usual pattern.
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