Austria’s Fascist Renewal

A young dark-haired blue-eyed Austrian with fascist ambitions rises through the ranks. Does that sound familiar? It is quite understandable if it does. However, we are not talking about Adolf Hitler but his possible reincarnate Heinz-Christian Strache. Not only is he the charismatic leader of the far right Freedom Party, but he is a mentee of the party’s former leader, Jörg Haider. Before we draw conclusions on the ideological posture of Strache, there is one pivotal question that must be asked. How can a country that should have learned from the horrors of World War II vote 18% in favor of a party susceptible to fascism? Together with Jaider’s Alliance for the Future of Austria taking 11% of the votes, it amounts to 29% supporting far right ideologies. Keep in mind, the nation in question is Hitler’s homeland. Therefore, it has to be said that Austria itself is susceptible to reverting back to the sentiments of its most notorious son. If that were not the case, neither the Freedom Party nor the Alliance would have gotten the second highest number of votes combined.

The percentage of votes may sound like very little until you put them in perspective. Here are the results including other political parties:

The Social Democrats, a centrist party, won approximately 30% of the votes along with the election itself.

The conservative People’s Party took 26%

The Freedom Party took 18%*

The Alliance for the Future of Austria, 11%*

These numbers alone tell us that in Austria, fascist principles are second only to centrist ideals. Therefore, the world should be vigilant.

Should we be concerned about Strache? We are talking about a man who calls Muslim women who wear the burka female ninjas. There are also claims that he insults homosexuals in his spare time. The accusations do not end there. He is a man believed to be closely tied to neo-Nazis. He does of course deny any such link. The primary evidence at this time appears to be a picture of Strache giving a three finger Nazi salute. He defended himself by claiming it was simply of picture of him ordering three beers. That “evidence” itself cannot tell us if this man is in fact a Nazi. Further observations of his actions as a politician will.