One of the repercussions of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine
The coup attempt puts the Germans on the brink of a nervous breakdown
The federal system enhances the safety of institutions in Germany.
Reuters
Prince Heinrich in the hands of the German police.
Reuters
picture
Early Wednesday, thousands of German police wearing masks fanned out across the country, arresting 25 people and confiscating weapons, in what authorities describe as a "satanic" plot to overthrow the country's government and restore the monarchy.
The chief prosecutor in the case said the group's "military arm" was surreptitiously building a "new German army".
However, after just one day, the case looked more like a script for a comedy TV episode than a violent thriller.
The alleged ringleader was Prince Heinrich XIII, a descendant of an 800-year-old aristocratic dynasty, and police said the gang organized conspiratorial meetings at the Schloss hilltop in rural Thuringia.
The 71-year-old prince and the alleged conspirators, several of whom are retired, amassed a formidable arsenal of weapons, according to police, which included a crossbow (a medieval weapon), slingshots and swords, as well as antique, inconspicuous hunting rifles and pistols.
fragile case
The fact that what happened reveals the fragile state of the national psyche at the present time more than it reveals the stability of the country's democratic institutions.
And since the end of World War II, Germans have lived by the slogan "Resist the Beginnings," which they follow to the letter.
Germany is no stranger to dangerous terrorists.
Since the 1970s, a left-wing terrorist group known as the Red Army Faction has killed more than 30 people.
Beginning in 2000, a neo-Nazi group calling itself the "Underground National Socialist Party" embarked on a years-long killing spree that left nine people dead.
It is reported that Mohamed Atta, who led the plane attack on the World Trade Center in New York, in 2001, gathered his team in Hamburg, where he spent several years as a student.
While there is no doubt that a group like the one allegedly led by Prince Heinrich might have ended up killing people, the suggestion that this could have threatened the stability of the EU's most populous country is absurd.
Germany's federal structure alone, which was imposed on the country after World War II to prevent the centralization of power (each of Germany's 16 states has its own police, for example), would make it difficult for even a well-organised force to overthrow the government, let alone a group that could be described as "crazy".
Heinrich's diverse team included a former parliamentarian from the far-right Alternative for Germany party, a retired SS officer (who left the service in 1996 and never actually saw combat), an opera singer, a roofer and a professional cook. .
after the overthrow of the government (at one point, the group considered making the death of Queen Elizabeth the day of their launch, but was not prepared after her death);
The conspirators planned to create a political "council" to run the country under the leadership of Prince Heinrich.
Many of the group belong to a fringe movement known as the "Reichsburgs", who maintain that the German Republic is an illegitimate state and demand the return of the monarchy.
Authorities have put the total number of Reichsburg members in Germany, who are often arrested for failing to pay taxes and have a history of shooting police officers, at about 20,000.
Others in the alleged plot belong to the anti-vaccine movement in Germany.
It is not clear how such a scattered group could take over the central institutions of a country of more than 80 million people.
However, the state-backed German broadcaster stopped programming to provide comprehensive coverage and began to warn of the end of German democracy.
"Anyone who laughs at this is making a mistake," warned ARD TV correspondent Michael Gutschenberg.
One of the main tenets of the Reichsburg mystery narrative is that Germany has become a vassal of the United States, a pawn on the chessboard of American colonialism.
Unsurprisingly, members of the group, including Prince Heinrich, are also pro-Russian.
Authorities said Heinrich went with his Russian girlfriend, who was also arrested, to the Russian embassy in Berlin in an attempt to drum up support for his plot.
However, the alleged plot was too crazy for the Russians, who apparently refused to cooperate.
German terrorism experts warn that a combination of the Corona pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis in Europe has put the country on the edge of the abyss.
"We will see more events like this," Peter Neumann, a professor at King's College London, told German radio. "A well-connected quagmire has arisen from protests against the policies of the coronavirus pandemic and now this scene has become extreme."
In any case, the situation will not change soon and there will be more things to worry the Germans in the future.
The German federal structure that was imposed on the country after World War II to prevent the centralization of power would make it difficult for even a well-organised force to overthrow the government.
The conspirators planned that, after the overthrow of the government, a political "Council" would be set up to run the country under the leadership of Prince Heinrich. Germany is no stranger to dangerous terrorists.
Since the 1970s, a left-wing terrorist group known as the Red Army Faction has killed more than 30 people. Beginning in 2000, a neo-Nazi group calling itself the "Underground National Socialist Party" embarked on a years-long killing spree that left nine people dead.
20,000
Member of the Reichsburg, according to German authorities.
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