Germany’s recent elections promise hope for the West. If such a left-leaning country can experience a remarkable shift towards conservatism, this bodes well for both America and Europe.

Originally scheduled for September 2025, Germany moved its election to Feb. 23 due to mounting dissatisfaction with Germany’s leadership. A long recession caused the International Monetary Forum to label Germany the “worst-performing major economy” in 2023. Ongoing environmental and refugee spending had triggered a budget crisis. To make matters worse, the latest in a series of suspected attacks by Middle-Eastern refugees and immigrants occurred, this time in Munich. The attack left more than two dozen people injured just ten days before the election.

The election results were nothing short of historic. The Bundestag, or German Parliament, which was previously governed by a left-wing alliance of the SPD (Social Democrat), FDP (Free Democrat), and A90 (Green Coalition) parties, underwent a radical transformation. For the Marxist-founded Social Democrats in particular, representation in the 630-seat German Parliament fell below 20% for the first time since 1933, landing at its lowest level since 1887.

The parties that carried the day were the CDU (Christian Democratic Union of Germany) with 28.4% of the vote and 208 parliamentary seats, and AfD (Alternative für Deutschland, or German Alternative) with 20.8% of the vote and 152 parliamentary seats. Together, the CDU and the AfD parties swung an unprecedented 360 parliamentary seats — a very healthy majority, considering that the remaining 270 seats must be shared across four disparate left-wing political parties.

The two parties will have much to negotiate. The CDU and AfD both favor reducing immigration, strengthening national defense, revitalizing the economy, and promoting a positive vision of German national identity. As strategist Erik Lenhart has observed, both parties have far more in common with each other than they do with any of the other leftist parties in the Bundestag.  

But it still remains to be seen how parliamentary alliances will form. Ironically enough, the biggest obstacle to a CDU/AfD supermajority isn’t substantive policy differences — it’s the popular perception of the AfD as a “radical far-right party.” Like many leftist perceptions, however, this is inconsistent with the facts. As Vice President J.D. Vance observed in a post on X earlier this year, the German states that supported the AfD most vigorously are “the same areas of Germany that were most resistant to the Nazis.” Unfortunately, this has not yet improved the AfD’s reputation.

In a rough analogy to American politics, the CDU is closer to the establishment-type Republican Party, while the AfD is akin to the MAGA movement. Media slander of the AfD, the type which many Americans now instinctively ignore when leveraged against MAGA, still seems to have some sway in German political perceptions. CDU leadership must realize how it could benefit from cooperation with the AfD and in spite of social and political pressures, forge a tie. 

Under the Trump administration, America’s relationship with a newly conservative Germany will evolve. In the wake of the Feb. 23 election, CDU leader and soon-to-be Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that his “absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA.” 

Merz’ stance rhymes in many ways with the America First agenda, albeit in a polite German tone. As leader of the CDU, Merz has advocated for a “zero tolerance” approach to punishing criminals, reversing marijuana legalisation, curtailing “woke” policies and language, and exploring a return to nuclear power. A committed capitalist and a devout Catholic, Merz is something of a Trump figure, branding himself as a businessman and political outsider, and stating he hopes to bring much-needed reforms to Germany. 

Like Trump, Merz is not a spotless candidate. However, the success of both his party and the AfD in an election with record 82.5% voter turnout is a positive sign. As historian and author Charles Coulombe opined earlier this week, “if the election of Mr. Trump and the string of victories of the so-called ‘far-right’ in Europe signify nothing else, it is that the Liberal Order we have lived under for so long is nearing the end of its tether.”

 As Coulombe and Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin have both observed, Europe is in the midst of a “crisis of identity.” It faces a binary choice: toward virtue and greatness, or toward weakness and decline. Germany, until recently one of the most liberal countries in Europe, has set the stage for its renewal, and by extension that of the West. Now she must deliver on this vision. Germany must still scale an enormous summit in her quest for renewal. 

Nevertheless, all ascents begin with one step. Semper altius.

 

Frederick Woodward is a sophomore studying political economy.