A theatrical underground plot spearheaded by a septuagenarianSomeone in their seventies. German aristocrat. Conspiracies with a former army commander and an MP. Fanatic would-be martyrs planning to storm parliament on "Day-X".

It has all of the absurd ingredients of something you might read in a history textbook. But the subterfugeDeceit or trickery. , which was exposed yesterday morning after police raided the homes of plotters at dawn, is also uniquely modern.

The scheme consisted of around 25 people who police say planned to violently overthrow the modern state of Germany by storming the German BundestagGermany's legislative assembly, elected every four years.. Its ringleader, Heinrich XIII, is a prince of the "Reuss dynasty" which ruled ThuringiaA state in central Germany. for 800 years before the collapse of the German Empire in 1918.

Its adherents are thought to have been inspired by the theories of QAnonFollowers of QAnon believe a Satanic conspiracy removed President Trump from office. , as well as the increasingly prominent Reichsburger movement, which denies the legitimacy of the modern Federal Republic of Germany.¹

The term Reichsburger is used to describe a far-right fringe group espousing racist and anti-semitic conspiracy theories. They are monarchistsPeople who support the idea of a monarchy. who see the abolition of the German monarchy as illegal, and advocate for the return of Germany to the "Second Reich" - the period from 1871 to 1918 when PrussiaA former German state whose capital was in Berlin. In the late 19th Century it united its neighbours into modern Germany. united a large number of Germany's states under the rule of consecutive Kaisers, or emperors.

Germany's unification was masterminded by Otto von Bismarck, who also was chancellor of the Empire for nine years until 1890. Bismarck remains for some an iconic figure in German history for his "unmatched political genius".

The German Empire came to a close in the aftermath of World War One with 1918's German Revolution. Workers' councils rose up to overthrow the Kaiser and establish a democratic republic.

The period from 1933 to 1945, when the Nazi party ruled Germany, is often referred to as the "Third Reich". The Nazi party presented it as the "successor" of the medieval and early modern Holy Roman Empire and the Second Reich.

Many Reichsburger members also revere this period, where the Nazi party prevailed over a genocide of over six million Jewish people, people with disabilities, communists, homosexual people and more.

For this reason, the group belongs to the ranks of the many neo-Nazi groups that have sparked fear across Europe and North America in recent decades, with numerous high-profile terrorist acts.

Some think that the rise of far-right terrorism is being mirrored in politics, presenting a potentially greater danger. Voters across Europe are increasingly voting for extreme right-wing candidates.

In 2022 alone, Italy elected a prime minister from a party with fascist roots, a far-right candidate won 41% of the vote in France's elections, and an openly neo-Nazi party assumed the second highest number of seats in Sweden's parliament.

Meanwhile Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, who has served in the position for over 12 years, is described as "far-right", "autocratic" and "authoritarian". Some argue that as extremism becomes normalised, the risk of a resurgence of fascismA political ideology that rose to power in 20th-Century Europe. It stressed militarism and order over personal freedom, and often divided society according to racial hierarchies. is greater than ever.

Yes: Right-wing extremism is clearly becoming worse. Terrorists are becoming empowered by a wave of elections of right-wing candidates in politics. The Reichsburger group is only the tip of the iceberg.

No: At every period in history there have been waves of radicalism in both directions. Eventually, it evens out to more moderate positions. Even in the most progressive world, there would still be a small number of extremists.

Or... There is no way to measure whether extremism is getting worse, but it should not matter. We need to stamp out extremism and terrorism wherever we find them by addressing their root causes.