The West German party was founded on 12-13 January 1980 in Karlsruhe, in the convergence of political movements, including the environmental, anti-nuclear, peace, and women’s movements. In the 1970s, activists of these movements felt their causes were underrepresented in the established parties, which did not include a strong left-wing opposition. In 1993, the Green Party merged with the East German “Alliance ‘90” to form the unified “Alliance ‘90/Green Party” (Bündnis ‘90/Die Grünen) of Germany. The Green Party’s main interests lie in environmental politics with emphases on ecological, economical, and social sustainability. Since its foundation, the party has debated its program and strategy, with rifts between the party’s fundamentalist-radicals (“Fundis”) and realist-reformists (“Realos”). During 1998 and 2005 the Green Party was part of the German government’s red-green (Social Democrat and Green) coalition. The Greens have been succesful in reshaping Germany’s political landscape and in bringing ecological concerns into the German mainstream.
- Japs, Simon. Etablierung durch Anpassung: Programmatischer und inhaltlicher Wandel der Grünen. Saarbrücken: VDM Verlag, 2008.
- Klein, Markus and Jürgen W. Falter. Der lange Weg der Grünen: Eine Partei zwischen Protest und Regierung. Munich: C. H. Beck, 2003.
- Probst, Lothar. “Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (Grüne).” In Handbuch der deutschen Parteien, edited by Frank Decker, and Viola Neu, 173-188. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2007.