Societies pass from peaceable to terrifying all the time, and it generally happens pretty quickly. Nobody ever seems to see it coming, although it's always obvious in hindsight to armchair analysts.

It hasn't happened in one of the big powers in awhile, but 71 years isn't that long. It wouldn't be paradise the day before an election and hell the day after, but you never know what event will be pivotal. Until armchair time.

Yup. Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur. Four genocides since WWII.

People look up to Germany. Germany setting themselves up for disaster will make other people think they're somehow safe.

Russia being a good example.

When was the transition? I don't remember Russia ever being a peaceable society.

1989. Most of the west expected communism to fall eventually, but nobody expected it to end as it did, when it did.

Probably a decade away, but Turkey is in the process of turning into a nondemocratic state, as is Hungary. Suppose the Syrian civil war spreads to Turkey (which already has its own ongoing conflict against its Kurdish minority). The collapse of Turkey would dump tens of millons more refugees into Germany. A few years of that and the people running on a platform of expelling Turks at gunpoint might start becoming popular.

Comparing Hungary to Turkey is insulting for Hungarians. Just because they oppose some mainstream EU bullshit does not make them less democratic than Germany or France (in fact I would consider Hungary MORE democractic).

It is a little bit difficult to find websites that represent Hungary's point of view in the controversial issues, though I'm pretty sure that the common presentation (that is biased towards the EU one) is not the whole truth...

And? People aren't less manipulatable than their grandparents were. Just look at the recent election successes of the AfD.

This is a cheap smear. If you want to criticise the AfD - fine - but be specific and give your reasons.

I gather they object as I do, to Merkel's arrogant 2015 invitation to migrants which impinges on every person in the EU and particularly in the UK which is a honeypot for EU citizens (which migrants will be in a few years) earning less than the minimum wage.

They are a protest party. Being right-wing is incidental here – they appeared out of nowhere, gained support fast due to unforeseen political circumstances, but they don't exactly have a mature political agenda. They're most likely no new NSDAP, but who says we'll be that lucky every time protest parties sprout up?

The CDU moved more into a more left direction under Merkel, so there are politicians who will try to capture the more right-wing voters who don't feel themself represented by the CDU anymore. Voila - AfD is born. As a German I don't like the AfD but really don't worry about it.