ABSTRACT
In 1980, a national coalition of environmental parties founded a new party, the Greens, to run candidates in municipal, Lander, and national elections. Despite numerous intraparty factional and programmatic cleavages, organizational problems, and ebbing social movements, the Greens became a fourth national party, which gained seats in most municipal, Lander, and national elections. According to two specialists, the emergence of Greens in northern and central European countries was the result of a political climate that enabled social democratic parties to gain power and provided space for New Left protest parties. In West Germany, social movements were the precursors of the Greens. In the 1950s, a peace movement arose in opposition to rearmament and the stationing of US nuclear weapons on German territory. The rise of the Greens can also be attributed to changing social structures and value priorities among West Germans. The Greens established regional groups before creating a nationwide organization.
