Polarizing peace: comparing protests in solidarity with Ukraine with peace demonstrations in Germany

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the German government has taken a united stance in support of Ukraine. At the same time, political attitudes among the German public about the government’s response to the war are increasingly polarized, in particular the question of delivering heavy weapons. This setting provides an interesting context to explore how the German peace movement positions itself in this polarizing debate and how other protest actors respond to this. While the ‘old’ German peace movement and traditional pacifist positions have come under growing pressure, new progressive coalitions oppose pacifist claims and right-wing actors are employing the term ‘peace’ to further their own mobilizations efforts. Drawing on protest surveys, the paper will investigate current polarization dynamics by comparing two recent demonstrations in Berlin on the occasion of the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine: a demonstration organized by the traditional German peace movement and a demonstration organized in solidarity with Ukraine by a coalition of actors, including a Ukrainian diaspora association and the German Green party. Our analysis shows the strongly diverging profiles of protesters in both demonstrations, starting with their opposing views about peace, German foreign policy and the current world order and ranging to differences in mobilization histories, political orientations and socio-demographic characteristics.