“Euroskeptic Party Alternative für Deutschland Strikes Fear in Rest” read a headline in the Times back in September 2013. What was the fear generating story after story in news media around the world? It was the possibility that the new Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) might win a shocking 5 percent of the vote in German elections.

A quick glance back over the past two or three years reveals how dramatic the explosion of this brand-new populist party has been. Since 2013, the AfD has become much more right wing; its rhetoric far more controversial; and its popularity has soared.

In the “Super Sunday” elections held in three German states this weekend, the AfD did even better than polls forecast. It won 24 percent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, coming in second. The Financial Times reported that this represents “the best regional result of any German populist right-wing party since 1945.”

In Baden-Württemberg, it won 15.1 percent of the vote, and 12.5 in Rhineland-Palatinate. Although the figures for these two states are lower, they may be more important. Right-wing populist parties have had some success in East Germany—where Saxony-Anhalt is located—only to be comprehensively rejected in the West. By breaking through in these prosperous West German states, the AfD has shown it’s far more than a party of East German protest.

This election was the first time German voters had the chance to voice their opinion on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s pro-immigrant policies, and many rejected them. The AfD’s success is mostly because it is the only party that wants to limit immigration.

The big question to emerge from this election is that of Ms. Merkel’s political survival.

“The Incredible Shrinking Merkel: Sunday’s Elections Could Be the Starting Pistol for Merkel’s Would-be Successors” was one of Brietbart’s headlines after the vote. “Sunday’s verdict was a clear warning from the electorate that Germans have lost patience with the chancellor’s deliberate approach to the crisis,” wrote Politico.

“For the first time, her own party critics can point to hard election results to argue that her policies are having a detrimental effect on them,” Politico continued. “With Merkel’s party already divided on the issue [of immigration], it’s only a matter of time before challengers emerge.” It said that if the tide didn’t turn in Merkel’s favor soon, she may have to forgo another run.

“Powerful figures within the party may start to look for an alternative leader ahead of next year’s national elections,” wrote the Telegraph. “A defeat in state elections was the beginning of the end for Ms. Merkel’s predecessor, Gerhard Schröder.”

In reality, lasting until 2017 and stepping down before the election is probably a best-case scenario for Ms. Merkel. That election is still a long way off, especially when you look at the headlines that continue to roll out every day on the migrant crisis. In January and February, over 123,000 migrants landed in Greece, compared with only 4,600 in the same period last year. That’s an increase of nearly 2,600 percent! What will immigration be like this summer, as the weather warms up and more migrants take the chance of making that run?

Some say Ms. Merkel can shrug off this defeat, but one additional factor they overlook is how this election weakens her position in Europe. Part of Merkel’s power, as she’s dealt with crisis after crisis, is that she was the only really popular and secure national leader in the European Union. While the French president set new, all-time-high unpopularity records, and brand-new parties unseated established politicians across Europe, Ms. Merkel seemed immune to the problems the other leaders faced.

If any EU leader disagreed with one of his fellows, he simply had to wait a few years and his colleague would probably be gone. But Ms. Merkel could not be ignored so easily. This staying power, combined with the fact that she represented the will of the overwhelming majority of Germans, gave her considerable clout.

This election has dented that clout, and it risks sending Merkel on a vicious cycle—the more unpopular she is at home, the less powerful she is in Europe; the less powerful she is in Europe, the more unpopular she becomes at home. “The weak support shown for Germany’s traditional parties on March 13 will only further hurt Germany’s leadership in the European Union,” wrote Stratfor. “Germany’s continued leadership of the European Union and Merkel’s leadership of Germany are at stake.”

Furthermore, Ms. Merkel is not changing course. “German voters on Sunday appeared to send a message to Chancellor Angela Merkel: Close the door on migrants,” wrote the Washington Post. Germany’s Handelsblatt took the same message. “The Wake-Up Call” was the headline on its front page this morning. “Simply continuing on the same path is not an option,” it wrote.

Yet in a news conference on Monday, Angela Merkel gave no sign she would reconsider this issue. “Without a doubt, we have come a long way towards solving the refugee issue, but we still don’t have a sustainable solution,” she said. “I am fully convinced that we need a European solution and that this solution needs time.” This “European solution” stands in stark contrast to the immediate closure of Germany’s borders demanded by the AfD.

But the political shift demonstrated in Germany over the weekend goes beyond simply one individual.

“Berlin is facing a multitude of interlocking crises that are contributing to the fragmentation of Europe,” wrote Lili Bayer for Geopolitical Futures on Friday.

“Despite its position as the largest economy in Europe and the leading political power on the Continent, Germany is finding itself unable to effectively address Europe’s crises, and is struggling to maintain its influence in some regions,” she wrote. “At the same time, Germany’s economic vulnerabilities are coming to the fore. We can expect many more challenging weeks for Berlin in the months ahead.”

Europe has a slew of unresolved crises, and they threaten to hit Germany the hardest. Each one will only add to the political instability. Look at where Germany’s political system is already, as revealed by this weekend’s elections. Yet the crises are only just starting to bite.

“We are seeing a normalization of right-wing populist movements in Germany just like elsewhere in Europe, even if here, it takes on a special form because we can’t ignore Germany’s past,” said contemporary history professor at Mainz University Andreas Rödder, according to Agence France-Presse. Similarly, German political analyst Wolfgang Merkel told Tagesspiegel, “Until now, right-wing populist or extreme-right parties are considered taboo, considered like aliens in the political sphere.”

“This is a tectonic shift in the political landscape in Germany,” said Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer.

Spiegel sees the breaking of this taboo as part of the rise of a whole new political system. Ahead of the election, it described how Germany’s postwar second republic was now giving way to a “third republic.” “Germany Enters a Dangerous New Political Era” was its headline.

“Stability used to define Germany’s political system,” it wrote. “But the refugee crisis has fundamentally changed the country’s party landscape. The rise of the fringe has eroded the traditional centers of power.” Here’s how the article began:

Seven or eight months ago, Germany was a different country than it is today. There were no controversial political issues demanding immediate action and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s leadership was uncontested. It was quiet and comfortable. But then the refugees began streaming into Europe and the country’s sleepy tranquility came to a sudden end. Since then, disgusting eruptions of xenophobia have come in quick succession, a right-wing populist party is on its way to holding seats in several state parliaments, Merkel has gained approval from the center-left Social Democrats and from the Greens, some conservatives want to throw her out and the state is overwhelmed. Does anyone know what is happening? What is wrong with this country?

Ms. Merkel’s career is at stake over the coming months. But much more than that is on the line. How will these crises change Germany? What will the post-Merkel nation look like—a nation where a borderline xenophobic party can win a quarter of the vote in a major election?

Spiegel is not the only one sounding the alarm. “It was a night in which you could see, in a few hours, how much the country changed—and one could feel how much it is still changing,” wrote the Süddeutsche Zeitung. “The old ways, which determined the political landscape of the Federal Republic for decades, no longer apply. What was once certain is now uncertain. What was once considered impossible now seems likely” (Trumpet translation).

The Local, an English-language news website that focuses on Germany, published an article titled “Why German Politics as We Know It Is Crumbling.” Talking about the Green Party’s victory in Baden-Württemberg, it reported, “This was the first time in post-1945 Germany that a party outside the big two took the largest amount of votes at a state election.”

“Voters are no longer tribally attached to the two main parties and will switch from one party to the next based on current political issues or their attachment to specific politicians, the Süddeustche Zeitung argues,” they continue.

When Germany’s top newsmagazines warn of the rise of a new era in Germany and the end of the political system that has brought Germany one of its longest periods of relative peace in history, we should all take note.

The Trumpet has long warned of a radical political transformation coming to Germany and all of Europe. This transformation is already making headlines in Germany—although the writers cannot see where it is leading.

To see what the Bible says about this new political system coming to Europe, read the opening chapter to our free booklet He Was Right, “Is a World Dictator About to Appear?”