Germany's ruling coalition has collapsed after Chancellor Olaf Scholz sacked his finance minister hours after Donald Trump won the US presidential election.
The decision to remove Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats (FDP) party from his post has triggered political chaos in Europe's largest economy.
The chancellor is now expected to head a minority government with his Social Democrats (SDP) and the Greens.
He plans to hold a parliamentary confidence vote on January 15, 2025, but this decision has paved the way for a snap election.
"In some ways, this has been a crisis that's been building in Germany for a number of years," said Matt Fitzpatrick, professor of German and European history at Flinders University.
"It's a very tumultuous time for Germany."
A decision for Germany
The collapse of the three-way alliance caps months of wrangling over budget policy and Germany's economic direction.
Mr Scholz said that he acted with the country's future in mind.
"We need a government that is able to act, that has the strength to make the necessary decisions for our country," he said.
However, Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens said it is a "tragic" decision at a time when Germany "needs to show unity".
Professor Fitzpatrick believes the chancellor's decision to shake things up within the coalition has come too late.
"Scholz reached his breaking point with Lindner but I would argue he belatedly sought to bring order to the government's house by expelling him," he said.
Why was the finance minister sacked?
The coalition had been at odds over how best to rescue Germany's economy after a second year of contraction.
Lindner, from the pro-business Free Democrats, had been the main driver for reform of the government's economic policy.
He rejected tax increases and changes to Germany's strict self-imposed limits on running up debt.
Speaking after the decision to sack Lindner, Mr Scholz said he made the decision because of his obstructive behaviour.
"I feel compelled to take this step to prevent damage to our country," the chancellor said.
"He has broken my trust too often. There is no basis of trust for further cooperation. Serious government work is not possible like this."
Mr Lindner responded to his dismissal by accusing Mr Scholz of failing "to recognise the need for a new economic awakening in our country. He has played down the economic concerns of the citizens".
The outgoing minister said the chancellor's economic proposals were "dull, unambitious and make no contribution to overcoming the fundamental weakness of our country's growth".
Mr Scholz also accused the minister of putting party before country, saying his "selfishness is utterly incomprehensible".
Germany could have to provide more support to NATO
Currently Germany is the second largest supporter of Ukraine after the United States, and the country now faces the possibility of being left to take on a far bigger share of the war effort.
No word has come from president-elect Trump relating to NATO, but he has repeatedly criticised the alliance and complained that the US contributes too much to its budget.
Trump did restrict funding last time he was the president, and with his return, the international outlook is in for a major shake-up.
Professor Fitzpatrick believes the decision to sack Mr Lindner was likely made before the US presidential election, despite it being announced after.
But he thinks it is now an "uncertain period" in Germany and further afield across Europe due to the result of the US.
He said: "I don't think you're going to see a United States that's deeply invested in military support of NATO and indeed Ukraine over the next four years, and that means that responsibility will fall more heavily upon Europe."
German police halt neo-Nazi plot
Germany has faced difficulties with the resurgent far right during the economic crisis.
Earlier this week, German police arrested eight suspected members of a neo-Nazi militant group who had been training in warfare for the downfall of the modern German state.
The militant group consisted of 15 to 20 individuals named by prosecutors as Saxony Separatists.
Convinced that Germany is nearing collapse, the group had been training to use force to establish a new system in the country's east inspired by Nazism, according to investigators.
"If necessary, unwanted groups of people are supposed to be removed from the area by means of ethnic cleansing," a statement from the group said.
Spiegel Online reported that one of the suspects was Kurt Haettasch, an AfD politician in the eastern state of Saxony.
The party itself insisted it had nothing to do with such a group.
Currently the AfD commands as much as 18 per cent support in national polls, and Professor Fitzpatrick said that is a "deeply worrying figure".
"If you've got as many people interested in voting for the far right as for the centre-left, then you've got a parliamentary system that is lurching towards crisis," he said.
What next for Germany?
Mr Scholz says he will call a confidence motion in his government for January 15.
That will pave the way for an election to be held by the end of March.
In the meantime, the chancellor largely controls the pace of events and the opposition can only push him out if they can find a majority for a specific alternative chancellor.
This week marks the 35th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down, but Professor Fitzpatrick said the "optimism of that period has largely evaporated now".
"We see that the disillusionment with the project of democracy in Germany at this point is spreading," he said.
"The future of the country is unclear."
