Couldn't the rise of the AfD be at least partly explained by the fact they oppose the Ukraine war, whereas (afaik) no other mainstream German party does? There must be a wide recognition among ordinary people that siding with the US and fighting a proxy war against Russia has been disastrous for the economy, and if the situation gets desperate enough people might be willing to overlook the 'straightforwardly-fascist' tendencies of the AfD because that's their only democratic option for slowing down or halting the collapse in their standard of living. If I recall AfD were the only ones to oppose the German govt's draconian covid policies too.

I agree with the general point about dropping the far right/fascist label in the indiscriminate way it is generally applied today, while reserving it for cases where it's actually appropriate. When employed as a smear it basically guarantees that people will join the ranks of the actual far right, especially if those are the only ones who appear to be fighting on their behalf on a number of issues perceived to be the most important.

cheers,
I