Germany’s Day of Destiny
While 9/11 has shaped US foreign policy and national identity significantly, German identity and foreign policy has been shaped even more by 9.11. — that’s how we write “November 9th.”
This is what happened on November 9th in Germany:
1848: Germany’s first revolutionary dreams were killed.
1918: Proclamation of the Weimar Republic.
1923: Hitler first attempted to take over the government.
1938: The so-called Reichskristallnacht took the brutal persecution of Jews to the next level and would end in the murder of millions of people.
1989: The Berlin Wall fell.
2007: Chancellor Merkel meets with President Bush on his ranch in Crawford. The Associated Press writes that Iran is likely to dominate the talks. Let’s see what secret worldshaking decisions they will make 
(To clarify: I am not so superstitious as to believe that Merkel is going to agree on some kind of path to war with Iran.)
Today, a few German papers (example Bild) feature the kids who were born in November 1989 and now turn into adults. The Tagesspiegel writes how the unified Germany is coming of age. German foreign policy has changed tremendously in the last 18 years. Some US observers have criticized Germany’s previous Chancellor Schroeder for an adolescent behaviour. One think tanker wrote that “German foreign policy needs to grow up.”
Regarding gratitude for President George H.W. Bush’s strong support for German unification see the Atlantic Review post: Day of German Unity and German-American Day
There have been a few accusations of historical revisionism. What do you think of Germany’s “evolution”? What do you expect from it?
Share This
Related Posts
-
George W. Bush’s Legacy: The Debate Continues
Posted on Apr 23, 2013
-
An Attack on America’s Self-Confidence and Mythology (Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany)
Posted on Apr 20, 2013
-
In Afghanistan, NATO Now Committing Bald-Faced ‘Murder’ (Der Spiegel, Germany)
Posted on Apr 11, 2013
-
Abe Must End Gamesmanship Over Post-War Constitution (Hokkaido Shimbun, Japan)
Posted on Mar 19, 2013
This is quite fascinating actually. It almost seems to be a magical number, to Germans at least.
Germany has a long way to go still. It’s, ironically, too afraid of itself. It has to make sure that it won’t fall back into militarism, but it should also not go the other way in an excessive way (as it has done after WWII).
I’d say that Germans still have to relearn to trust themselves.
@ Michael
Thank you for your thoughts and feedback. And for the link!
No problem Joerg. It’s an interesting subject.
What do you think?
@ Michael
I pretty much agree with you. And also with Techau from the German Council on Foreign Relations: German Foreign Policy Needs to Grow Up
Re your statements:
“It’s, ironically, too afraid of itself.”
Yes, but there is more to it: Being the pacifists and the soft power advocates is pretty comfortable. It is a nice and easy role. We got too accustomed to it.
“I’d say that Germans still have to relearn to trust themselves.”
Yes. Sort of. I think we need serious debates on foreign policy. And I am not saying that we have to participate more strongly in more foreign interventions like Afghanistan. I don’t want more of this trust in ourselves. I think the German people are right to be skeptical about the prospects of military interventions.
What we definitely need is some serious discussion on what our interests are, what the main threats are and what the best way to deal with them is.
Instead of such debates about the right policy, we often debate whether we should join the Americans on matter xyz or not.
Soft power, diplomacy etc is all fine, but we need a more focused debate on it as well. It is not enough to “talk to Iran.”
I don’t want discussions about whether to go to war with Iran or to continue negotiations. Rather we need to debate how to make the negotiations successful. Such public debates are missing.
Hello,
nice that people outside of germany see the magic 9th november.
What you have missed in your listing is that something else is happening today that is much much more important then two lame ducks talking:
Today the german parliament will vote on the authorization for full online surveillance. After that bill is passed german internet providers, cellphone providers and everybody else who allows any kind of electronic communication HAS TO save EVERY data – except for the contents of the communication – for 15 years. That is:
for every phone call it is recorded when and who and how long called.
For every website it is recorded what client, what ip tried to contact what other ip at what time and for how long
same for email – who send an email to who and when – here is also a “length” variable that gets saved (so email was 64,333 kb in length).
All this data is available to the police and the secret police – and soon to the US I guess…
The Bill is called the “Vorratsdatenspeicherung” and it gets germany back on track to become a Third Reich or a second GDR just a new “leader” who then will have total control and we should be heading in this direction not for too long.
Jeorg-
Your comment number 5 is extraordinarily sensible.
One has always to listen to others for additional insights, but no one but a country (or a person, for that matter) itself can decide what path it should take.
Advice often comes with a string: do what is best for ME.
People, especially in the US, are extrordinarilly unable to apprecitate other cultures and other hisories. They see everything through the prism and blinders of their own experience.
Learn from advcice. Don’t follow it blindly.
Yes, that’s most definitely true. The same can be said for most European countries, including the Netherlands, though.
Partially agreed. Agreed because that’s indeed what the diplomatic focus should be, partially disagreed because I think that Europe has to get reacustomed to the idea that sometimes force is necessary and that, therefore, one needs to have a strong military… that can act.
Europe often offers the carrot and forgets about the stick whereas America uses the stick but forgets the carrot.
Joerg is German.
I think everyone concedes there’s been a loss of diplomatic nerve endemic to western Europe.
For decades, the object lesson was World War II. Then the problems in the Balkans exposed a lack of willingness to stop lawlessness with violence. But I imagine the current war in Iraq doesn’t make violence look like an appealing solution.
The lessons of history aren’t always obvious.