As an Austrian I ask myself the same question since I was a child but I couldn’t find an answer yet
It’s a good article, very moderate and ponderous, from a German persons perspective that got changed by living in Estonia.
> Before I start, I would like to stress that I am a German living now for nine years in Estonia. I fully support the Ukrainian government and believe that the states of Europe should offer all support possible and requested by the Ukrainian leadership. This support also includes the delivery of more heavy weaponry.
> I am, therefore, not trying to excuse the actions – or better lack thereof – of the German government, but I am trying to explain to myself and others why the response has been so disappointing (I wrote not long ago that I was rather optimistic about this government).
…
> Here, I want to refer again to Snyder, who put it best: The Germans “miss one important aspect: an empire needs to lose a colonial war to make sure that it stops being an empire.”
> Based on Scholz’s essay, this realization is slowly being accepted in German leadership. However, the focus on Putin instead of the country still points towards the hope that a post-Putin country will receive another chance from Western democracies to become a partner. I hope, however, that the mistakes of the last 30 years are not repeated and a serious engagement with Russian colonialism, in and outside the country, happens first.
> Furthermore, it is time that German pacifism loses its universal validity and adjusts to the times. Similarly, to the end of Swedish and Finnish neutrality, it is time that Germany stops outsourcing its security needs to others realise and normalizes its relationship with armed forces (e.g. that certain capabilities are necessary for the 21st century). In this context, it is also important that Germany assumes some responsibility in line with its role and standing in Europe’s collective defense.
> The arguments put forth here paint the picture more complexly, which I believe is appropriate as we are dealing with a complex problem. The more simple explanation attempts – such as Germany is only interested in maintaining its wealth, or German politicians are most interested in appeasing their voters in light of higher living costs – are not entirely wrong but often only touch a certain part of the problem. I hope to have offered additional options to read the situation
TL;DR: The pendulum went too far right, and now it’s gone too far left, leaving ultra pacifism the prominent position in the German public who consequently genuinely do not understand that what they think is a noble route to casting off the legacy of their past and never again becoming the aggressor, in fact, a dangerous path of denial on the way to becoming willing victims.
As a German, this hits home: “Today I understand that I have been socialized in a country that has convinced itself that it is the only potential source of aggression on the European continent and installed a pacifist mindset to avoid its re-awakening.” Great article!
Why do Germans love Russia so much? Is it just cheap energy? Germany trades more with Poland alone than with Russia. V4 trade is probably more than China. Why Germany is so prone to ignore everthing east of Oder except Russia?
>Many European nations have been disappointed by Germany’s lack of urgency to support Ukraine and its hesitancy to cut its economic ties with Russia. Even though it seems that Chancellor Scholz and his government are slowly changing course, many have been asking what is wrong with Germany?
I don’t understand this part?
We’ve sent the weaponry we had in stock, refurbished & upgraded old systems & trained Ukrainians on them as well as given them monetary aid to buy more weapons directly from the manufacturers. We’ve also given lots of humanitarian aid.
We’ve invested 100 billion into renewables, are fast tracking LNG terminals (despite environmental regulations) and made deals with other countries for future supplies of gas & hydrogen. There’s no course that’s slowly changing here, other than the media & people acknowledging those things months later. And what more would you expect than this? The only step further is to cut the gas ourselves, which we’d not just would have to pay for (breach of contract), but it would also irreparably kill our economy, which would also affect a lot of countries inside and outside the EU, including the food sector. Is that really what people want?
It is simply that Germany no longer felt threatened thanks to the collapse of the Warsaw Pact & did not care enough about the sense of threat among countries in the EU’s east to have a credible military. It will be hard to have a “European project” if the biggest and most powerful state in the EU is not willing to invest to protect the security of vulnerable EU members even though its own security is not threatened seriously.
Overall a very decent article and it mostly fits with my own impression of the German public discourse.
That said, please keep in mind that this article still is a simplification. Germany is a country of roughly 80 million people with a wide range of political positions. Some form of ‘pacifism’ is prevalent in most political parties, but there can be wild differences even within a party.
Also, the idea of rapprochement with Russia to influence them to become more democratic is dead in Germany since at least 2012 after Medvedev stopped being president – if not since 2008 with the invasion of Georgia.
​
I’d like to add my own two cents about a kind of pacifism in Germany: Quite a lot people cannot grasp the concept of a ‘just war’ here in Germany. They have the idea that any difference can just be solved diplomatically, if one just tries hard enough.
The historical ‘justification’ for this point of view are not only the atrocities of WWII commited by Germany, but also the proxy wars of the Cold War period (which also are the reason, why Germany did not want to send weapons into conflict zones).
This kind of pacifism is of course absurd when considering the war effort of the allies in WWII – but this requires comparing current warmongers to Hitler and Nazi Germany, which is taboo as their atrocities are seen as singular event in history.
​
For similar historical reasons, Germans also shy away from attributing this war to ‘Russians’ and instead often call it ‘Putin’s war’. In school we are ingrained with the idea that generalizations about different peoples are inherently bad – and I still totally agree with that. But as a side effect we cannot honestly talk about all the negatives present in large parts of Russia’s populace or hold the Russian people accountable for their politics or society.
Again, that goes totally against the (current) German view of its own past society of Nazi Germany. We largely agree that every German not actively resisting the Nazis has some guilt for letting it happen. And Germans today have the responsibility not to let authoritarianism rise again. I cannot understand why so many people don’t make the leap to hold the Russian people to the same standard.
Germans after decades of being shamed to become pacifist are now being told to rebuild a strong military ASAP. Talk about whiplash
Pretty good opinion article.
Two caveats:
>Scholz still excuses the Russian population by focusing on Putin and implies that the colonialist and imperialist traits are a recent development.
As a German he should know that it is a bad idea to paint the whole population as imperialist because it is in their blood, or in their race. That is obviously not the case and saying so is literal Nazi speak. You don’t see Germans itching to invade their neighbours even after people said militaristic aggression was in the Prussian blood. Same way it is possible for an ethnic Russian that has grown up entirely seperated from Russian propaganda to be completely non imperialistic.
>Based on this misunderstanding and the feeling that Germans have a superior moral position in the form of universal pacifism, the response has been cumbersome and disappointing.
If other people are still throwing trash on the ground, why should I make an effort not to litter? If everyone thought that way, the world would be covered in trash (even more than it is today). In reverse if everyone thought: I know what is right – not littering – and am therefore not going to litter, the world would be clean.
Not starting wars of aggression __IS__ the morally superior position and if everyone thought the same as modern Germany, there would be zero wars in the world. Not sure how world peace is somehow a bad thing.
You mean over the last year or…
I think the most fundamental difference between Germany and most of East Europe re. russia stems from a vastly different historical understanding of the aftermath of WW2.
For Germany, Russia /Eastern Europe was the victim of *German* aggression/imperialism.
For Most of Eastern Europe, they were the victim of *both* German and Russian aggression/imperialism.
Germany historically saw Russia as a victim, not so much as perpetrator. Germanys Ostpolitik towards Russia wasnt *just* rooted in desire for cheap Russian gas, but the desire to make amends for the crimes Germany committed upon Russia.
12 comments
As an Austrian I ask myself the same question since I was a child but I couldn’t find an answer yet
It’s a good article, very moderate and ponderous, from a German persons perspective that got changed by living in Estonia.
> Before I start, I would like to stress that I am a German living now for nine years in Estonia. I fully support the Ukrainian government and believe that the states of Europe should offer all support possible and requested by the Ukrainian leadership. This support also includes the delivery of more heavy weaponry.
> I am, therefore, not trying to excuse the actions – or better lack thereof – of the German government, but I am trying to explain to myself and others why the response has been so disappointing (I wrote not long ago that I was rather optimistic about this government).
…
> Here, I want to refer again to Snyder, who put it best: The Germans “miss one important aspect: an empire needs to lose a colonial war to make sure that it stops being an empire.”
> Based on Scholz’s essay, this realization is slowly being accepted in German leadership. However, the focus on Putin instead of the country still points towards the hope that a post-Putin country will receive another chance from Western democracies to become a partner. I hope, however, that the mistakes of the last 30 years are not repeated and a serious engagement with Russian colonialism, in and outside the country, happens first.
> Furthermore, it is time that German pacifism loses its universal validity and adjusts to the times. Similarly, to the end of Swedish and Finnish neutrality, it is time that Germany stops outsourcing its security needs to others realise and normalizes its relationship with armed forces (e.g. that certain capabilities are necessary for the 21st century). In this context, it is also important that Germany assumes some responsibility in line with its role and standing in Europe’s collective defense.
> The arguments put forth here paint the picture more complexly, which I believe is appropriate as we are dealing with a complex problem. The more simple explanation attempts – such as Germany is only interested in maintaining its wealth, or German politicians are most interested in appeasing their voters in light of higher living costs – are not entirely wrong but often only touch a certain part of the problem. I hope to have offered additional options to read the situation
TL;DR: The pendulum went too far right, and now it’s gone too far left, leaving ultra pacifism the prominent position in the German public who consequently genuinely do not understand that what they think is a noble route to casting off the legacy of their past and never again becoming the aggressor, in fact, a dangerous path of denial on the way to becoming willing victims.
As a German, this hits home: “Today I understand that I have been socialized in a country that has convinced itself that it is the only potential source of aggression on the European continent and installed a pacifist mindset to avoid its re-awakening.” Great article!
Why do Germans love Russia so much? Is it just cheap energy? Germany trades more with Poland alone than with Russia. V4 trade is probably more than China. Why Germany is so prone to ignore everthing east of Oder except Russia?
>Many European nations have been disappointed by Germany’s lack of urgency to support Ukraine and its hesitancy to cut its economic ties with Russia. Even though it seems that Chancellor Scholz and his government are slowly changing course, many have been asking what is wrong with Germany?
I don’t understand this part?
We’ve sent the weaponry we had in stock, refurbished & upgraded old systems & trained Ukrainians on them as well as given them monetary aid to buy more weapons directly from the manufacturers. We’ve also given lots of humanitarian aid.
We’ve invested 100 billion into renewables, are fast tracking LNG terminals (despite environmental regulations) and made deals with other countries for future supplies of gas & hydrogen. There’s no course that’s slowly changing here, other than the media & people acknowledging those things months later. And what more would you expect than this? The only step further is to cut the gas ourselves, which we’d not just would have to pay for (breach of contract), but it would also irreparably kill our economy, which would also affect a lot of countries inside and outside the EU, including the food sector. Is that really what people want?
It is simply that Germany no longer felt threatened thanks to the collapse of the Warsaw Pact & did not care enough about the sense of threat among countries in the EU’s east to have a credible military. It will be hard to have a “European project” if the biggest and most powerful state in the EU is not willing to invest to protect the security of vulnerable EU members even though its own security is not threatened seriously.
Overall a very decent article and it mostly fits with my own impression of the German public discourse.
That said, please keep in mind that this article still is a simplification. Germany is a country of roughly 80 million people with a wide range of political positions. Some form of ‘pacifism’ is prevalent in most political parties, but there can be wild differences even within a party.
Also, the idea of rapprochement with Russia to influence them to become more democratic is dead in Germany since at least 2012 after Medvedev stopped being president – if not since 2008 with the invasion of Georgia.
​
I’d like to add my own two cents about a kind of pacifism in Germany: Quite a lot people cannot grasp the concept of a ‘just war’ here in Germany. They have the idea that any difference can just be solved diplomatically, if one just tries hard enough.
The historical ‘justification’ for this point of view are not only the atrocities of WWII commited by Germany, but also the proxy wars of the Cold War period (which also are the reason, why Germany did not want to send weapons into conflict zones).
This kind of pacifism is of course absurd when considering the war effort of the allies in WWII – but this requires comparing current warmongers to Hitler and Nazi Germany, which is taboo as their atrocities are seen as singular event in history.
​
For similar historical reasons, Germans also shy away from attributing this war to ‘Russians’ and instead often call it ‘Putin’s war’. In school we are ingrained with the idea that generalizations about different peoples are inherently bad – and I still totally agree with that. But as a side effect we cannot honestly talk about all the negatives present in large parts of Russia’s populace or hold the Russian people accountable for their politics or society.
Again, that goes totally against the (current) German view of its own past society of Nazi Germany. We largely agree that every German not actively resisting the Nazis has some guilt for letting it happen. And Germans today have the responsibility not to let authoritarianism rise again. I cannot understand why so many people don’t make the leap to hold the Russian people to the same standard.
Germans after decades of being shamed to become pacifist are now being told to rebuild a strong military ASAP. Talk about whiplash
Pretty good opinion article.
Two caveats:
>Scholz still excuses the Russian population by focusing on Putin and implies that the colonialist and imperialist traits are a recent development.
As a German he should know that it is a bad idea to paint the whole population as imperialist because it is in their blood, or in their race. That is obviously not the case and saying so is literal Nazi speak. You don’t see Germans itching to invade their neighbours even after people said militaristic aggression was in the Prussian blood. Same way it is possible for an ethnic Russian that has grown up entirely seperated from Russian propaganda to be completely non imperialistic.
>Based on this misunderstanding and the feeling that Germans have a superior moral position in the form of universal pacifism, the response has been cumbersome and disappointing.
If other people are still throwing trash on the ground, why should I make an effort not to litter? If everyone thought that way, the world would be covered in trash (even more than it is today). In reverse if everyone thought: I know what is right – not littering – and am therefore not going to litter, the world would be clean.
Not starting wars of aggression __IS__ the morally superior position and if everyone thought the same as modern Germany, there would be zero wars in the world. Not sure how world peace is somehow a bad thing.
You mean over the last year or…
I think the most fundamental difference between Germany and most of East Europe re. russia stems from a vastly different historical understanding of the aftermath of WW2.
For Germany, Russia /Eastern Europe was the victim of *German* aggression/imperialism.
For Most of Eastern Europe, they were the victim of *both* German and Russian aggression/imperialism.
Germany historically saw Russia as a victim, not so much as perpetrator. Germanys Ostpolitik towards Russia wasnt *just* rooted in desire for cheap Russian gas, but the desire to make amends for the crimes Germany committed upon Russia.