In Germany, politics recollects history
Anti-European sentiment would seep only further into Germany. In recent weeks, the CSU announced that it may split with the CDU unless Merkel limits immigration in Germany. They are working on a solution, and maybe they will be successful.
To be sure, Germany has issues it must resolve. One is the economy. Germany needs the European Union to consume a large portion of German exports, since Germany’s industrial capacity outstrips its domestic appetite for goods. Germany needs a free trade zone, as well as a common currency.
Another issue is its past. Germany’s behaviour in World War II was horrific. It came to see the EU as a key to its rehabilitation. Post-war Germany would become a great economic power, but not a military one. Its future would be defined not by its own decisions but by those of a united Europe, of which it was just one of many members. The European Union, therefore, is a symbol of Germany’s redemption, and Berlin’s fidelity to it is not just an attempt to strengthen Europe but a means for exorcising its own demons. Whereas Nazi Germany was nationalistic, the EU’s Germany would be European. Whereas Nazi Germany was xenophobic, the EU’s Germany would welcome all strangers. Berlin, and Poland. After the Nazis ravaged Poland, the Soviet Union immediately occupied it. Poland has been a sovereign nation for just about two decades in recent centuries, thanks in part to the Nazis and then, in part, to the Soviets. Polish culture inevitably came back to life, ratified by elections of a nationalist party. It’s no surprise, then, that Poland began to buck EU directives. From the Polish point of view, Germany is trying to dominate Poland again, this time in the name of liberalism, not fascism. The ideology has changed, but the song remains the same.
It’s no coincidence that the Polish believed their culture was under threat. The European Union, after all, was created to temper the nationalism that had torn Europe apart, and nationalism is part and parcel of most cultures. But the EU has now galvanised nationalists across the Continent, many of whom fear they will lose their culture. For Germany, this was the point.
That is why the recent political events in Germany have to be seen as different from Poland or Britain or Italy. There are similar movements making similar gains, but the CSU’s threat to leave Berlin’s ruling coalition – over the question of immigration, no less – is symptomatic of the xenophobia Merkel thought she was fighting in other countries. Now it could very well take her government down.
For this generation of Europeans, there is a strong and reasonable belief that Nazism is little more than a thing of the past. But not all share in this belief. When you travel in Europe you hear many unkind things about the Germans. Much has to do with current business practices, but when you keep talking, you find that there is a strong historical dimension to their antipathy. Anti-German feeling has been put on hold. It has not been suspended entirely.
That means Europe may see the rise of a nationalist movement in Germany differently from how the Germans see it. If the general concern about immigration turns into a celebration of German culture, as has been the case in many countries, it will actually accelerate nationalism among various European nations, always ready to be on the defense about Germany.
Most Germans today have modest dreams. They dream of prosperity and of living decently, welcoming immigrants in need. But for those who struggle to live at all, the generosity of the elite grates. It becomes harder and harder to hold on to that generosity. I do not think Merkel’s open borders can survive, nor can Merkel’s power. Germany is part of Europe and is responding to the same pressures. But it looks different to the Germans, and the Poles will see it differently as well. I can’t image a repeat of German history. But certainly the recollection will be there.