Germany is closing the ledger of its past

Beyond Angela Merkel’s remarkable victory in the German general election — her third in a row — the result just short of an absolute majority represents something more. It marks the last period of transition politics, giving way to a consolidation phase in a prosperous and stable nation after their turbulent past. Ms Merkel’s strength has been her persona of ordinariness, the hausfrau (housewife) frugally ordering her country’s affairs in a Europe beset with economic woes while protecting the prosperity of Europe’s strongest economy. Her austerity drive for the highly indebted nations of the European Union, which earned her notoriety in the southern periphery, was as much to preserve the euro as it was for her country’s larger good. Germany has moved on from wearing sackcloth and ashes for its misdeeds in the last World War. Perhaps, Ms Merkel is the last leader doing penance for the past — witness the great monument of atonement in the heart of Berlin and the uncritical support she gives to Israel. The German mood is changing and it is arguable whether successive generations should be held responsible for the crimes of their forefathers. Ms Merkel herself is from the former Soviet-controlled eastern part. What is clear is that Germany has wisely used its time since its defeat in World War II and the Allied occupation to emerge as an industrial powerhouse. And former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, later to be disgraced, brilliantly used changing circumstances to extract a unified country out of two Germanys by his diplomacy with Moscow, on its last legs as the Soviet Union, and Washington zealous in retaining the whole of Germany in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The result came at a huge cost to Bonn’s (the de facto capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990) exchequer. There are, of course, any number of people and countries ever ready to remind Germany of its past in the hope of extracting political and economic concessions. But the ledger is now closed and after Ms Merkel’s presumably last term in office as Chancellor, her successor will conduct himself or herself differently as the leader of a normal nation. Germany has been punching well below its weight in world affairs, contenting itself with building its economic and industrial strength. While Mr Kohl will remain the visionary in the mould of Konrad Adenauer and Ms Merkel the hausfrau, the next Chancellor will take his/her place as the leader of the continent’s most important country after Russia. As the country will see much haggling before the seemingly inevitable coalition with the Left, Social Democrats, falls in place, a new Germany will begin to appear. It will be, for one thing, a more confident though not arrogant Germany that’s more resistant to political blackmail for its Nazi past. Second, Ms Merkel and her successor will need to field a larger military machine as its contribution to European defence. In fact, apart from Ms Merkel’s and her Christian Democratic Union’s stellar performance, with the Social Democrats in second place, the outcome of the vote for smaller parties is revealing. The old-fashioned liberals and the ruling party’s coalition partners, the Free Democrats, are out of favour and Parliament. The Greens, too, lost their former zest while the Left, the successor to the former East German Communist Party, remains a presence. What is remarkable is the performance of the Alternative for Germany, a euro-sceptic party that came out of nowhere to touch the Free Democrats. Europe, of course, is Germany’s post-war Holy grail. The victorious West was keen to tether Germany to a larger European entity to deny it hegemonic thoughts. And the post-war German leadership was equally keen to be Europe-tethered to demonstrate its contrition. Its diligent apprenticeship under the United States paid off handsomely in winning German reunification, despite the hostility of Britain’s Margaret Thatcher and France’s reservations. The Alternative party’s surprising result is one indication among others that Germans are thinking what would until recently have been considered heretical thoughts. Germans are openly expressing a desire to go back to the old currency is breaking away from the mould. The euro currency has brought Germany much benefit though the Deutschmark was decidedly a prized currency. The bulk of German exports go to other European Union countries and the euro helps in exports. So the question that must be asked is whether this is a precursor of other unconventional thoughts. Germany has already achieved the status of an honorary permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in the formula of Five Plus One giving Europe even more weight than it has, to the detriment of other emerging powers, including India. Besides, although Ms Merkel has built her popularity on her prudent management during the economic crisis, the early shoots of other visions are becoming apparent. This is a development to be welcomed because Germany cannot remain a political pigmy while being the richest and most powerful nation of the European Union. The two nuclear-armed EU countries, Britain and France, are the group’s strongest military powers, but their straightened economic circumstances are apparent from their agreement to share an aircraft carrier. And the United States is pressuring the Europeans to bear more of the military burden in view of Washington’s need to cut the Pentagon’s budget. What precise leadership role the future Germany will take remains to be seen, but it will be a different country, more conscious of its strengths and less mindful of the dark phase of its history. One can safely assume that the next leader will not cultivate an air of ordinariness. S/he will reflect Germany the powerhouse in industry, cutting-edge science and craftsmanship. Germans are mightily pleased, for instance, that their cars are universal objects of desire.