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Germany from 1890, National Identities (1) The founding of German Empire, which is also being commonly referred to as Second Reich, coincided with German decisive victory over France in 1871. After Napoleons defeat in 1815, Holy Roman Empire of German Nation ceased to exist, which resulted in Germany being split in 39 independent states. Their independence was based on monarchic tradition, while there were no objective reasons for the Germany to be divided. This was realized by Prussian Prime Minister Otto Bismarck, who united Germany through series of domestic and international wars. Otto Bismarck strived to rid Germans of their regional secularism, by instilling them with a spirit nationalism. He insisted that it is a national affiliation that defines the essence of German mentality and the faith of social status.
This is why Bismarck initiated a campaign against Catholic Church, which was pursuing its own interests, at the expense of depriving g Germans of their sense of national unity. They were also economical factors that helped shaping up German national identity at the time. The fact that Germany was undergoing a rapid process of industrialization, allowed Germans to have geopolitical aspirations. They did not see the reason why they could not embark of building a colonial empire of their own. This represented a danger to English interests, throughout the world.
Therefore, since the beginning of Anglo-Boer War, German national identity was being increasingly affected by geopolitical confrontation with England. Germans thought of themselves as defenders of European interests. They were also beginning to realize that they are the strongest nation in Europe, which boosted up German messianic sentiment. Just as Russians, who promoted the concept of pan-Slavism, at the time, Germans were promoting pan-Germanism. German national identity in time of Second Reich is best characterized by the principle of national solidarity, which was the cornerstone, upon which German system of education was based. (2) Between years 1919 and 1933, Germany was commonly referred to as Weimar Republic. During this period, Germans were divided on those who supported Communists and those who opposed their attempts to take over the political power in Germany.
Today, Medias portray Weimar republic as democratic and even progressive country. The truth is slightly different. The annual inflation ratio in Germany between 1920 and 1930 was often reaching 300 %. Sixty percent of Germany's workforce was unemployed. Germany had to pay enormous reparations, according to the Treaty of Versailles, which made the cultural and social progress in this country simply impossible. Many Jewish bankers were quick to use the misfortune of Germans to their own adventure.
The staggering inflation rate allowed them to acquire factories and real estate for pennies. Just as it is America nowadays, Jews also dominated Germany's cultural life. By promoting homosexuality, cosmopolitanism and other types of spiritual depravity, they strived to reduce Germans to a bunch of hedonists, who only cared about sensual pleasures. We can say that during the period of Weimar Republic, Germans were being deprived of unified sense of national identity. Communists succeeded in making many Germans to believe that it was only class affiliation that defined their essence as citizens. Nazis and Communists used to kill each other in countless street fights on daily basis.
The only sentiment, which we can point out to as something that was unifying many Germans at the time, was feeling of historical injustice. Majority of Germans simply did not want to accept the fact that the millions of German soldiers had lost their lives for nothing. This is why; it was only the matter of time, before they would give their votes to some strong politician, who would promise them to return Germany its former glory. (3) Even the hard-core critics of National Socialism admit that, from time when Hitler came to power in 1933 to the outbreak of Second World War in 1939, Germany underwent a miraculous transition. For the first time in history, German government was able to completely liquidate unemployment. Workers enjoyed unprecedented social benefits, such as paid vacations abroad and free housing. With beginning of Volkswagen Beetle production, cars ceased to be the luxury items in Germany, even before it happened in America.
The workers living standards in Germany became highest in the whole world. Nazis nationalized banks, refused to pay reparations, ended of poverty among Germans by creation of new jobs, introduced social policies that would offer a financial and social assistance to newly wed couples and brought sanity to German cultural life by making the promotion of spiritual decadence and degeneracy to be illegal. German national identity at the time was affected by the concept of racial purity. Nazis considered racial mixing as the root of all evils; therefore, they strived to increase the biological quality of Germans by the mean of eugenics.
Hitler was able to convince Germans that their destiny was to protect Europe from the Communism. German national identity ceased to be based on nationalistic sentiment. At the end of WWII, millions of Europeans were willing to join German army, in order to protect Europe from advancing hordes from the East. By the end of 1944, 70 % of SS troops consisted of volunteers from foreign countries. We can say that during his reign, Hitler was able to unite Europe, long before the emergence of European Union. German national identity became strongly associated with European values and by the end of WWII; it had nothing to do with ethnic chauvinism. (4) After the end of WWII, Germany was occupied by allies.
Still, almost immediately, Britain and United States started to become alienated from Soviet Union, which strived to establish a Communist puppet regime in Germany. This coincided with the beginning of Cold War. Just as Hitler had predicted, before his death, the fate of German people ceased to depend upon Germans. From now on, the geopolitical confrontation between Soviet Union and United States was to define socio-political dynamics, within this country. The eastern part of Germany was allowed to transform into German Democratic Republic, under control of Soviet Union.
Communists wanted to deprive Germans on their sense of national solidarity, by promoting the theory of class struggle, on the level of state policy. Nevertheless, the sheer absurdity of Communist doctrine was becoming obvious to more and more Germans, which prompted them to escape to West Germany on mass scale. In Western Germany, virtually all people had to undergo the process of de-notification, which was supposed to instill them with sense of historical guilt. Germans were being encouraged to feel shame for their past. However, no matter how hard Americans and Soviets tried to deprive Germans of their nationalistic sentiment, their effort proved to be a failure, in the long run. They simply could not resist the will of German citizens to live in unified country.
With the fall of Berlin Wall in 1991, German national identity once again became freed from ideology, in traditional sense of this word. Yet, the political correctness in todays Germany prevents Germans from revising their history. There are more and more people coming to Germany from Third World countries, which make Germany being referred to as New Turkey. Slowly but surely, Germany is turning into multi-racial Babylon. Because of this, the concept of national identity will cease to have a traditional meaning in Germany. Every ethnic minority in todays Germany pursues its own secular interest, even though that representatives of these minorities were supposed to embrace German way of life, upon arriving to this country.
Germany could not be destroyed in countless wars, but it appears that the concept of diversity is finally going to put an end to this country, as we know it. Bibliography: Burbank, H. German National Identity: Patriotism and Stigma. 2004. Stanford Undergraduate Research Journal. Retrieved May 6, 2007 from web Hartmann, T. When Democracy Failed: The Warnings of History March 16, 2003.
Common Dreams News Center. Retrieved May 6, 2007 from web German Empire. 2007. Wikipedia. Retrieved May 6, 2007 from web Stolz, S. The Struggle for Freedom of Speech Continues in Germany and Europe. March 26, 2007.
Zundel Site. Retrieved April 6, 2007 from web Weimar Republic. 2007. Wikipedia. Retrieved May 6, 2007 from web Abstract: This paper analyses different forces that shaped German national identity from 1871 until present time. Outline: German Empire Weimar Republic Nazi Germany Western Germany and GDR
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