It is easy for Americans born on the cusp of the twenty-first century, such as myself, to forget that Germany, as we know it today, has hardly existed for more than two decades. A modern German national identity began developing in the shadow of World War II during the Bonn Republic. National identity can be defined as the psychological feeling of belonging shared by individuals of a given nation (Triandafyllidou 595). German national identity is unique in that it is built around a commitment to democratic principles and a successful social market economy rather than patriotism or a feeling of national superiority. This comes as a direct result of German sentiment following World War II. However, modern German perceptions of Islamic immigrant populations have brought the German people’s longstanding tradition of valuing human rights over feelings of national superiority into question.
After World War II, Germany was split into two individual states: NATO-influenced West Germany – also known as the Federal Republic of Germany or the Bonn Republic – and the Soviet-influenced East Germany. Ultimately, Germany was reunified via an annexation of East Germany by the Federal Republic in the 90s. Thus, modern Germany resembles West Germany far more than it does Soviet East Germany. When drafting the Federal Republic’s constitution, the framers of the Basic Law put a special emphasis on “installing an extensive system of checks and balances which were to avoid the mistakes of the past, … human rights, … and values such as liberty and equality” (Wittlinger 2). The fact that these were the areas of emphasis in the drafting of the Basic Law comes unsurprisingly as the lack of an effective checks and balances system in pre-war Germany allowed for the central government to attain an unprecedented level of power during the Third Reich, which ultimately enabled the atrocious human rights violations of the Holocaust – which the German people have chosen to never forget – to be committed. We will come to see that the largest influence in the construction of a modern German national identity has been World War II and its resulting fallout.
During the immediate post-war era, the Federal Republic formed strong relationships with France and the United States to ensure protection from the threat of the Soviet Union but was otherwise happy to stay internationally quiet while rebuilding its economy and infrastructure. During this time, it was hard for Germans to identify with their nation due to “the Nazi past and the collective memory of its destructive nationalism” (Wittlinger 4). However, as time went on and the Bonn Republic continued to focus on growing its economic strength, its citizens became united through feelings of pride for their flourishing economic system which yielded widespread affluence throughout the state. Today, German citizens continue to take pride in being pioneers of industry and commerce, and rightly so. Germany has the strongest economy in Europe (and the fourth strongest in the world) with a GDP of four trillion USD and a per capita GDP of $48,000 (United States, IC, Central Intelligence Agency).
Germany’s economic powerhouse status has raised a contentious debate in Europe surrounding its role within the European Union. Several commentators are suggesting that Germany has turned into a hegemon, or an overbearingly dominant political force, but the prevalent German opinion is a dissenting one that suggests Germany’s place in Europe is simply as a “Chief Facilitating Officer” (Ischinger; Steinmeier). This perspective is a uniquely German one in that it concedes a degree of economic superiority while rejecting the notion of dominance. More than 70 years after the end of World War II, Germany continues to remember its darkest times as if they were yesterday and subsequently fear the development of a sense of national superiority.
Also as a result of atrocities committed during the Holocaust, a deep commitment to human rights and civil liberties is an integral component of the German national Identity today. The UN Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2016 report issued a freedom score of 95/100 to Germany, five points higher than the USA’s score of 90. Furthermore, Freedom House gives Germany a perfect score of 1 in Political Rights and Civil Liberties. However, Amnesty International criticized Germany’s treatment of refugees in their Annual Report, citing more than one hundred instances of hate crimes against asylum seeking immigrants over the course of 12 months. The current refugee crisis and subsequent actions taken by the German people and government are threatening to reshape the modern German national identity as it has come to be known.
In early 2015, German Chancellor Angela Merkel adopted an open arms policy concerning Germany’s stance on the acceptance of refugees into the country (Delcker). Since then, more than 1.1 million asylum-seeking immigrants have entered the country, most of whom have come from Syria (Mortimer). Germany’s total population is estimated to be just over 80 million, so an influx of 1.1 million immigrants is truly staggering. The refugees living in Germany are by far the most relevant “other” as it pertains to the reshaping of the German national identity.
Today, Merkel’s favorability rating has tanked as a direct result of her immigration policy (Delcker). Germans see the open arms policy as a detriment to their national security and hold Merkel accountable for the occurrence of recent terror attacks such as the Berlin Christmas market massacre that killed 12 people (Al Jazeera). Through means of varying civility, ranging from peaceful protests all the way to acts of arson, the German people have made it clear to the world that a Syrian living in Germany is very much not a German. Thus, refugees are choosing to leave the country as they no longer feel welcome (Mortimer). If the German government decides to stop accepting refugees into the country, it will set a bad example for the future and go against the precedent set during the days of the Bonn Republic. Furthermore, refusing to grant safety to innocent people whose homes are being blown to rubble almost seems like terrorism in and of itself.
While German policymakers have yet to cave in and kick refugees out of their country, the German people have made their minds up as to how they want the problem dealt with: they want the refugees to go back home, even though home does not exist for most of these people. While a commitment to human rights and democratic principles is key to German national identity, current German actions towards refugees have made it apparent that Germans value their feelings of safety far more than others’ rights to those same safe feelings.
Works Cited
Triandafyllidou, Anna. "National Identity And The `Other.'." Ethnic & Racial Studies vol. 21, no. 4, 1998: pp. 593-610 SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 19 Jan. 2017.
Wittlinger, Ruth. German National Identity in the Twenty-First Century: A Different Republic After All? Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, pp. 1-8.
Central Intelligence Agency. “The World Factbook: Germany.” Central Intelligence Agency, 12 Jan. 2017, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html.
Mortimer, Caroline. “Thousands of refugees successfully sue German government over partial asylum status.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 18 Oct. 2016, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/refugee-crisis-germany-government-bamf-angela-merkel-anti-immigration-a7368551.html.
Delcker, Janosch. “Angela Merkel: refugee policy misunderstood, not mistaken.” POLITICO, POLITICO, 20 Sept. 2016, www.politico.eu/article/angela-merkel-refugee-policy-misunderstood-not-mistaken-berlin-elections-migration-afd/.
Al Jazeera. “Record number of refugees opt to leave in 2016.” Germany News, Al Jazeera, 28 Dec. 2016, www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/record-number-refugees-opt-leave-2016-161228131140508.html.
Steinmeier, Frank-Walter. “Save Our Trans-Atlantic Order.” The Opinion Pages, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/03/12/opinion/save-our-trans-atlantic-order.html?smid=pl-share.
Ischinger, Wolfgang. “What is Germany’s role within the EU?” Regional Agenda - Europe - Germany, World Economic Forum, 15 Sept. 2015, www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/09/what-is-germanys-role-within-the-eu/.
Amnesty International. “Annual Report: Germany 2015/2016.” Amnesty International, 2016, www.amnesty.org/en/countries/europe-and-central-asia/germany/report-germany/.
Freedom House. “Freedom in the World 2016.” Freedom in the World 2016, Freedom House, 2016, freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2016?gclid=CjwKEAiA8JbEBRCz2szzhqrx7H8SJAC6FjXXQxzeQk3622_QzfhkGwGY0h-14zZY_L8GwBJOj5jaPxoC_Nrw_wcB.
