On Germany

This assessment of Germany's evolution and character remains more topical and concise than conventional histories, inspired partially on heritage and years of viewing German television and news as well as other sources, such as Der Spiegel. It also endeavors to provide some insights to English-speaking readers regarding Germany's intelligentsia and cultural influences, which helped shape society and the country.

What and who represents Germany? That question defies a simple answer. Settlement on its territory dates back at least 40,000 years, documented by the famous Neanderthal find in 1856. Yet, as a unified political entity, the nation did not emerge until 1870. Before that milestone date, chroniclers told tales of Teutonic warriors and the Holy Roman Empire, ruled mostly by the Habsburgs and the Hohenzollerns. The latter dynasty's most famous representative: the Prussian King Friedrich the Great (1712-86), who represented enlightened absolutism. The Vienna Congress of 1815 prompted the formation of a German federation led by Prussia. Forged in war, that federation united in the German Empire following the defeat and capture of French Emperor Napoleon III at Sedan. The empire's industrial might grew and militarization accelerated under Wilhelm II, who mistakenly thought that the show of force would bring Germany and its Kaiser international respect.

Two world wars followed, with an attempt at true democracy in between: the Weimar Republic. Some historians now present the 20th century's first half as a period of virtually uninterrupted conflict; many facts support that conclusion, pointing the finger at the German war machine. At war's end, the Four Powers agreement resulted in Soviet-instigated division between East and West Germany by 1949, precipitating the Cold War. Nonetheless, the western portion benefitted from the US Marshall Plan, which helped initiate the beginnings of its economic miracle. The skillful tutelage of Economics Minister and later Chancellor Ludwig Erhard also played a major role in that success. In 1961 East German authorities literally cemented the division between East and West by constructing the "anti-fascist" Berlin Wall, to stop the exodus of their own people.

By the 1970s, Chancellor Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik began a period of reduced tensions with East Germany, then led by the hardline Stalinist Erich Honecker. Mikhail Gorbachev's Glasnost and Perestroika served to thaw the Cold War in the 1980s. Even so, the rapid collapse of the East German regime in late 1989 came as a surprise to many. Reunification followed under the tutelage of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, a large man with a lot of patience and persistence. Despite many scandals concerning the spying activities of people in the forty-year existence of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), as well as controversies over property and economic policy, the unified Federal Republic soon solidified its position as Europe's strongest economy. The arts flourished as well, experiencing a renaissance of Vergangenheitsbewältigung (Germany's way of processing its past). One of the most prominent manifestations: The Lives of Others (2006), a movie about Stasi surveillance and its consequences.

Under the skillful guidance of Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany became a refugees' haven by 2015, when countless of the displaced sought to escape from civil wars in Syria and Afghanistan. The German experience holds many lessons for humanity. This short volume purports to deliver a few. I have adapted pertinent sections from my earlier books on the 1900s, 1920s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Yet, Part One consists of entirely new material, and much of parts Two and Three, including the final chapter on Germany in the 21st century. Today's republic looks much different from Bismarck's or even Adenauer's times - multicultural, open-minded and green. German society's rollercoaster ride through history deserves anothe