Text/Feiyun
The one who should come will always come.
According to media reports, on November 27, local time, a large-scale anti-American march broke out in the German city of Leipzig, and hundreds of angry people took to the streets with banners and shouted: Yankees get out!
(Protest parade)
The protesters not only opposed the stationing of US troops, but also demanded that the German government stop siding with the United States on the Russian-Ukrainian issue and send weapons and ammunition to Ukraine.
Protests in Germany are nearing normalization, with anti-war rallies breaking out in dozens of towns in eastern Germany almost every weekend or Monday night in recent weeks, most of which are the same size as this one, with hundreds of people participating, and occasionally only a few dozen.
(Recent protests in Germany have been more frequent)
Leipzig, the second largest city in eastern Germany after Berlin, has seen a very frequent number of anti-American demonstrations, although the themes of the protests are varied, some to "support Russia", some to the policies of the Scholz authorities, and some like this time, directly protest to the point and point the finger at the United States.
Why does this phenomenon occur? I personally feel that most of them are inseparable from the following three points:
- First of all, in the final analysis, it is the people's lives that are in trouble.
Since the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Germany has gradually broken its own "bottom line" under the pressure and prodding of the United States. On the issue of whether to provide lethal weapons and equipment to Ukraine, Germany gritted its teeth from the beginning, then compromised step by step, and then followed the United States to take sides and forcibly decouple from Russian energy, resulting in soaring German energy prices and forcing people's living costs to rise.
(As the weather gets colder, Germany's demand for energy increases)
Many people know that the outbreak of the German energy crisis is rooted in the Scholz government's "pro-American and anti-Russian" policy, plus Germany's own economic problems are serious enough, Ukraine is still reaching out to Germany for money and weapons, so it is not difficult to understand that the people call on Scholz to stop pro-US aid to Ukraine.
- Second, the public is aware of the serious negative impact of the United States on the German economy.
The United States is not only the culprit responsible for the economic downturn of Germany and even the whole of Europe, but also while Germany is suffering from the economic crisis, the United States, as an ally, can not help, but who would have thought that the United States would "stab in the back" and continue to squeeze Europe.
(US President Joe Biden)
After Germany lost Russia's cheap energy, it was almost cornered, and at this time, the United States even sold its own energy to Europe at a price 3 to 4 times higher than that of its own country, in an attempt to make a "disaster fortune" in Europe. In addition, the United States has also introduced an "Inflation Reduction Act", which wants to use high subsidies to rob investment that belongs to the European market, which can be called vicious.
- Finally, there is a deep resentment against the U.S. military presence in Germany.
The US military presence in Germany, said to protect Germany, is actually a deterrent to Germany. It is clear that without the presence of American troops, the German government would not have been so afraid and obedient to the United States. This is also one of the reasons for the outbreak of anti-American sentiment among the population.
(U.S. Army)
Of course, there are complex historical issues behind the US military station, and it is certainly no trick to drive out the United States, so it is still okay to take the opportunity to express dissatisfaction with the United States and even NATO and put pressure on the government. It can be seen that the United States has become unpopular.
The protesters' aim is more to pressure Scholz not to continue to follow the foolishness of the United States, send weapons to Ukraine, and turn his attention to how to solve domestic inflation, energy problems, and people's jobs and pensions.
(Current German Chancellor Scholz, former Chancellor Angela Merkel)
Germany has fallen to this step, it is indeed embarrassing, former Chancellor Angela Merkel paved a correct and stable path before resignation, with energy and economic advantages, Germany can play a greater influence in Europe, establish its leadership position in the EU, but because of Scholz's difference in the Russian-Ukrainian issue, Germany lost cheap energy and fell into a difficult situation.