Sisso's European Review | Merkel's "Last Lesson": The "Wall" that Divides Germany Is Still There

The Paper's special contributor Jin Feng

【Editor's Note】

This article is the 9th article of the column "Sisso European Review" launched by the "European Studies" research team of the Shanghai Institute of Global Governance and Regional Country Studies of Shanghai University of Foreign Chinese (SISU) in cooperation with the International Department of The Paper. Merkel's last speech as Chancellor of Germany on the anniversary of German reunification was characterized by two distinctive features: her unprecedented two long talks about her experience, and the fact that the speech of less than 20 minutes was full of rhetorical questions. What does Merkel's "last lesson" want to tell the Germans?

On 3 October, the 31st anniversary of Germany's reunification, chancellor Merkel was invited to give a speech in the city of Halle in Saxony-Anhalt, eastern Germany. This was the last time she gave a Reunification Day speech as chancellor, and the topic of German reunification was too much and too difficult to describe, and Merkel so she changed her identity in her speech, taking advantage of this last opportunity to speak to the people of the country as a "citizen from the east" rather than as a "federal chancellor".

Indeed, if she were to speak as a departing Chancellor, she would have to say what contributions she had made to German reunification in the 16 years since she was in power, and what problems there were, and it was difficult to say anything about it. Merkel's 16 years in power cover most of the 31 years of German reunification, and it can be said that the status quo of German reunification is closely linked to Merkel's performance in governance.

On October 3, 2021 local time, Merkel gave a speech at the celebration of the 31st anniversary of German reunification. People's Vision Diagram

East German betrayal of East Germany?

What Merkel could not understand was that the government had done a lot of work to revitalize the East, but there were many people in the East who were dissatisfied, believing that she did not care about East Germany as an East German and was a "betrayal" of East Germany.

In the just-concluded Bundestag election, Merkel's political enemy, the far-right AfD, became the party with the most votes in the eastern states of Saxony and Thuringia, and won 16 directly elected seats in the entire east, compared with only 3 in the last general election. This means that AfD not only has a wide support rating in some parts of the east, but also forms a well-organized "base area" – not only a "political homeland" for those who are dissatisfied with the current politics, but also firmly supported by conservatives.

Amazingly, the AfD is closely monitored by the constitutional body of the state for its extreme words and deeds in the three Oblasts of Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, and the state is warning citizens not to be deceived and deceived by the party, but the people are going to do the opposite and vote for the party that has been labeled "dangerous" by the state apparatus. By voting for AfD, the people are no longer just expressing their dissatisfaction with the development of the east, but they are indeed supporting the political ideas of AfD. Politicians are puzzled and dissatisfied with the people's choices. Van der Vits, Merkel's commissioner for eastern development, angrily said that those who voted for AfD were "people who grew up under dictatorship and have not yet reached democracy." Such words are somewhat representative of the political elite, but they provoke popular anger among the general population. A villager in Saxony said that in the past, whoever voted for AfD would be talked about by his neighbors, but now it is normal, AfD is considered "people who care about us", and the "National Party" is on top of them, except for slogans, they can't see them.

The embarrassment of the "Unification Party"

Speaking as chancellor on National Reunification Day, there is still a tangle for Merkel.

More than 30 years ago, her political mentor, former Chancellor Kohl, with the support of the CDU, led the process of German reunification, promising a "prosperous scene" in the east, Kohl was hailed as the "Unified Prime Minister", the CDU was known as the "Partei der Einheit", they rightfully won the 1990 German reunification of the Bundestag election, Merkel entered the political high level of the Federal Republic of Germany, became a member of Kohl's cabinet, and began her political career. However, more than 30 years later, the CDU has suffered a historic defeat in this year's general election, especially in the east, and the "prosperity scene" has become a joke in the discourse of some ordinary people. The CDU fell from the peak into the deep valley, how to say in 31 years, how to evaluate in 16 years?

The president of the Bundesrat, The Governor of Saxony Oblast, Kazelov, thanked Merkel on behalf of the cantons at the ceremony, and the persistent applause on the scene expressed the respect or courtesy of the political hierarchy to Merkel, which made her obviously cramped, and after repeated urgings around her, she stood up briefly to greet everyone, sat down quickly, repeatedly signaled everyone to sit down quickly, repeatedly signaled to the musicians on the stage to play quickly, and end as soon as possible the moments of embarrassment or hypocrisy that she herself felt.

Obviously, she is not willing to accept the cheers and applause of the crowd in this way, and seems to have seen too many political scenes, true or false self-knowledge. It is true that not everyone was applauding her, such as the president of the Federal Parliament, Scheuble, who spent most of the celebration staring ahead, in a wheelchair, without moving more. Perhaps, he thought of the December 1999, when Merkel, then secretary general of the CDU, published an article calling on the younger generation to "cut the navel" with the older generation such as Kohl, so that the CDU had new vitality and development, and Scheuble was a younger member of the "older generation" at that time. He had hoped to run for chancellor, but first Cole continued to do it, then Merkel continued to do it, and the opportunity was lost. There must be a reason for him not applauding, and the drama of politics does not require more analysis.

Grievances and anger of "citizens from the east"

Therefore, it is easier to say a few words as a "citizen from the east", there is no distinction between high and low, and you can complain to everyone as usual. Merkel is known for not talking about her own life, and even if she is occasionally questioned by reporters, she only understates it. This time, almost for the first time, she spoke twice about her experience in less than 20 minutes, emotionally recounting the "grievances" she had suffered.

The first experience is that the pro-CDU Adenauer Foundation once said in a book that she joined the CDU at the age of 35 with the "ballast material" of the East German era at the time of east-West German reunification, and certainly did not become the CDU tree with the characteristics of the old Federal Republic of Germany. Described in the party foundation's book as "ballast material", Merkel was deeply humiliated, because the German "ballast material" is a weight-bearing material to prevent weightlessness in the transport of goods, which is itself useless, and the Duden dictionary interpretation is: "It can be thrown away as useless", Merkel said in a self-deprecating tone.

After all, Merkel is still chancellor, talking about her grievances, for the 16 million East Germans, they are full of hope to enter a reunified Germany, but why does their resume before reunification not count? Why is it that "everything that people went through before reunification, for better or worse, became ballast?" "She was questioning, even condemning, disrespect for East German citizens." Not only that, but she also has many grievances.

The refugee issue is Merkel's lingering shadow. The second experience that haunted her was the story of her relationship with a journalist she respected. Because Merkel's performance in the 2015 refugee crisis was questioned and she was asked to apologize, Merkel replied, "If I were to apologize for my friendliness in the refugee crisis, it would not be my country." The reporter wrote: "At that moment, she did something that her predecessors had never done before: she distanced herself from the country, but she was the second servant of the country! This reveals that she was not a born but learned Federal German and European. ”

"Are there two more Germans, two Europeans?" A German by birth, a German who has to prove his or her studies every day? Merkel asked rhetorically, repeatedly, in her harsh way of expressing anger, "Who decides, who understands the values and interests of our country, who is doing it, or not, is it the born Germans, or those who join later?" In addition to criticizing her "innate" sense of superiority, Merkel has to give a story about refugees as she leaves office, as it is the subject she has been attacked the most.

The "last lesson" full of rhetorical questions

This is a speech with a lot of rhetorical questions, and the rhetorical questions are the clearer answers. As Chancellor, she called on all Germans to respond to change in solidarity, to "shape a common future", to open their hearts to each other, to tell and respect their experiences. Open your heart, because more than 30 years after Germany achieved territorial and institutional unification, although the material government has given huge investment to the east and the people's lives have been greatly improved, the wall that hangs in the hearts of the people in the east and west of Germany has not yet fallen, and it is still standing high in the hearts of people in different regions.

In her last Unification Day speech, Merkel took the "last lesson", to the Germans, but also to herself. She wanted to show that the unity of the country cannot rely solely on material input, nor can it tolerate a sense of institutional superiority, it is necessary to cross the gap between institutional superiority and ideology, and the problem of the soul needs to be solved by everyone's heart, and if it is not solved well, the responsibility lies with everyone, and it lies in everyone's vote.

In front of the vote, the government can't do anything? It sounds like a defense of the government, an excuse for Merkel's own 16 years in power for being blamed for neglecting the East. In fact, these problems not only plague Germany's domestic reunification, but also face confusion in the "value diplomacy" reflected in foreign relations. Merkel's question is waiting for posterity to answer, which is difficult.

(The writer is a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Global Governance and Regional Country Studies, Shanghai University of Foreign Chinese)

Editor-in-Charge: Zhu Zhengyong