"In Germany, an entire generation knows only one female leader, her name is Merkel." — The BBC's description is not an exaggeration. On September 26, local time, the German Bundestag will elect the 20th Bundestag and the new Chancellor of the German government, and the "Merkel era" of German politics will also come to an end. Under the aura of politics, what kind of person is Merkel? What did she bring to the world and what did she leave behind?
On September 26, Germany held elections for the Bundestag, and "super standby chancellor" Merkel will retire after completing four terms. An article in Der Spiegel, titled "Nearly Great Chancellor," summed up Merkel as "an accident in history" in which "a woman from East Germany wants to help the West through a major crisis."
Indeed, Merkel's 16 years in power were a veritable era of crisis: she led Germany through the financial crisis and then the European debt crisis that followed; she fought with the unshakable Putin and the irrational Trump; on the one hand, the surging refugee tide in the Middle East and North Africa, the protracted Brexit, and then the new crown pneumonia epidemic, leading the disintegrating European countries to jointly fight the epidemic.
No matter what kind of Germany and the European Union she will leave behind, as Zhao Junjie, a researcher at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said, Merkel has made great contributions to Germany's economic and social prosperity, to the process of European integration, and to improving the participation and international image of Europe in international affairs.
"Southern Daily" reported on September 26, 08 edition
The fall of the Berlin Wall awakens Germany's "Iron Lady"
Angela Merkel was born in 1954 in Hamburg, West Germany, with the surname "Kasner". Her father, a priest and a teacher, moved the family to East Germany shortly after Merkel's birth. At this time, there were still 36 years before the reunification of the two Germans.
Gifted and accomplished, Merkel has always been "someone else's child". In 1973, at the age of 19, Merkel entered the University of Leipzig to study physics, and later entered the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the East German Academy of Sciences to do scientific research, and in 1986, she obtained a doctorate in physics and embarked on the road of scientific research. During college, Merkel met Ulrich Merkel, who also studied physics, but the marriage lasted only 4 years. The world-famous "Merkel" is actually the surname of her first husband.
Fast forward to 1961, when Merkel was 7 years old, berlin built the "Berlin Wall." Merkel has revealed that she vividly remembers the scene — everyone was crying, which was her initial awareness of politics.
The wheel of history suddenly turned, and on November 9, 1989, the "Berlin Wall" collapsed. In a speech at Harvard University in May 2019, Merkel described the scene this way: On her way home, following the crowd, she suddenly found us standing in West Germany. "I couldn't believe it, a door suddenly opened." "In those months 30 years ago, I experienced firsthand that nothing is impossible to change."
It was this upheaval that awakened many years of political ambition in Merkel's mind, and she chose to bid farewell to her status as a scientist and leave the East German Academy of Sciences, where she was working at the time.
This time, Merkel, 35, stood in front of the newly formed small party National Awakening. A year later, she accompanied the last East German Chancellor, Lothar de Mezier, on a visit to Britain to meet Margaret Thatcher. No one expected that the political rookies of the time would be compared with Margaret Thatcher a few years later, becoming the second "Iron Lady" to change Europe and influence the world.
From "Kohl's Little Girl" to "German Mother"
After German reunification in 1990, Merkel's Democratic Awakening Party was regrouped in a series of reorganizations and merged into the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the ruling party in post-reunification Germany. Merkel was successfully elected to the Federal Parliament.
Merkel is highly regarded by CDU president Helmut Kohl. After German reunification, Kohl became the first chancellor and appointed Merkel as Minister for Women and Youth. Four years later, Merkel was named environment minister. Merkel gradually gained a foothold in German politics. Because Cole once used "little girl" to call Merkel, "Cole's little girl" became one of the media's names for Merkel.
But in 1999, Cole was embroiled in a "political contribution" scandal that dragged the CDU into a quagmire. Merkel, who was already at the top of the CDU at the time, commented on an article and publicly cut with Kohl.
Merkel's maneuver dealt Cole a fatal blow, and under pressure Kohl resigned as honorary chairman of the CDU. Merkel's political prowess was thus revealed. In 2000, Merkel was elected CDU leader with 96 percent of the vote, taking the post of Chancellor of Germany.
In the 2005 election, Merkel became Germany's first female chancellor and has since been re-elected for three consecutive terms, lasting 16 years. And as Merkel's popularity grew, no one called her "little girl." At the height of her political prestige, the German media even called her "German Mother."
"Prime Minister in Crisis" and "European Helmsman"
After 2005, Germany experienced an "economic miracle" and quickly emerged from the European debt crisis, and its performance in Europe was unique. Low unemployment and stable fiscal surpluses stand in stark contrast to other countries, with Germany having become "indispensable" in Europe and Merkel herself seen as the de facto "head" of the EUROPEAN Union.
Merkel has said she wants to make the EU the third force in the new world order outside of China and the United States. However, the pace of European integration has not been as smooth as Merkel imagined.
The debt crisis that began in Greece in 2009 has plagued the entire European Union. At this point, Merkel was a staunch advocate of the euro: "If the euro fails, it is a defeat for Europe." For EU countries with high debt, Merkel has always adhered to the principles of "fiscal austerity" and "reform". Her policies have also drawn much criticism. Germany's Der Spiegel magazine said she tinkered around trying to keep the machine running, but lacked a "grand strategy" to revitalize Europe.
Unlike the cautious style of dealing with the European debt crisis, during the 2015 refugee crisis, Merkel made the astonishing decisions that affected her personally, In Germany and across Europe – opening the borders to refugees stranded in Hungary.
The decision earned Merkel some praise. But on the other hand, the aftermath of the great opening of the country began to show, with millions of refugees pouring into Germany itself, leading to serious social problems, including even crime and terrorist attacks.
Under pressure, Merkel's attitude also shifted, from a firm "we can do it" at the beginning to a tightening of refugee policy.
The 2007 global financial crisis, the subsequent European debt crisis, the 2015 refugee crisis, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic... "Crisis Chancellor" became another label for Merkel. Asked at her last summer press conference in July, she felt about the title of "Prime Minister in Crisis," Ms. Merkel said: "It's certainly easier if there's no crisis in life, but when it comes, it has to be dealt with." ”
"The domestic policies of one country alone cannot overcome the challenges we face, and we can overcome them only as part of the international community, as demonstrated on climate issues – a revelation that has been throughout my tenure." Merkel said.
"Ironclad" Merkel "flowing water" of the US president
In her 16 years in power, Merkel has visited the United States a total of 23 times and dealt with four U.S. presidents.
When Merkel took office in 2005, U.S.-Germany relations were in the midst of an "ice age." During the 2003 Iraq War, then-German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder openly objected. As the leader of the opposition, Merkel chose to support the United States despite domestic public opinion.
After Merkel came to power, German-American relations improved significantly. Both George W. Bush and Obama see Germany as an important partner in foreign policy. In an interview with German media earlier this year, George W. Bush also said he was "quite compatible" with Merkel.
But in terms of core interests, there are differences between Germany and the United States, and they are also doomed to the twists and turns of German-American relations.
With Trump in office, German-U.S. relations have fallen to a low point. Punitive tariffs, withdrawals from Germany, Nord Stream-2 projects, support for Brexit... CnN even reported that Trump called Merkel "stupid" during a phone call with Ukrainian President Zelenskiy.
On January 20 this year, Biden officially assumed the 46th president of the United States. Soon after taking office, the signal was sent to "seek to revive the transatlantic alliance with Germany." In July, Merkel became the first European leader to visit the White House since Biden took office, discussing bilateral relations and regional and global issues.
After Merkel, how did the relationship between Germany and Germany go? It remains to be left to the future.
During Merkel's 16-year career as chancellor, Russian President Vladimir Putin was also one of the most important figures. Germany's Der Spiegel magazine commented that as a person who represents the West in negotiating with Russia, Merkel's relationship with Putin is her most important role in world politics. Because her experiences in the first half of her life taught her about the Eastern camp, and because she spoke Russian, the task of containing Putin and implementing the Western "standard project" fell mainly on her shoulders.
On August 20, during Merkel's last visit to Russia during her tenure, Putin presented Merkel with a bouquet of flowers. According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, "No politician on the global stage has been so good at getting along with each other for such a long time." ”
Perhaps the two have a good personal relationship, but each has its own insistence on involving national interests. The most far-reaching is the Crisis in Ukraine– Germany, the heart of the European Union, is in direct opposition to Russia. The European Union and the United States accused destabilizing eastern Ukraine and announced economic sanctions against Russia, which soon decided to impose counter-sanctions.
But while sanctions are being imposed, Germany and Russia have not closed their cooperation in areas such as energy. In particular, the two countries share a common interest in the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project, which is also considered one of the main political legacies of Merkel's 16 years in power.
Expert reviews
Zhao Junjie, a researcher at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences:
In response to the European debt crisis, if Germany is generous, it may be highly praised by debtor countries, but it "cures the symptoms but not the root causes", which in turn lays greater hidden dangers for Europe's fiscal deficit and deviates from Merkel's blueprint for European integration; and Merkel's approach is actually to maintain the stability of the euro, preserve the whole of Europe, and let european debt be governed in chaos, and finally move towards stability and order.
Meng Hong, Associate Professor, Department of German, Chinese Min University:
Merkel benefited from former Chancellor Schroeder's policies of economic reform; moreover, Schroeder's foreign policy brought Germany out of the passive state of "economic power and political dwarf". In general, the predecessor laid a relatively good foundation for Merkel. The atmosphere in Germany and Europe also needs a politician like Merkel, who does not seem to be very strong on the surface, but can make steady progress.
[Reporter] Wang Shikun
【Intern】Zhang Jiao
【Planner】Jay Lee
【Author】 Wang Shikun; Jay Lee
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