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16. POST-UNIFICATION GERMANY: THE OLD BONN OR A NEW BERLIN REPUBLIC? 1. Introduction

16. POST-UNIFICATION GERMANY: THE OLD BONN OR A NEW BERLIN REPUBLIC? 1. Introduction 2. The constitution (‘Basic Law’) 3. Political parties & the party system 4. The federal system 5. Government/interest group & labour relations 6. Foreign & European policy 7. Conclusions.

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16. POST-UNIFICATION GERMANY: THE OLD BONN OR A NEW BERLIN REPUBLIC? 1. Introduction

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  1. 16. POST-UNIFICATION GERMANY: THE OLD BONN OR A NEW BERLIN REPUBLIC? 1. Introduction 2. The constitution (‘Basic Law’) 3. Political parties & the party system 4. The federal system 5. Government/interest group & labour relations 6. Foreign & European policy 7. Conclusions

  2. 1. INTRODUCTION • Three (West) German questions after World War II: • How could Germany be made a stable democracy? • How could Germany be made into a strong anti- • Communist bulwark in the Cold War? • How could Germany be prevented from again • becoming or trying to become a hegemonic • power in Europe? • The answer mattered - for whenever Germany • sneezes, the rest of Europe catches a cold!

  3. GERMAN MILESTONES 1999/2000 1. 50 years since the foundation of the Federal Republic (West Germany) 2. 10 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall & reunification 3. Shift of the site of government from Bonn to Berlin

  4. GOODBYE & THANKS TO BONN ‘The town of Bonn is synonymous with the first successful German democracy … In Bonn, the foundations of this German democracy were laid & developed, in spite of what seemed to be an impossible starting-point … The ‘Bonn republic’ stands for a real & successful break in Germany’s modern history’ Joschka Fischer (Green), German Foreign Minister ‘Warum war es am Rhein so schoen?’ In: Hermann Schaefer (ed.), Abschied von Bonn (Berlin: Ullstein, 1999), pp. 81-82

  5. GOODBYE & THANKS TO BONN ‘To an important extent, it is due to Bonn that the democratic state founded in 1949 could become so stable & successful … Bonn, on the Rhine, symbolized Germany’s turn towards the West in an ideal manner. With its consciously modest style, it was a convincing incarnation of a Germany that for once & for all time had rejected any nationalistic madness, any imperialistic posturing or any striving for hegemony. For the young German democracy, Bonn was the right capital city at the right time’ Helmut Kohl, former Chancellor, in: Hermann Schaefer (ed), Abschied von Bonn (Berlin: Ullstein, 1999), pp. 156-57

  6. WHY GERMANY NEEDS THE EU ‘The political unification of Europe is decisive for Germany’s future in peace & freedom. As the country with the most neighbours in Europe, we Germans, more than any other nation, have a vital interest in preventing a reversion to the power- political rivalries of former times, to national egoisms & shifting coalitions’ Helmut Kohl, former German Chancellor, in: ‘Die aufgestauten Strukturprobleme erfordern eine Generalinventur von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft’, in: Handelsblatt, 31 December 1993

  7. WHY GERMANY NEEDS THE EU ‘For the first time, this country is surrounded exclusively by friends. We are the country in the EU with the most neighbours. It has never happened before that we are surrounded only by friends. If you want to have friends, you have to cultivate them … We don’t want to exchange all this for a zig-zagging foreign policy … which would inevitably lead to a new performance of the play of alliances & counter- alliances. To prevent this is the primary foreign policy objective of the re-unified Germany’ Klaus Kinkel (FDP), former foreign minister, in the German Parliament, 27 May 1994

  8. WHY GERMANY NEEDS THE EU ‘Germany has, thanks to its size, its population & its geography, a very strong position in Europe. It is better for this weight to be bound into Europe, otherwise we would be very rapidly back to the old axis politics, & everyone knows where that led’ Rudolf Scharping, then SPD chairman, now German Defence Minister, in: Financial Times, 11 April 1994

  9. WHY GERMANY NEEDS THE EU: THE VIEW OF THE CURRENT FOREIGN MINISTER ‘The real solution of the German dilemma [between its strategic potential & the power of collective memory] lies in European integration. If the integration process were to come to a halt or, worse still, unwind, Germany would be the big historical loser, for no country has benefited from it more than Germany - economically, politically & culturally. In the continuation of the integration process the relationship with France will become more & more important, for only these two countries together … can form the motor of European unity’ Joschka Fischer, foreword to Das deutsche Dilemma (Berlin: Fest, 1998), pp. 14-16

  10. THE RIGHT FOREIGN POLICY FOR GERMANY ‘With 80 million inhabitants, we are the most populous state in Europe, we’re also economically the strongest .. But we don’t have to tell the others all the time that we’re strong & number one. They know that already. It’s in our interest to behave towards other states in such a way that they can trust us … Fifty years ago, we started off from rock bottom. Bit by bit we worked our way upwards & became a valued partner & friend. That was only possible through a great deal of patience, sensitivity & competence. If we hadn’t had our partners’ & friends’ trust, German unity would have been impossible’ Helmut Kohl, interview in: Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 11/12 September 1999

  11. THE GERMANY FOREIGN POLICY PARADOX ‘The more we pursue our interests multilaterally, through Europe, the more we achieve for ourselves’ Joschka Fischer, German Foreign Minister, quoted in : Josef Joffe, ‘Es bleibt die Bundesrepublik’, in: Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 3/4 July 1999

  12. SCHUMAN SUCCEEDED! ‘Europe [the EU] is so deeply entrenched that the current German government, whatever else it might do otherwise, can no longer change the fundamentals of German European policy … The train is at the platform and the locomotive is steaming. It may be that the locomotive travels a bit faster or a bit slower & it may even stop here & there. Only one thing can no longer happen: the locomotive can no longer be disconnected & hooked up to the tail of the train so as to pull the train in the wrong direction’ Helmut Kohl, interview in: Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 11/12 September 1999

  13. THE BERLIN REPUBLIC WILL BE THE BONN ONE! ‘The political foundations on which the FRG rests to the present day will also underpin & survive the Berlin Republic. Why? Because all the alternatives to them are more dangerous or worse & not only the democratic realities in the country, but also the far-reaching integration of the country & its economy into Europe no longer allow a different strategy. The Bonn foundations remain the right answers to Germany’s principal challenges, which are set by ‘constants’ that can hardly be altered: its his- tory, its geographic location & its potential’ Joschka Fischer (Green), German Foreign Minister, in: Hermann Schaefer (ed.), Abschied von Bonn (Berlin: Ullstein, 1999), p. 84

  14. A MEETING Once upon a time, a man went to work and on the way met another man who had just bought a French baguette and was on his way home. Actually, that’s all. A short story by Daniil Charms, Russian writer (1905-1942) And that’s all of IPA ….

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