“Outstanding Issues with Implementing German Reunification” Germany has had a tumultuous history and inspiring rise to international prominence over the last century. This political anomaly is referred to in German as “wirtschaftswunder” which translated is the phrase the “wonder of economics.” This eminent rise has been recognized by the leadership role the German government is currently playing in the European Union, in relation to monetary policy that is intended to alleviate the Euro-zone crisis. The nation has weathered two world wars, a totalitarian regime with anti-semitic values that resulted in the mass genocide and the destruction of literature and art on the whim of Adolf Hitler. History begets the future, but does not dictate
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Angela Merkel, the current chancellor of Germany is from East Germany, which may signify to some a solidification of Eastern and Western political values. While Ms. Merkel’s position and East German roots are helpful in portraying favorable optics of German reunification, the relationship between the East and West German constituencies is still in need of cultivation. The interaction between the opposing East and West political ideologies have produced cleavages in German politics that have hampered the merging of the respective constituencies as a sovereign nation. The issue of the meager merging effecting governance is evident in how the political ideologies have evolved and interacted as a unified state …show more content…
A hallmark of communism is that the citizens under its rule are taught to believe that the federal government is responsible for fixing the economy. Western Germans disapprove of this mentality because West Germany reconstructed itself through a free market economy and the willpower of its citizens. Westerners perceive the East German mindset as looking for a government handout. The bottom line being that with the economic assistance provided by the West for the East causes the East to feel indebted to the West. This economic assistance while necessary to bolster the Eastern länders’ economy adds insult to injury when juxtaposed with the idea that Eastern Germans’ political attitudes claiming secondary status to their Western
Angela Merkel, the current chancellor of Germany is from East Germany, which may signify to some a solidification of Eastern and Western political values. While Ms. Merkel’s position and East German roots are helpful in portraying favorable optics of German reunification, the relationship between the East and West German constituencies is still in need of cultivation. The interaction between the opposing East and West political ideologies have produced cleavages in German politics that have hampered the merging of the respective constituencies as a sovereign nation. The issue of the meager merging effecting governance is evident in how the political ideologies have evolved and interacted as a unified state …show more content…
A hallmark of communism is that the citizens under its rule are taught to believe that the federal government is responsible for fixing the economy. Western Germans disapprove of this mentality because West Germany reconstructed itself through a free market economy and the willpower of its citizens. Westerners perceive the East German mindset as looking for a government handout. The bottom line being that with the economic assistance provided by the West for the East causes the East to feel indebted to the West. This economic assistance while necessary to bolster the Eastern länders’ economy adds insult to injury when juxtaposed with the idea that Eastern Germans’ political attitudes claiming secondary status to their Western