As the 20th anniversary of German reunification passed us Oct. 3, I, along with millions of Germans, celebrated what could be called the achievement of the last century. With the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the process of German reunification became inevitable, after 45 years of division the nation was divided no more.
The early 20th century was a cataclysmic one for Germany; Nazism ravaged Germany both physically and morally. The division of Germany, into the Federal Republic of Germany in the West and the German Democratic Republic in the East, was most assuredly because the Allied powers feared a resurgent Germany, as had occurred at the end of World War I.
Though simply stating Germany was divided in order to ensure it never again would wage war on Europe fails to recognize that Germany was and remained perhaps the ultimate symbol of the Cold War. German interests were ignored and overwhelmed in the greater contest of the clash between the Soviet Union and the United States.
For 45 years, two German states pursued their own paths toward a “national identity”: West Germany staunchly anti-communist and East Germany the workers’ paradise. I do not wish to delve into the issues surrounding the West-East divide (whether East Germany was a total failure of a state, whether West Germany chose to demonize socialism at the expense of allowing ex-Nazis to subtly and silently slip into the shadows of German societies; whether the East Germans who were informants for the Stasi should be prosecuted, etc.) All of these issues only help to highlight the lingering divisions in German society, which are many.
I wish to celebrate 20 years of a reborn Germany. I celebrate, not just because I love Germany, but also because the process of German reunification serves as a model for peaceful reconciliation and camaraderie between former enemies.
How wonderful would it be if the various ethnic and religious factions within Iraq, the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, were to calmly and peacefully end their hostilities and forge a genuinely new Iraqi nation, one in which there is more a sense of national unity than division? In the future, perhaps Korea will be unified, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will result in two states, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of China, Taiwan, will resolve their territorial disputes, and the various other international instances of a people divided will see an end to conflict and strife.
This weekend I will be attending the Ambassador’s Ball held by the German Consulate of Los Angeles, celebrating the 20th reunification anniversary. We will dance, eat and enjoy the well-deserved sense of accomplishment. Germany now stands as the fulcrum of the EU, the third largest economy in the world, the world’s largest exporter and a powerhouse of world culture in the arts, literature, film, etc. Who would have thought, 20 years ago when Germany was still torn asunder, that such a thing could occur?
Max can be reached at mfeldhake@asu.edu.
