NUCLEAR PROTEST and the AWAKENING of GERMAN POLITICAL IDENTITY in the 1980'S Kenneth Fritjofson a Thesis Submitted to the Gr
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NUCLEAR PROTEST AND THE AWAKENING OF GERMAN POLITICAL IDENTITY IN THE 1980’S Kenneth Fritjofson A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS December 2011 Committee: Marc Simon, Advisor Stefan Fritsch Geoffrey Howes Edgar Landgraf ii ABSTRACT Marc Simon, Advisor This thesis will explain the evolution of German political identity from the middle of the twentieth century to the present. It evaluates four different explanations for changes in this identity. Chapter one describes German political identity from the country’s inception as a democracy in 1949 as well as German political identity today. From there, the chapter outlines three explanations for changes in political identity: the rise in German power, based on the theory of realism; Germany’s central role in the European Union; and generational value changes, based on Inglehart’s theory of post-materialism. These three explanations for Germany’s political identity account for parts but not all of Germany’s contemporary identity today. The missing element, anti-authoritarianism, can be understood by examining the German Peace Movement of the 1980s. The second chapter provides a much richer explanation of changing political values in Germany by examining the history of this movement and the ideas that influenced its leading figures. This chapter outlines the rise of the “68er generation” of activists and the intellectual roots of the movement found in the ideas of leading Marxist scholars. It then examines the rise of the 1980s protests and the ideas of the Greens, explaining how their ideas challenged the existing political identity as well as German policies. Finally, the chapter concludes by arguing that the success of the Green protests and their institutionalization as a political party have changed German political identity today, as seen by the adoption of these ideas by other political parties and in German foreign policies. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very grateful to all those who offered their support during this long process. Most importantly, I thank God who gives life and everything that comes with it. Without him, none of this would be possible. My family has been especially supportive during this time. I would like to thank my parents, Kenneth and Claudia Fritjofson for their encouragement. Their words filled me with optimism and a will to persevere. Special thanks to Mary Beth Broadwater, who very generously took the time to proofread this thesis in the midst of her own busy schedule. Her contribution has been very helpful and is much appreciated. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………1 CHAPTER ONE: CHANGING GERMAN POLITICAL IDENTITY…..……………6 German Political Identity……………………………………………………7 Germany’s Former Political Self………………………………………………........8 Inglehart’s Theory of Post-materialism…………………………………………....14 Germany and the European Union…………………………………………………22 German Realism……………………………………………………………………27 German Political Identity-2010…………………………………………….………33 Liberal Multilateralism as a Means to Strength…..………………………………..33 Culture …………………………………………………………………………......36 The “German Question” and the Means to Security……………………………….36 Conclusion………………………………………………………………...…….…39 CHAPTER TWO: THE RISE OF THE GREENS AND ALTERNATIVE POLITICS.….40 The Establishment: The Beginning of German Anti-Authoritarianism...…...……..41 The 68er Student Movement as Extra-Parliamentary Opposition……………....…46 Capitalism: A Student Movement Critique…………………………………….….50 Imperialism: Corruption of the Individual and the State…………………………..51 Capitalism and Nazism…………………………………………………………….54 From Anti-Authoritarianism to Alternative Politics: Rise of the Greens………….58 Ecological Economics of the Greens……………………………………………....63 The Green Alternative Model………………………………………………...……66 Political and Military Views of the Greens……………………………………...…69 1980’s Peace Movement as an Expression of Changing Political Identity..………74 The Peace Movement: Not Enough……………………………………………......79 German Political Identity in the 21st Century…………………………………..….82 v Foreign Policy Change……………………………………………………………..83 Economic Change………………………………………………………………….87 Environmental Change…………………………………………………………….88 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………93 CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………………94 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………...…….....97 1 INTRODUCTION Before and during WWII, the German people endured a string of chaotic political events that would leave a lasting impression on their sense of security. After the fallout of the Great War, Germany experimented with democracy and failed, which led to the heavy handed authoritarianism of National Socialism. The rise of the Nazis came about during a time of defeat when the people were enduring severe hardships in their everyday life. Under the leadership of the Nazis, Germany experienced even greater military and economic disasters than they had endured after the First World War. At the end of WWII, with their cities in ruins and under control of foreign troops, Germany as they knew it before no longer existed. Since the world powers, mainly the United States, would never let Germany go back to any of its previous forms of governance, Germany would have to be rebuilt from the ground up. They would also have to rebuild their identity as a nation, beginning anew, but building on what had come before. The Western Allies under the leadership of the United States would integrate the new Germany into the global system and help reinvent the nation. This new country, the Federal Republic, was unlike anything Germany had previously been. West Germany, as it would come to be known, would never go back to the chaos of the Weimar period or the extreme nationalism of the Nazi era. During the time of the Cold War, West Germany showed itself to be a modern, politically stable, democratic nation where the intense nationalistic longings of the past would never again be a factor. Instead, the people of West Germany would desire to focus on building constructive relations with the West and preserving their own safety and security. West Germany’s relationship with the leader of the free world, the United States, proved critical during the second half of the 20th century. In the immediate aftermath of World War II, the two countries quickly formed an amiable, close alliance despite the legacy of the war. This 2 relationship was forged during the Berlin Airlift. At this time, Germans were grateful for American efforts to care for them. In the same moment, the U.S. came to see Germans as brave allies in the struggle against communism (Merritt 100). The German view of the U.S. would become less positive over time, though, as U.S. military intervention in Vietnam, the Civil Rights Movement, and other political actions around the world made many Germans see its partner in a more negative, brutish light. Since the 1950s, German-American relations have become more complex. While the case can be made that relations were strained based upon tangible issues such as U.S. military interventions and the response to 9/11, the assertion that Germans are inherently against all things American is false. Contention with the U.S. has normally been based on divergent positions on specific political issues. The reason for this is due to Germany’s changing political identity since the end of the Second World War. Changes in German political identity have been based partly on the German public’s understanding of events in the nation’s authoritarian history. In the post World War II period, the main driver behind German political change has been the generational gap between Germans who were born before World War II and those born after. The former did not acknowledge its past in an active way. They were concerned with preventing the nation’s past from repeating itself, and put their faith in the new German government. This emphasis on unity and continuity with the past unfortunately led to politics that developed hints of authoritarianism. Their children noticed these problems and critiqued their parent’s generation in a radical way. This spawned new political values over time that would come to define German politics, and later German political identity as a result of the 1980s Peace Movement. 3 Germany’s political identity was gradually changing throughout the Cold War years. As Germany’s global status grew during the Cold War, so did its presence among the great powers. In addition, its participation in what has become the European Community shaped its self image. Also, the experiences and views of a new generation of Germans pushed German political identity in new directions. These changes were a subtle phenomenon that did not express itself as loudly or completely as it did during the peace movement of the 1980s. The peace movement was the first major evidence of this change. Until the events of the early 80s the country had not had a national voice. The peace movement, because of the uniqueness and tension of the moment, allowed the new German identity to be expressed to the world. Germany’s political identity was changing all along, but it did not get its mouthpiece until the 1980s. The Peace Movement was the first tangible sign of a changing German political identity that had been developing outside the realm of established politics. “Alternative” politics reflecting a broad societal shift from materialist to post-material began to rise in importance for young Germans in the 1980s and