there were four trends that led the country to reject its post-World War I constitutional, parliamentary democracy, known as the Weimar Republic: economic depression, loss of trust in institutions, social humiliation and political blunder. To a certain degree, these trends can be found across the West today.
.. All this happened as traditional ways of life and values were being shaken by the modernization of the 1920s. Women suddenly went to work, to vote, to party and to sleep with whomever they wanted. This produced a widening cultural gap between the tradition-oriented working and middle classes and the cosmopolitan avant-garde — in politics, business and the arts — that reached a peak just when economic disaster struck. The elites were blamed for the resulting chaos, and the masses were ripe for a strongman to return order to society.
.. In fact, many mainstream politicians recognized the danger but they failed to stop him. Some didn’t want to: The conservative parties and the nobility believed the little hothead could serve as their useful idiot, that as chancellor he would be contained by a squad of reasonable ministers.
Germany’s School for Central Bankers Draws Risk-Averse Crowd
The Bundesbank’s unswerving commitment to stable money grew out of a bout of ruinous hyperinflation in the 1920s, and it underpinned West Germany’s postwar economic growth. Now the Bundesbank is subservient to the European Central Bank, which sets monetary policy for 19 euro area countries. That has left the Bundesbank with roughly the same official influence within the ECB as a regional Federal Reserve bank has in the U.S.
Even though the size of its staff has been cut in half since the early 1990s, it remains three times the size of the ECB. And it is expanding its university, boosting the size of its incoming class by about 15% in October.
.. In 1992, European Commission President Jacques Delors, a Frenchman, observed that “not all Germans believe in God, but they all believe in the Bundesbank.”
.. Prof. Keller says the academy offers a good deal for taxpayers. “You have to get people when they don’t know their market value,” he says of the students and would-be central-bank employees. The Bundesbank’s average cost of employment, he argues, is lower than that of its European peers, which must lure professionals from outside.
New Fences on the Old Continent: Refugee Crisis Pushes Europe to the Brink
Merkel has begun warning of the EU’s disintegration “into small states” that will be unable to compete in a globalized world, as well as of the possibility that border controls might soon be reintroduced all across Europe.
Were Europe in agreement, it would be unproblematic to accommodate 2-3 million refugees, given the Continent’s population of a half billion people. From such a perspective, the current spat actually seems somewhat ridiculous. But in the run up to next week’s EU summit, Europe is gripped by strife. Europe’s greatest achievement, the opening of its borders through the Schengen agreement, is at stake, and the increasingly toxic atmosphere between countries has reached alarming dimensions.
.. Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico in turn warned Greece that if the country didn’t move to secure its borders that, “there will be one single hotspot and it will be called Greece.” Perhaps, he added, it may be necessary to sacrifice Greece for the sake of Europe’s well-being.
.. Europe’s weakness, though, is also the product of a Germany that is having trouble fitting into its leadership role on the Continent. For decades, German politicians have sought to eschew expressing Germany’s own interests, instead emphasizing what is best for Europe and trying to be the best Atlanticists possible, exercising restraint when it came to their role in the EU.
.. This changed during the euro crisis. Merkel took advantage of the country’s economic strength in order to pursue German interests.
.. Although Merkel, like many others, initially pushed for the distribution of the refugees across the EU, the German chancellor is now emphasizing border protection as the highest priority.
.. This is why the Greek prime minister has involved the last institution in his country that is still able to act reliably and quickly: the military. Greek soldiers are now to erect tent camps and repurpose barracks as provisional living spaces in Athens, Thessaloniki and elsewhere.
.. He says there was never a time when Greek officials simply “waved refugees through,” as they have been accused of doing. “What are we supposed to do if they don’t want to be here?” he asks.
.. The correct answer only comes following a bit of friendly assistance from the interpreter: “Because we want to ask for asylum in Germany.” “Five for Germany,” the policeman calls out, and waves the Syrians through.
Wrong answers at this point in the journey would be: “I want to go to Germany to work as a teacher,” or “because my brother lives there.” Those who slip up, even just once, are sent back to Slovenia, and from there, if they don’t apply for asylum, onwards to Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia and Greece.
.. In most formerly communist EU member states, the electorates are largely xenophobic and the belief is widespread that refugees would bring epidemics, terrorism and Sharia law into their countries. The influx, many in Eastern Europe believe, is but the advance guard of an expansive Islam seeking to take over the Christian West.
.. The construction of Fortress Europe, which was never supposed to be built, is quite far along in Eastern Europe and in the Balkans. There are fences between Turkey and Bulgaria, between Hungary and Serbia and between Greece and Macedonia. Slovenia has once again begun using Yugoslavia-era customs barracks on the Austrian border.
.. The idea of establishing mandatory refugee quotas for EU member states is dead. Instead, Ankara is to be offered that a “Coalition of the Willing” will accept refugees directly from Turkey, but only after the border is secured — if the country agrees to take back economic migrants.
.. According to a European Commission report, the reintroduction of internal border controls within the Schengen area would reduce EU economic output over a 10-year period by between €500 billion and €1.4 trillion. Just the direct costs for border controls will cost between €5 billion and €18 billion annually.
.. In the concert of large geopolitical powers, individual European countries do not have a loud voice, not even Germany. The United States and China are only interested in the EU as a whole. Size is decisive. If Europe is unable to present itself as a unity, it will be marginalized.
.. The trip took 25 days and was so stressful that Doaa stopped lactating. Her sister Walaa heads off in search of powdered milk.
.. Doaa says that she is so agitated that she can’t sleep anymore, adding that, from what she has seen so far, she isn’t particularly fond of Greece. She says it’s disgusting here and that she has tried to avoid visiting the restrooms. Instead of eating, she smokes.
A New Deal for Europe
the failures to make such reforms are not enough to explain the sudden plunge in GDP in the eurozone from 2011 to 2013, even as the US economy was in recovery. There can be no question now that the recovery in Europe was throttled by the attempt to cut deficits too quickly between 2011 and 2013—and particularly by tax hikes that were far too sharp in France. Such application of tight budgetary rules ensured that the eurozone’s GDP still, in 2015, hasn’t recovered to its 2007 levels.
.. the Erasmus education program—which provides opportunities for students and teachers to study and train abroad—is ridiculously underfunded. It has a budget of two billion euros annually, against the 200 billion euros set aside every year for interest on eurozone debt. We ought to be investing heavily in innovation and young people.
.. If France, Italy, and Spain (roughly 50 percent of the eurozone’s population and GDP, as against Germany, with scarcely more than 25 percent) were to put forth a specific proposal for a new and effective parliament, some compromise would have to be found. And if Germany stubbornly continues to refuse, which seems unlikely, then the argument against the euro as a common currency becomes very difficult to counter.