HISTORY AND CURRENT PERCEPTIONS OF GERMANY
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quite satisfied when their German relatives were occupied with them–
selves . For a long time, critical Austrians have been afraid of the
economic expansion of West German firms into Austria - the propor–
tion of German ownership in Austria is very high. Nowadays they feel
satisfied to see that German industry is busy reconstructing Germany's
East and has no time and no money to expand to Austria.
Looking to the future, I think two crucial questions arise: First, will
unified Germany be able to handle the problem of nationalism in a
peaceful manner? Second, would unified Germany be willing to restrict
its influence on neighbors in the east and southeast to non-dominating
matter? I think there is no reason to believe that Germany cannot
achieve both of these goals. But we must remember what we have
learned in the last few years: that is, to be cautious about making
historical prophecies.
Edith Kurzweil:
Thank you very much. Karola Brede.
Karola Brede: In
the 1980s, the Federal Republic of Germany was
considered one of the most powerful nations . Less unwilling to be in–
volved than during the sixties and seventies, it took on many responsibil–
ities and participated in political activities that were to contribute to the
stability of the world order. Within Europe the FRG was an influential
political and economic power.
It
took part in the process of joining
other European nations, that is, the Economic Community (EC). This is
the historical context of the unification, a historical turn which was ad–
vanced by political movements and led to the breakdown of the GDR.
It
also included a shift of attention to internal affairs and at the same
time encouraged political forces, especially conservative ones, to view
Germany as a world power even more so than they had before.
In
1990, most Germans, I think, did not doubt that the Federal Re–
public would be capable of solving the immense economic problems
stemming from instituting a capitalist economy within the Eastern part
of Germany, which had had a planned economy. Chancellor Kohl's
promise of "flourishing landscapes" in the East, formulated relatively early
in the process of unification, is an expression of this optimism.
In
the
East, one might have anticipated that production would almost come to
a standstill and that mass unemployment would result.
In
the West, one
could foresee a decline in consumption levels as well as other economic
dangers. But no one seriously doubted that in the long run both parts of
Germany would fuse economically, and that this fusion would be fol–
lowed by a social integration resulting from the pressure on people to
think and act in terms of market mechanisms.
