HS Analysis | Germany is being reborn slowly and painfully, one taboo at a time

Berlin

Germany’s of the Federal Chancellor By Olaf Scholz announcement to release Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine had no semblance of drama when he told the German Bundestag on Wednesday.

There is not a hint of triumph, even though many commentators have already had time to assess that Scholz’s victory must be read in the fact that, according to media reports, the United States is sending Abrams tanks to Ukraine.

According to unconfirmed reports, it was Scholz’s demanded counterpart to the German Leopard 2 decision.

Leopards became a symbol. The pressure on Germany was so strong internationally as well as in Germany – including within the German government – that any decision other than to export them and allow others to export them to Ukraine would have been surprising.

Scholz especially stressed that Germany does not act alone. Two Leopard 2 battalions are assembled as an international cooperation. Germany is sending 14 tanks from the warehouses of its armed forces.

That emphasis is an important message for Germans, a confirmation that Germany’s identity in Europe and its principles will not change. Germany will not take military initiatives alone, ever again, the Germans like to think.

Among the allies, the slowness of Germany’s decision-making already started to make it seem that Germany is actually acting alone, contrary to what it says, by holding the others back.

On Wednesday, Scholz emphasized again that Germany does not follow the pressure of others. It was an answer to those who accused it of slowness.

His it was clear from his speech that he also listens closely to those Germans who fear that Russia will react aggressively to Germany’s arms aid decisions.

He asked the Germans to trust him and his government to take Germany in the right direction.

Looking at the events in Ukraine, one could conclude that Russia’s brutal war of aggression has continued and gotten increasingly violent, regardless of Germany’s support measures for Ukraine, but many in Germany feel differently.

Germany’s pain shows the ballast of history. Scholz belongs to a generation that has been taught to think that there will be no war in Europe if Germany does not start it.

It is a generation that remembers the decades after World War II, when the traces of bombing were still visible in Germany and the scars of the war were felt in many ways. They remember and feel the guilt and shame of the one who started the war.

The same generation of politicians learned to believe that rapprochement with Russia and economic ties between Russia and the West guarantee peace in Europe.

The extremes of the German party field on the left and right have now united to sympathize with Russia. On Wednesday, Scholz was tried to be beaten below the belt from both the right and the left by saying that he rejects Willy Brandt inheritance.

During the Cold War, the Dem chancellor Brandt is the party’s spiritual mentor and became known for his softening policy in relation to the Soviet Union.

In the Christian Democrats of Germany’s opposition, as well as in the Greens and Liberals who belong to the government, the thought frameworks of history have been let go during the past year.

Scholz’s slowness has also frustrated and surprised many Germans of his age. It seems that Scholz was afraid of making mistakes that would lead to the worsening of the situation and the expansion of the war.

in Germany Weapons sent to Ukraine are often divided into “defensive weapons” and “offensive weapons”, although many experts consider this division artificial.

On the other hand, the United States, which has a leading position in supporting Ukraine, has also avoided exporting weapons systems to Ukraine that could be used to attack deep into the Russian side.

Leopard 2 main battle tanks are “offensive weapons” and therefore the decision to export them broke a taboo. It was one of many taboos broken in Germany since the start of the war of aggression against Russia.

The first taboo to be broken in Germany after the war of aggression started by Russia last year was to start arms exports at all. For many increasingly heavy and powerful weapon systems, mental limits have been crossed again and again.

Now Germany is slowly being reborn and turning into a country that breaks away from the burden of history and focuses its eyes on the present. For many, it hurts.

That is why the tank question has divided the Germans. Especially in Scholz’s own party, the Social Democrats of Germany, the Leopard decision has been difficult until these days, and the Dem politicians have repeated in public that Germany must not become a party to the war.

Scholz began his speech at the Bundestag by pointing out that breaking away from Russia’s dependence on gas has not paralyzed Germany, contrary to what was predicted in the summer.

There are no signs of the “winter of hate” predicted by right-wing populists in the fall. Germany is doing quite well considering the situation. The predicted recession is not in sight.

For his reputation despite this, Germany has also supplied Ukraine with a huge amount of military aid. Germany has shown that it is capable of renewal – slowly but surely, like big ships turn.