Teaching Modern Languages at Post-16 and Beyond (30/6/15) Dr Caroline Pearce, Department of Germanic Studies, University of Sheffield Frau Merkel’s Deutschland.

Teaching Modern Languages at Post-16 and Beyond (30/6/15)Dr Caroline Pearce, Department of Germanic Studies, University of Sheffield

Frau Merkel’s Deutschland

‘(New) German identities’http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/nationalklischees-so-sehen-die-briten-die-neuen-deutschen-1.1471141

Der WutbürgerDer Bio-BourgeoisDer Piraten-WählerDer Medien-AristokratDer Bindestrich-DeutscheDer Power-OssiGeneration MerkelGeneration PraktikumEuropeNational Socialist and GDR pastsMore self-confidence?

Parties and coalitions

= Schwarz-Gelbe Koalition

= Rot-Rot-Grüne Koalition

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= Große Koalition

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Ampelkoalition

Jamaika Koalition

Voting systemEvery 4 years - Bundestagswahl Erste Stimme (for candidate from

constituency)Zweite Stimme (for party) ‚Sperrklausel‘ – 5% hurdle CoalitionsFederal and national elections

2005: Grand Coalition18 September 2005• CDU-CSU gained 35.2%, SPD 34.2%• 22 November 2005 Angela Merkel

appointed Chancellor of Grand Coalition• First East German and female Chancellor• Coalition treaty: ‚Gemeinsam für

Deutschland: mit Mut und Menschlichkeit‘

2009: Black-Yellow Coalition

27 September 2009• CDU-CSU received 33.8%, SPD 23.0% • SPD‘s worst election result in post-war

period• Increased support for smaller parties • Merkel formed a coalition with FDP• Mostly defined by banking crisis and the

relationship with Europe (rescue package for Greece, stabilisation and austerity)

• Bundeswehr reform (end of compulsory military service 2011)

• U-Turn on energy policy 2011 in wake of Fukushima disaster (Energiewende)

2009 elections

Grand coalition: since 2013September 2013: CDU won third term

(41.5%) Up 8%, just 5 seats short of absolute majority Best result since Helmut Kohl won first post-

unification election in 1990Goes against current tendency for weak

governments in Europe Reward for weathering euro crisis? Grand coalition formed with Sigmar Gabriel

(SPD) as vice-Chancellor

Wer muss mit Merkel?’

‚Merkel ohne alle’,

‚Totalschaden für Rot-Grün’

Election results for other partiesGreens down from 10.7% to 8.4%; Linke

down from 11.9% to 8.6%FDP biggest loser in elections (down from

14.6% to 4.8%): First time not in Bundestag in post-1945 Germany

Success of newly-founded AfD party

Alternative für Deutschland (AfD)Founded April 2013Eurosceptic / anti-euro / suspicious of

austerity policy4.7% of the vote in 2013 – only just shy of 5%

hurdleSlogan: Mut zur Wahrheit!‚Wir sind weder rechts noch links‘Election success in Hamburg in February2015 – in Land government for the first timeSuccess in European elections 2014

European elections 2014

Die Piratenpartei• Set up in September 2006• Classic 1-issue party (Copyright Law)• ‘Liquid democracy’• Become much more than that – focus on social

issues, green issues, human approach to economy.

• Success - 2011: Berliner Abgeordnetenhaus (8.9%)

• 2012 Landtag in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Saarland & Schleswig-Holstein

• Despite wave of optimism: recent conflict/ internal problems.

• Bundestagswahl 2013 2.2% (up from 2%)• Diminishing popularity / influence

Die NPD• Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands• Right-wing extremists• Success above all in eastern Germany (in

Landtag in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)• Politics based on ‘Volk’ and ‘Nationalismus’

(‘natürlich deutsch’)• Anti immigration, asylum rights, gender

equality, EU / other international organisations

• Want a return to Germany’s 1937 borders (Poland) and a different understanding of Nazi past – annual rallies on ‘Allied war crimes’ in Dresden

• Attempts to ban the party• Bundestagswahl 2013 1.3% (down from 1.5%)

Merkel’s popularityEurope’s longest serving female head of

governmentSecond-most powerful person in the world

(Forbes magazine)From Kohl’s ‘Mädchen’ to ‚Mutti’ Personal popularityPragmatic, methodical, unpretentiousRisk-averseRepresents German interests / heads a

‘people’s party’One in six SPD voters preferred her as

chancellorAdaptability

German leadership in Europe?Is Germany too powerful for

Europe? (The Guardian, 31/3/13)With Angela Merkel’s Germany at

the helm, Europe will remain a tortoise (The Guardian, 25/9/13)

Von Merkel hängt nun das Schicksal Europas ab, Die Welt, 24/9/13

Bundnisfähigkeit ist Kern deutscher Staatsräson, Die Welt, 22/9/13

Germany, Greece and the euro crisisGermany ‚holding purse strings‘ Merkel: if the euro fails, Europe failsCommittment to European project Insistence on austerity measures27 February 2015: German Bundestag approves extension

of Greek aid package542 for, 13 abstentions, 32 against (including 29 members

of the CDU/CSU)Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble emphasised that no

more money would be released until reform conditions fulfilled; Greece simply being given more time

Linke called for a ‘Marshall plan’ for southern European states

Focus on ‘solidarity’ and ‘reform’ in the debateTense negotiations between Greece, Germany and EU

Greek-German tensions- Greek government began recent wave of bailout negotiations by demanding war reparations from Germany- Series of caricatures of Merkel and

Schäuble in the Greek press- Bild ‚no to greedy Greeks‘ campaign- Cultural differences / mistrust- Three quarters of Germans doubt that

Greece will fulfil reformrequirements- But ‚Grexit‘ would be worse scenario

for both countries

Bild: Neue Milliarden fuer Griechenland – wir sagen NEIN!

Newspaper of the Greek governing party Syriza (8/2/15)

Finance Minister Schäuble caricatured as saying ‘we insist on soap from your fat’ and ‘we are discussing making fertiliser from your ashes’

Greek protests at German ‘dominance’ in Europe

German foreign policy‘Peace policy’Focus on humanitarian intervention (‘nie wieder’ / ‘nie

allein’)Greater international role and influenceCombining universal values and national interestsMerkel as negotiator with Putin/Russia in Ukraine

crisisReferences to Cold War / European divisionGermany against use of military force

German economyOverall unemployment 2014 4.8% (5.4% UK)Youth unemployment 7.9% (compared to 21.7% in UK,

53.8% Greece) Source: Eurostat 2012Introduction of minimum wage under current Grand

Coalition (EUR 8.50/hour)Germany emerged strong from recessionContinued divergence between eastern and western

states

The ‘Energiewende’U-turn on energy policy following Fukushima nuclear

disasterClosure of 8 of Germany‘s 17 nuclear power plants –

the rest to be phased out by 2022Transition to alternative energy sources40-45% of energy to come from renewables by 2025

and 55-60% by 2035

Policy issues and challengesAgeing population Projected 14% drop in population by 2050 (source:

UN and World Bank). Britain’s population set to exceed that of Germany by 2040

Low birth rate (1.36 children per woman in 2012, lowest in Europe)

Family friendly policies (Elterngeld): parents can have up to 14 months off after birth of child with up to 65% of salary.

End to compulsory military conscription (2011); reduction in armed forces

Multiculturalism / immigration2013: 16.5 million people in Germany have a non-German

background (20.5% of the population)"Der Ansatz für Multikulti ist gescheitert, absolut

gescheitert!" (Angela Merkel, 2010)Pegida movement (Patriotische Europäer gegen die

Islamisierung des Abendlandes)Focus on integration of foreigners and learning languageRTL initiative Sag’s auf deutsch! 2014: Merkel presents CDU as ‘Partei der Migranten’

Gut leben in Deutschland: was uns wichtig istGovernment-sponsored survey / project launched in 2015 to establish what Germans consider important in life

https://www.gut-leben-in-deutschland.de/DE/Home/home_node.html

Web resources www.bundesregierung.de (Federal Government website; also has pages in

English) www.bundeskanzlerin.de (Federal Chancellor‘s website) www.bpb.de (Bundeszentrale fur politische Bildung) www.mitmischen.de (youth site on German politics) http://www.schekker.de (youth magazine sponsored by Federal

Government) Gut leben in Deutschland (government survey) https://www.gut-leben-in-

deutschland.de/DE/Home/home_node.html Germany: the accidental empire (series in The Guardian) http://

www.theguardian.com/world/series/germany-the-accidental-empire Voices from Germany video http://

www.theguardian.com/world/video/2012/sep/20/voices-from-germany-video

The Making of Merkel (Andrew Marr documentary) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvSA82z6Dig

RTL intiative Sag’s auf deutsch! http://www.rtl.de/cms/mein-rtl/sags-auf-deutsch.html