At the war’s end in 1945, Germany entered its Stunde Null - its ‘zero hour,’ a pause in world history, a historic reset, the near-total destruction finally complete, a despair-inspiring level of hardship, but also a chance to start over. Within a decade, the Wirtschaftswunder created one of the quickest economic rebounds in history, as the nation rebuilt itself with dizzying speed.
It was no “economic miracle,” but rather the predictable results of the policies put into place by Germany’s first postwar chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, and his appointee, Ludwig Erhard.
Adenauer and Erhard unleashed the industriousness of the people by cutting tax rates and deregulating the economy. The nation grasped the opportunity with industriousness and creativity.
The blossoming economy, however, had unintended consequences. Germany had no desire to be a world leader. After the trauma of WW2, the Germans rather wanted to attract as little attention from other nations as possible.
But other nations noticed. They noticed the enviable economic growth which the Germans created year after year. They noticed the technological advancements in many industrial sectors. They noticed how leaders like Adenauer built relations with former enemies.
Against its will, Germany was placed into a leadership role among the nations. As German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier writes,
As Germany’s power has grown, so, too, has the need for the country to explain its foreign policy more clearly. Germany’s recent history is the key to understanding how it sees its place in the world.
Unexpectedly and unintentionally becoming a leader, Germany has been expected to produce answers about global situations.
Germany’s world leadership is not the result of some grand plan to rise above other nations. It was the unintended byproduct of simply being responsible and providing for one’s own future.
Since 1998, I have served my country as a member of four cabinets and as the leader of the parliamentary opposition. Over that time, Germany did not seek its new role on the international stage.
Germany, for example, worked to avoid debt, both in the public sector and the private sector. It worked to keep strong manufacturing and export.
It turns out that by simply being responsible with your own country, you become a leader to the rest of the world: an example, a role-model. Steinmeier continues:
Rather, it emerged as a central player by remaining stable as the world around it changed. As the United States reeled from the effects of the Iraq war and the EU struggled through a series of crises, Germany held its ground.
Europe began to look to German leadership as many of the other EU nations dealt with self-inflicted damage in their own economies.
Money influences diplomatic relationships: in addition to economic guidance, other nations look to Germany to manage international relations, as Steinmeier writes:
It fought its way back from economic difficulty, and it is now taking on the responsibilities befitting the biggest economy in Europe. Germany is also contributing diplomatically to the peaceful resolution of multiple conflicts around the globe: most obviously with Iran and in Ukraine, but also in Colombia, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Syria, and the Balkans. Such actions are forcing Germany to reinterpret the principles that have guided its foreign policy for over half a century. But Germany is a reflective power: even as it adapts, a belief in the importance of restraint, deliberation, and peaceful negotiation will continue to guide its interactions with the rest of the world.
Becoming the chancellor of Germany means become an international diplomatic broker. Angela Merkel, chancellor since 2005, has had to face not only Germany’s challenges, but the world’s as well.
Writing about Chancellor Merkel’s time in office, Alan Crawford and Tony Czuczka note that
Barring an 18-month honeymoon period, Merkel’s time in office came to be defined by a continuous thread of unprecedented turmoil not of her making but which required her to act nonetheless. Her first term was dominated by the U.S. subprime-led banking meltdown and subsequent global recession, which led straight into the crisis in the euro area spreading from Greece that rocked her second term.
Within a few decades, Germany has gone from a postwar wasteland to a world leader. In 1945, the world looked at Germany with pity. In 2016, the world looks to Germany for answers.
In 1945, Germany was not expected to be able even to feed its own citizens. In 2016, Germany is expected to explain, and solve, the planet’s toughest problems.
