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Post-1989 Germany an Unexpected Success

Successes in Europe would boggle a 1989 mind: Applebaum

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 9, 2009 12:42 PM CST

(Newser) – As “the exhaustive and perfectly blameless celebrations” of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall unfold, Anne Applebaum has a bone to pick. The festivities are “focusing on what didn’t happen rather than what did,” she writes, treating “the past two decades as a foregone conclusion.” But those 20 years have been perhaps the “best in Central Europe for 300 years,” and no one thought that would happen.

In 1989, “no one had the slightest idea” of what was to come, Applebaum writes for Slate. “Angela Merkel has said that she thought it was ridiculous even to speculate on the possibility of a united Germany,” and “those who did make predictions saw a dark future” of hypernationalism, rabid anti-Communism, even a “Fourth Reich.” There have been problems, of course—but the takeaway is "what an extraordinary, almost unbelievable, success it has all been."

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (1)]

The illuminated Brandenburg Gate is seen in Berlin, Germany, today during the commemorations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989. (AP Photo)

This Nov. 12, 1989 file photo shows Berliners celebrating on top of the wall as East Germans (backs to camera) flood through the dismantled Berlin Wall into West Berlin at Potsdamer Platz. (AP Photo)

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Too many [commemorations] have taken the achievements for granted. Too many of us forget that there are few historical precedents for the past two decades. - Anne Applebaum

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COMMENTS

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Showing 2 of 2 comments

shopgirl1623

Nov 10, 2009 2:18 AM CST

I went behind the iron curtain in 1985. You could feel that there was severe unrest with the youth. They, despite the wall, were no longer enclosed to the modern world order. They were tired of being left out, imprisoned by their leaders. -- I'm glad the wall is down. -- What I saw in 1985 was very different and made me appreciate my freedom. It was like going back in time 50 years or more. Which is okay when you choose that lifestyle, but not when its imposed on you by government decree.

JoeQ

Nov 9, 2009 6:51 AM CST

West Germany thrived after we spent a vast sum rebuilding it under the Marshall Plan after World War Two. When the wall finally fell, the West German economy was so strong that they managed to absorb East Germany amicably while barely skipping a beat. The adoption of the Euro still happened, too. Imagine what our country would be like if we focussed the same kind of planning on our domestic problems that our "liberal" economists did for the Marshall plan. Also imagine how strong our own economy and currency would be if we learned some fiscal and monetary lessons from Germany, post-Weimar Republic.

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Angela Merkel • Eastern Europe • democracy • Soviet Union • East Germany • Berlin Wall • Communism • Central Europe

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Post-1989 Germany an Unexpected Success