“SONDERWEG” — GERMANY’S PATH TO DEMOCRACY

The last years have provided the Western world with enormous uncertainties. Germany, however, remained a beacon of hope and tranquillity. Remained, because the last general elections shooked the German — and in extent the European — political world. Germany is the economic heart of Europe and the most stable factor within the European Union but will go on a path of uncertainty. This much is certain after looking at the results. The conservative Christian Democrats of Angela Merkel (CDU/CSU) are still the biggest party in Germany and Merkel still is chancellor. But the biggest winner of those elections are not the SPD (Socialist Party), but the AfD (Alternative for Germany), which is a far-right party and has become the third biggest party in Germany.

We are told that this is a huge shock, but is this such a big of a shock? Or could Germany have foreseen this result? One thing is certain, the German democracy is going to have a difficult time in the next years. In the last years, populistic leaders arose all over Europe, but in Germany, they did not. Not in the last place because of the past. We can predict stuff all we want, but Germany is different. Germany’s democracy came about completely different and this has two major consequences. Everyone can remember times of oppression and dictatorship vividly, which leads to sympathy and repulsive feelings. This is different from most other countries in Western Europe and I would like to talk about the so-called Sonderweg: the unique path of Germany democracy.

It’s important to note that the Sonderweg-thesis is a theory which has both many supporters and critics. In the current climate, most of the researchers and academics oppose the Sonderweg-thesis, but I think it’s a really interesting take on recent Germany history and I would like to share it with you. Germany was founded as a country in the age of nationalism, so was Italy and other countries formed states. There is a distinct difference between nations and states. States is the legally binding term for a country, as where a nation includes the group of people that have a shared identity, language, culture and values. Germany started on a whole different foot than others, Germany became a state before they became a nation. The ‘normal’ way was that people formed a nation and after that they formed a state. Here starts the Sonderweg-thesis.

The Sonderweg-thesis was first mentioned in the late 19th century by conservative Germans and their sentiment was that of pride. They took pride in the fact that the elite formed political institutions and that they didn’t wait for revolution from below. In many European countries, a revolution took place in 1848, forcing some monarchies to push for changes. This is quite important for the rest of the German story. Because of the actions of the German landlords and military leaders, Germany remained an authoritarian state, instead of a democratic state as other countries had become, because of the revolution from below. History tells us that Germany only recently fully enjoyed the democratic way of living, as other Western countries do. This started in 1990, but to understand why it took that long, we need to go back into the 19th century.

Before 1870
Germany didn’t exist as a state yet, but the beginning of a state-esque allure began in 1815, with the congress of Vienna. After the era of Napoleon, the big countries decided to reinstate the older monarchies and to establish bigger countries, to keep the power in balance. (For example Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg were fused together, to form a big buffer state between the United Kingdom and France) Here it was decided that there would be a German alliance. You can’t speak of Germany yet, and the most dominant figure within this association was Austria. In 1849 changes were tried to make into a more democratic state of mind, inspired by the 1848 revolutions, but these efforts were blown away and by 1850, status quo continued. In this Great German Alliance, there were two factions who grew bigger and became bigger rivals: Austria and Prussia. In 1866 this leads to the so-called Brüderkrieg, between the two german factions. This resulted in a victory for Prussia. Consequences? Austria was removed from the alliance and Prussia called the shots in German states. They annexed Hannover, Nassau, Hessen-Kessel and Frankfurt. Together with Prussia, this formed the Northern German Alliance. The German state, however, would be formed a few years later, against the eternal rival: France.

1870–1871 Reichsgründung
France didn’t like Prussia one bit and vice versa. This culminated in tension that ultimately lead to the French-Prussian war, also called the French-German war. Now, it is not an exception to have war, especially in this era of nationalism. But this particular war is relevant for the story of Germany because, at the end of this war, the German state was formed. Since 1871 we can officially speak of Germany. France felt threatened by Prussia because till 1870 France was the biggest force on the European mainland. France needed to focus on Spain and the United Kingdom, but the introduction of Prussia to the European stage made that more difficult. Now Prussia was threatening that position. France declared war on Prussia and this was just what military leader Otto von Bismarck wanted: A war against a common enemy to unite the German states of the Northern German Alliance. The reason for the war was the question of the Spanish throne. Leopold von Hohenzollern, family to the German Emperor, was to be appointed the new Spanish king. France didn’t like the idea to be sandwiched between to empires ruled by Hohenzollerns and demanded that Leopold wouldn’t accept. The German emperor accepted the demand, but this wasn’t enough for France. They demanded that no Hohenzollern would ever accept the Spanish throne, Emperor Wilhelm had enough of it and wouldn’t accept. Von Bismarck saw this opportunity fit to push for war between the countries. During the fighting, it was clear that the Prussian war machine was far greater than the French one, and internal struggles in Paris did not help either. On May 10th 1871 the two nations signed the Peace Treaty of Frankfurt and it was acknowledged that Germany was the victor. It was entitled to Elzas-Lotharingen and 5 billion mark in damage pays from France. Germany was born at the cost of France, and was symbolic proclaimed in Versailles. The historic significance of Versailles was once more confirmed.

1871–1918 The German Empire
The German Empire was proclaimed in Versailles and from then on we officially speak of Germany. It is import to note that this was not a liberal, constitutional monarchy like many wanted and had hoped for back in 1848. No, this was an authoritarian, anti-liberal and strongly militarised country, lead by Von Bismarck and the Emperor. In 1888 followed the so-called ‘three emperors year”, wherein there was a remarkable change in the way the country was lead. Bismarck had no more power over the Emperor and political alliances were made. Germany tried to become allies with the United Kingdom, and initially, this seemed like a success. However, the Boeren-wars destroyed that chance of becoming allies. The two countries became enemies. War was a huge part of the politics of Germans because the state was focused on militarism. As long as there was a common enemy, the state would endure and domestic affairs wouldn’t come to the surface. With domestic affairs, I mean the differences between the rather autonomous states.
The German Empire fell at the end of WWI and it was Germany that was dealt the card of great loser. They were portrayed as initiator of the war and had to pay 132 billion. A vast amount of money which meant that Germany could not grow to be a superpower in the years to come. They were not allowed to have an army above 100.000 men and they had to give in 13% of their European land to other countries. Also they had to get rid of the colonies; Germany was in ruins.

1918–1933: The Weimar Republic
For the first time in their existence, the Germans lived in a democracy. It became a constitutional republic with a semi-presidential system. This republic was mainly the work of social democrats, but was cursed with the vast amounts of money they had to pay to other countries. Germanys were quite disappointed in the new way of rule from the beginning, because of the ‘stab-in-the-back’ myth. This myth concentrates on the fact that Germany didn’t lose the battle (WWI) on the field, but lost because of the left-wing revolutions in Germany. Which lead to weakening of the state and ultimately having a leftist government who gave up: the Weimar Republic.
There were many critics of the republic and the most prominent were: the conservatives, National-socialists and the communists. They all had different views obviously, but the Weimar Republic was not what they wanted. This lead to a situation that seemed like a civil war. After the Great Depression in 1929 and the hyperinflation of the money, the National-socialists and communists gained support. Ultimately Adolf Hitler and his NSDAP seized power and turned Germany from a republic to a totalitarian dictatorship.
The Sonderweg-thesis concentrates especially on this period of German history. Germany was founded on the foundation of militarism and royalty of the German states. This was how it was always done and the fact that it changed into a democracy where the people had more power, was alien to many. That uncertainty gave people a sense of discomfort, and especially when the economic crisis struck. In times of sorrow, people often look for/want strong leadership and in Germany this was symbolic for the way it had been since the early 1800’s. According to the Sonderweg-thesis, that’s why Hitler could get so much support in different layers of society.

1933–1945: Nazi Germany
Hitler has always said that he wanted to restore that once was. He not only meant the economy or the colonies but also meant the political system. When you look at his regime, he managed to get a real military organisation going and that really drew people near. It was a revival of all the old military values Germany had before the ‘disaster’ that was called the Weimar Republic. Hitler was smart in his decision to choose a common enemy or group they could chase: the Jews. That Hitler invented Jews as the enemy and as a minority who was valued less, is a common misconception. Jews have been the subject of many prosecutions throughout the centuries, especially in the dark ages. Nietzsche and Wagner talked about ‘the problem’ of the Jews, so the idea of Jews as a group of less value was very alive. Hitler took that idea and exploited it to the maximum, as history tells us. By choosing a group or country he detested, he made sure that the focus of the German people was turned outside. Just like Bismarck did before him, and as long as there was struggle or war, domestic issues wouldn’t arise. This is the darkest period of German history with the holocaust/shoah as absolute worst phenomena.
Dictatorship ended as we all know, with the end of WWII. Germany was free of dictatorship. But is this really true?

1945- present: Germany Divided & United
The process of democratisation was all over Europe, leaving Western Europe a democratic stronghold. The East, however, was not all democratic. Communism took over and this division was seen in Germany as well. West-Germany was run by capitalism and freedom, while East-Germany was run by communism and dictatorship. Although West Germany was on the right path, the same cannot be said for the East. This is the Western point of view obviously, but that is the point of view we are going for in this piece. When we speak of Germany, we often talk about the unified Germany or West-Germany before 1990, but this is not 100% accurate. Contemporary Germany exists out of two different parts. Germany as a democratic, unified nation came about after the fall of the wall and the beginning of Germany.

The Sonderweg thesis came about in the sixties of the 20th century in West-Germany. Scientists tried to explain and find a reason for the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany in WWII, the holocaust in particular. They sought to find a reason to distance themselves from the past and look to a better future. They came up with the idea that the German political system in the period 1871–1945 was wrong, full of flaws and immoral. The scientists supporting that claim, also supported the idea that Germany (West-Germany) should strive for a French or British form of democracy.

In my opinion, this perception is politically loaded, because by agreeing with what the French and British had, the process of normalisation was started. Something the Germans really needed to do in that time, because they had been in WWII and in war with the Allied forces. The Sonderweg thesis is considered plausible and is not as relevant anymore as it used to be. But again, in my opinion, it is starting to become relevant again today. There are dark times ahead according to German politics and I think that a lot of politicians look to the Sonderweg thesis and realise that they don’t want to come across too strongly or too weak. They want to be different than some of their ancestors, and I think this is really important to realise as a german political figure. Germany had a different road to democracy, but that different road to democracy can help them become one of the most stable countries in Europe.

The Sonderweg-thesis often ends at WWII, but I think that in the end, the Sonderweg-thesis also explains why Germany has been a rather stable democracy lately. They are consistent and are not subject to radical changes up and down, left and right. They remain true to themselves and calm. Even if it seems different now, I think that their unique path to democracy has shaped the most stable country in Europe.