Regrettably politicians know little about history and when they do bring history into debate it is usually error stricken (Trump) or an attempt to smear opponents (Suez - appeasement). A famous case in point was Thatcher calling in some historians in 1990 hoping they would support her view that a united German was a serious danger. They did not agree so she gave up consulting outsiders unless they agreed with her! Blair knew little or nothing about the history of British involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq before committing troops there. In the current Trump administration there is no one at senior level with any understanding of Iran or Persian history. If there were, we might not be in the situation we are in today. Sigh.
Fascinating as ever. I always think of that wonderful photograph of Joseph Beuys being ejected from the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie for free-thinking, which he printed as a poster with the words 'Demokratie ist lustig' — the swings and roundabouts of it all.
As ever a good read with my Sunday morning coffee. The event and location look spectacular. I recognised Rana Mitter’s name; I heard him at WHWFZ (Might have been drei) and I read his excellent book China’s War with Japan 1937-1945 (Penguin 2014). And I am sure I have heard Ali Ansari on BBC R4, probably In Our Time (No doubt you will feature on that long running programme in the future). I have a theory about Germany and democracy which you should feel free to dismiss. The voters were exhausted with the chaos and strife since, and including, the German Revolution of 18/19 et seq. The NSDAP offered, amongst other things, order. The voters seized upon that without checking the entire manifesto. I think that today it is all about managing political expectations, delivering upon those expectations, and communicating that to the electorate. The parties of the middle right and left struggle to offer an engaging package whereas extremists of all hues pander to their base, offering policies beyond the pale. Good read Katja.
I’ve always thought that one of the reasons for the collapse of democracy in Germany in the 30s was that people were unused to it. The Weimar Republic was Germany’s first attempt at democracy, and, under the strains of revolutionary activity from both right and left, and then the global economic catastrophe following the Wall Street crash, there wasn’t enough trust in democracy to confront the challenges of the time. It needs both politicians and ‘the people’ to trust that democratic means are the best way forward.
Then, of course, there’s democracy itself: there are plenty of conflicting views about what constitutes it, and what is needed to ensure it survives.
I agree with your relatively positive appreciation of the Weimar regime. A few years ago in my local library, Margaret Macmillan opined that the Nazis dictatorship and WWII only happened because of the concurrence of economic depression in Germany and the presence of a particularly evil genius, Hitler. One without the other would have eventually led to Germany continuing on a democratic path, as happened in the U.S. and Britain. By the end of the 20s, Germany was out of the worst of the reparations. My German grandfather, Director of a synthetic fibres plant, was then paying a visit to business partners in the U.S. I have a photo of him on a German liner with other German businessmen heading for America.
One important lesson to learn is that quality of candidates and a cogent positive vision for the future matter. Fear-mongering will work in the short term--Trump's election(s)in the US, for example, but trustworthy, inspiring, capable leaders are what people hunger for. I am an independent voter but will never vote for another Republican in the US. There will be a huge Blue Tsunami in the US in November. There is an unusually high number of very qualified Democrats in line to deep six Trump in 2028 (if he's not removed from office by then.). Democracy in the US is no longer taken for granted, but perhaps that is as it should be.
The part that strikes me as genuinely hopeful isn't the abstract approval of democracy - it's how readily Germans reached for it from the jump. An 83% turnout and a celebratory mood, from a people who'd been under the Kaiser a year earlier with no real democratic tradition, is remarkable.
Which is also what makes 1932 sadder to me. The usual reading is that disappointment curdled into rejection - but Weimar wasn't Draconian, or even especially dysfunctional by the standards of its neighbors. It was closer to Sweden than we like to remember. What undid it wasn't a mass falling out of love with democracy so much as a run of contingencies - the Depression's timing, an exploitable Hindenburg, the backroom machinations - that didn't have to break the way they did. Something fairly well-loved was undone by small, avoidable turns. That feels like the harder lesson than disappointment.
This reminds me of the observation that so-and-so loves humanity, its people that he cannot stand! Democratic values are beloved though the versions actually on offer are not well admired. And that is hardly a surprise. Brandeis, i think, once remarked that you can have huge disparities of wealth or democracy but you cannot have both. As we have huge disparities, not surprisingly we dont really have much democracy. The remedy you offer, a more positive vision, wont accomplish much in the current rule of the oligarchs. I am sure you know all of this, which raises the obvious question: what could you possibly mean?
By the way, Katja, was Pippi Langstrumph available in the DDR? A comparison of children’s books on both sides of the wall might be interesting. Perhaps they were similar?
Regrettably politicians know little about history and when they do bring history into debate it is usually error stricken (Trump) or an attempt to smear opponents (Suez - appeasement). A famous case in point was Thatcher calling in some historians in 1990 hoping they would support her view that a united German was a serious danger. They did not agree so she gave up consulting outsiders unless they agreed with her! Blair knew little or nothing about the history of British involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq before committing troops there. In the current Trump administration there is no one at senior level with any understanding of Iran or Persian history. If there were, we might not be in the situation we are in today. Sigh.
Fascinating as ever. I always think of that wonderful photograph of Joseph Beuys being ejected from the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie for free-thinking, which he printed as a poster with the words 'Demokratie ist lustig' — the swings and roundabouts of it all.
As ever a good read with my Sunday morning coffee. The event and location look spectacular. I recognised Rana Mitter’s name; I heard him at WHWFZ (Might have been drei) and I read his excellent book China’s War with Japan 1937-1945 (Penguin 2014). And I am sure I have heard Ali Ansari on BBC R4, probably In Our Time (No doubt you will feature on that long running programme in the future). I have a theory about Germany and democracy which you should feel free to dismiss. The voters were exhausted with the chaos and strife since, and including, the German Revolution of 18/19 et seq. The NSDAP offered, amongst other things, order. The voters seized upon that without checking the entire manifesto. I think that today it is all about managing political expectations, delivering upon those expectations, and communicating that to the electorate. The parties of the middle right and left struggle to offer an engaging package whereas extremists of all hues pander to their base, offering policies beyond the pale. Good read Katja.
I’ve always thought that one of the reasons for the collapse of democracy in Germany in the 30s was that people were unused to it. The Weimar Republic was Germany’s first attempt at democracy, and, under the strains of revolutionary activity from both right and left, and then the global economic catastrophe following the Wall Street crash, there wasn’t enough trust in democracy to confront the challenges of the time. It needs both politicians and ‘the people’ to trust that democratic means are the best way forward.
Then, of course, there’s democracy itself: there are plenty of conflicting views about what constitutes it, and what is needed to ensure it survives.
I agree with your relatively positive appreciation of the Weimar regime. A few years ago in my local library, Margaret Macmillan opined that the Nazis dictatorship and WWII only happened because of the concurrence of economic depression in Germany and the presence of a particularly evil genius, Hitler. One without the other would have eventually led to Germany continuing on a democratic path, as happened in the U.S. and Britain. By the end of the 20s, Germany was out of the worst of the reparations. My German grandfather, Director of a synthetic fibres plant, was then paying a visit to business partners in the U.S. I have a photo of him on a German liner with other German businessmen heading for America.
One important lesson to learn is that quality of candidates and a cogent positive vision for the future matter. Fear-mongering will work in the short term--Trump's election(s)in the US, for example, but trustworthy, inspiring, capable leaders are what people hunger for. I am an independent voter but will never vote for another Republican in the US. There will be a huge Blue Tsunami in the US in November. There is an unusually high number of very qualified Democrats in line to deep six Trump in 2028 (if he's not removed from office by then.). Democracy in the US is no longer taken for granted, but perhaps that is as it should be.
The part that strikes me as genuinely hopeful isn't the abstract approval of democracy - it's how readily Germans reached for it from the jump. An 83% turnout and a celebratory mood, from a people who'd been under the Kaiser a year earlier with no real democratic tradition, is remarkable.
Which is also what makes 1932 sadder to me. The usual reading is that disappointment curdled into rejection - but Weimar wasn't Draconian, or even especially dysfunctional by the standards of its neighbors. It was closer to Sweden than we like to remember. What undid it wasn't a mass falling out of love with democracy so much as a run of contingencies - the Depression's timing, an exploitable Hindenburg, the backroom machinations - that didn't have to break the way they did. Something fairly well-loved was undone by small, avoidable turns. That feels like the harder lesson than disappointment.
Great read Katja . When people get disillusioned it appears history has a way of repeating itself.
I think you're right that Weimar is too easily tossed about as a bugbear rather than a nuanced example from which there is much to learn.
P.S. I'm sorry you weren't able to meet my favorite Swede: Pippi Longstocking.
I’ve done the first one hundred pages of your new book Katja 👍love it , no pressure but what’s in the pipeline for the next one 😂😂
This reminds me of the observation that so-and-so loves humanity, its people that he cannot stand! Democratic values are beloved though the versions actually on offer are not well admired. And that is hardly a surprise. Brandeis, i think, once remarked that you can have huge disparities of wealth or democracy but you cannot have both. As we have huge disparities, not surprisingly we dont really have much democracy. The remedy you offer, a more positive vision, wont accomplish much in the current rule of the oligarchs. I am sure you know all of this, which raises the obvious question: what could you possibly mean?
Absolutely spot on.
By the way, Katja, was Pippi Langstrumph available in the DDR? A comparison of children’s books on both sides of the wall might be interesting. Perhaps they were similar?