Jacek Lepiar
The German interest in Russia has a long tradition, and its binder was aversion to the liberal West. Today, more than a 3rd of the voters are voting for parties in favour of cooperation with Moscow.
Photo by Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F088809-0038 / Creator:Joachim F. Thurn, CC BY-SA 3.0 de
The author refers to the experiences of the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke, who, in 1924, during his travels in Russia, was “initiated”. At dusk, at the door of 2 silver chapels, he saw a group of pilgrims. “This view shook me to the ground. For the first time in my life, I felt in a hard way that this is my homeland. I decided to stay in Russia” Rilke wrote.
"Rilke did not stay in Russia, but his longing for her remained," Schmid emphasises. His “difficult feeling was shared by many people.
Russia as the object of Hitler's hatred
The German fascination with Russia has long gone into oblivion due to Adolf Hitler. Schmid explains that the 3rd Reich chief made her "object of hatred of national socialists". Nazi propaganda, like mass rapes against German women, left deep traces in the collective consciousness. The affirmative image of Russia gave way to an enemy image.
In Adenauer's time, the russian Union was seen as an empire of evil. The ties between the West and West changed political vectors. Western lifestyle and democracy proved attractive. “The authoritarian temptation of relations with the East has disappeared” – reads “Die Welt”.
The attitudes towards Russia are changing again
According to the commentator, The attitude of the Germans is changing again. More and more citizens believe that the war in Ukraine is not Russia, but NATO.A tiny number of Germans support Donald Trump precisely due to the fact that he dismantles transatlantic relations for 80 years.
"More than a 3rd of Germans vote for parties present that advocate the best possible relation with Putin's empire and which at least sceptically mention to Western democracy" “Die Welt,” emphasises the journalist.
In his opinion, for many Germans – ‘and not in the SPD’ – good relations with Russia would be more crucial than the destiny of the institutions of the democratic regulation of law. “New Rapallo would most likely meet with acceptance” – writes Schmid.
Rapallo – the end of a long process
Author recalls that in April 1922 the highest representatives of Germany and revolutionary Russia signed a treaty on common designation and cooperation in Rapallo – "to back all Western countries". This act meant rejecting the closeness with the West.
As Schmid points out, the circumstances of the treaty are inactive not full explained, but in his opinion it was not a spontaneous decision or the effect of hasty negotiations 1 night. The treaty was alternatively the end of a longer process and the beginning of a fresh German-Russian cooperation, which continued until the summertime of 1941, erstwhile Hitler's attack on the USSR ended Ribbentrop-Molotov pact – named by writer Sebastian Haffner "The Devil's Pact".
Friedrich Gauss, German abroad Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, Józef Stalin and the National Commissioner (minister) for abroad Affairs of the USSR Wiacheslaw Molotov. Photo: Wikipedia
Weakness of the Germans to the chief figures
Schmid stresses that Germans and Russians had a common aversion to the liberal West – stronger than the differences between socialism and capitalism.
The author recalls that it was Germany that organized Lenin's return to St. Petersburg in 1917. German industrialists, military, diplomats and the far right have worked with the Bolsheviks since the defeat in planet War I.
Today, Schmid writes, many Germans underestimate the difference between the regulation of law and dictatorship and admire Russia for its alleged “order”.
"Germany has turned distant from Hitler, but it is likely that they have not yet overcome their weaknesses towards leaders with chief ambitions. The Germans' long journey to the West has not yet ended – and this is at a time erstwhile the West itself may be in a phase of decay.” – concludes Thomas Schmid.
