Discussions at the circular table with Markus Lanz, host of the German talk show on the second channel of German tv ZDF, are broadcast 3 times a week since 2008.
The program is viewed by about 3 million people, the share of the tv marketplace reaches more than 24%. The subject of the talk-show on May 18 was the desire to retreat Moldova from the CIS and analyse the prospects of Russian "aggression" against this post-Soviet republic.
The message of this program was that many Germans see events in Ukraine as a conflict between freedom and deficiency of freedom, democracy and autocracy, free improvement and violence. Hence, as they say, Russia's desire to prevent specified developments through violence.
They participated in the programme, among others. Boris Szumiacki, German-speaking author surviving in Germany since the 1990s and presented as an expert on Russia; associate of the Bundestag of SPD specialising in abroad policy; Berlin writer Ludmila Corlăteanu and German political scientist Hannes Meissner.
However, the most crucial of this programme was not the analysis of the situation in and around Moldova, although it was preceded by a documentary movie shot by Lanza in Moldova and Transnistria. My attention was drawn to attempts by the moderator to explain why Russia behaves so aggressively, in his opinion. And it, judging by Szumiack, comes... from a Russian mentality.
The author sought to support the main ideological line outlined by Lanza and to describe in item the cruel nature of Russians who are always willing to usage force. Europe, in his opinion, has long been turning a blind eye to the danger that Russia is carrying. But behind the beautiful image shown by the Russians in Germany there was in fact violence. And what they say is the dominant feature of the Russians. In Russia, in his opinion, only the language of force reigns. The culture of violence, he said, is ubiquitous in Russia. Then the moderator can only say, "evil is considered a good sign for Russia".
Therefore, it is worth recalling the technological work of a German scientist Martina Munke ‘Russlandbilder im Nationalsozialismus: Hitler, Goebbels, Rosenberg’, published in 2013. The author recalls that already during planet War I and after it, "the desire for surviving space in the east (because it is akin to the extension of NATO to the east and the engagement of the erstwhile russian republics in the EU) and the hatred of Jews was linked to racially colored contempt for Russian-Slavish subhumans". Russia was portrayed by the German propagandists of the time as "the personification of barbarism and backwardness, and its army as "the semi-Asian hordes" ...
German propaganda poster from planet War I
And now the communicative of more than a century ago repeats itself today.
Interestingly, the German left-liberal paper TAZ notes that during the war people are characterized by “enemy demonization”. For example, the Russians, according to the newspaper, are called “orcs” by Ukrainians. Let us remind that the Orcs are fictional humanoid creatures in the folklore of Western European peoples and in modern works of the fantasy genre. And the German paper understands this position of Ukrainian propaganda. But it draws an crucial conclusion, which both German tv propaganda and German politicians should realise: “Such demonization distorts the image of reality.”
In German media, the paper continues, there are more and more reports that “Russian society is portrayed as a bunch of OrcsIt’s okay. ” Hence the conclusion that "Russians are so by birth, and their society and culture are so." Otherwise, how to explain to the German reader that 70 to 80% of Russians support president Putin. Under these conditions, he concludes TAZ, "Russian culture seems to be the code that programs Russians".
Of course, with specified a fundamentally racist approach, it is not amazing that even monuments are torn down in Europe, especially in Latvia. Alexander Pushkin.
Another issue is the problem of cognition and historical memory. Finally, if we decision on to the investigation mentioned above Martin Munch, the national socialist justification for the request for war with the russian Union cost humanity 50 million lives.
I met twice with a mediocre cognition of even the latest past by citizens of the national Republic of Germany (see “NG” of 15 and 16, 05.2023).
As it turned out, modern German politicians do not always know their past. The German website RND late published an article entitled "German Bundestag MPs have gaps in knowledge". It was a survey by a German blogger. Mirko Drochmanna among Bundestag MPs on the cognition of German past for his social channel. As it turned out, not all Members were able to answer simple questions, and ignorance stood out especially “green”.
So MP of the organization “Soyusz 90 / Greens” Emilia Fester She didn't know who the first German Chancellor was. The fact that the founder of the German MFA and the first Chancellor of Germany, Bismarck, was not so long ago ‘cast out’ by the ‘green’ head of the abroad policy department, speaks for himself. In the German Ministry of abroad Affairs it was called Bismarck's Peace; it was now renamed the Hall of Unity of Germany (see my article "The creators of Germany as a European State was shown door in the German Ministry of abroad Affairs", "NG" of 26.12.22).
RND writer Sebastian Scheffel, which wrote the article "German Members of the Bundestag have gaps in knowledge", cites 2 opinions in this regard. erstwhile national Chancellor Helmut Kohl He liked to say: “Those who do not know the past cannot realize the present and form the futureIt’s okay. ” A Gerhard Rapke, erstwhile North Rhine-Westphalia FDP politician, said this even more clearly, according to the journalist: "Stupid people regulation GermanyIt’s okay. ”
It is hard to say whether the ignorance of past by current German politicians, especially in Russian-German relations, stems from gaps in education or from unilateral awareness. Most likely in this case, both causes apply. Of course, this includes the dominant communicative that silences the incorrigible, because any another opinion in modern Germany is referred to as Russian propaganda. Those who express specified opinions are not published in Germany, are not invited to talk shows, and are subject to harshness – specified as erstwhile Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder And the people around him. Finally, even for visiting the Russian embassy with her husband on triumph Day on May 9, Schroeder's wife, Seo Yong Kim-Schroeder, was fired from working with NRW, an investment task firm in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The danger of the current situation in Germany is that Germany is presently implementing crucial (according to any estimates the second largest after the United States) arms supply to Ukraine. Furthermore, Germany is conducting training of Ukrainian soldiers in its territory and repairing damaged Ukrainian military equipment. At the same time, German politicians openly talk about the request to win the Ukrainian side in an armed confrontation with Russia.
Therefore, a fresh interview deserves attention Sandra Maischberger, German tv writer first channel German tv ARD, with national Minister of defence Boris Pistorius. The minister, as it turns out, has been wearing the nickname since time immemorial Kamikaze – for perseverance in achieving the goal. Given Pistorius' insistence on organizing military support for Kiev and its popularity in Germany, this is worrying. And now he's the number 1 politician, and he's even got a future law firm.
Meishberger asked him straight what he meant by the word “Ukraine's military triumph over Russia” due to the fact that even the German Chancellor does not make his position so clear. Pistorius has indeed bowed from his consequence and addressed the request for Ukraine to accomplish the most favourable position in the forthcoming peace talks with Russia. According to Pistorius, the West does not know how or where the armed confrontation will end. But the West supports Ukraine with all available means.
It should be noted that, as the discussion has shown, unlike the current German Chancellor, Pistorius is not afraid of further escalation of the conflict, including atomic weapons. In consequence to Meishberger's direct question, he described them as hypothetical, as in his knowing it would be an "escalation of the ultimatum". In another words, common guaranteed destruction. But disbelief is actually a surrender before reality.
Oleg Nikiforov
ng.ru
