Teaching Modern Languages at Post-16 and Beyond (30/6/15) Dr Caroline Pearce, Department of Germanic...
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Teaching Modern Languages at Post-16 and Beyond (30/6/15) Dr Caroline Pearce, Department of Germanic Studies, University of Sheffield Frau Merkel’s Deutschland
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Transcript of Teaching Modern Languages at Post-16 and Beyond (30/6/15) Dr Caroline Pearce, Department of Germanic...
Teaching Modern Languages at Post-16 and Beyond (30/6/15)Dr Caroline Pearce, Department of Germanic Studies, University of Sheffield
Frau Merkel’s Deutschland
‘(New) German identities’http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/nationalklischees-so-sehen-die-briten-die-neuen-deutschen-1.1471141
Der WutbürgerDer Bio-BourgeoisDer Piraten-WählerDer Medien-AristokratDer Bindestrich-DeutscheDer Power-OssiGeneration MerkelGeneration PraktikumEuropeNational Socialist and GDR pastsMore self-confidence?
Parties and coalitions
= Schwarz-Gelbe Koalition
= Rot-Rot-Grüne Koalition
+
+
+
= Große Koalition
+
Ampelkoalition
Jamaika Koalition
Voting systemEvery 4 years - Bundestagswahl Erste Stimme (for candidate from
constituency)Zweite Stimme (for party) ‚Sperrklausel‘ – 5% hurdle CoalitionsFederal and national elections
2005: Grand Coalition18 September 2005• CDU-CSU gained 35.2%, SPD 34.2%• 22 November 2005 Angela Merkel
appointed Chancellor of Grand Coalition• First East German and female Chancellor• Coalition treaty: ‚Gemeinsam für
Deutschland: mit Mut und Menschlichkeit‘
2009: Black-Yellow Coalition
27 September 2009• CDU-CSU received 33.8%, SPD 23.0% • SPD‘s worst election result in post-war
period• Increased support for smaller parties • Merkel formed a coalition with FDP• Mostly defined by banking crisis and the
relationship with Europe (rescue package for Greece, stabilisation and austerity)
• Bundeswehr reform (end of compulsory military service 2011)
• U-Turn on energy policy 2011 in wake of Fukushima disaster (Energiewende)
Grand coalition: since 2013September 2013: CDU won third term
(41.5%) Up 8%, just 5 seats short of absolute majority Best result since Helmut Kohl won first post-
unification election in 1990Goes against current tendency for weak
governments in Europe Reward for weathering euro crisis? Grand coalition formed with Sigmar Gabriel
(SPD) as vice-Chancellor
Wer muss mit Merkel?’
‚Merkel ohne alle’,
‚Totalschaden für Rot-Grün’
Election results for other partiesGreens down from 10.7% to 8.4%; Linke
down from 11.9% to 8.6%FDP biggest loser in elections (down from
14.6% to 4.8%): First time not in Bundestag in post-1945 Germany
Success of newly-founded AfD party
Alternative für Deutschland (AfD)Founded April 2013Eurosceptic / anti-euro / suspicious of
austerity policy4.7% of the vote in 2013 – only just shy of 5%
hurdleSlogan: Mut zur Wahrheit!‚Wir sind weder rechts noch links‘Election success in Hamburg in February2015 – in Land government for the first timeSuccess in European elections 2014
European elections 2014
Die Piratenpartei• Set up in September 2006• Classic 1-issue party (Copyright Law)• ‘Liquid democracy’• Become much more than that – focus on social
issues, green issues, human approach to economy.
• Success - 2011: Berliner Abgeordnetenhaus (8.9%)
• 2012 Landtag in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Saarland & Schleswig-Holstein
• Despite wave of optimism: recent conflict/ internal problems.
• Bundestagswahl 2013 2.2% (up from 2%)• Diminishing popularity / influence
Die NPD• Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands• Right-wing extremists• Success above all in eastern Germany (in
Landtag in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)• Politics based on ‘Volk’ and ‘Nationalismus’
(‘natürlich deutsch’)• Anti immigration, asylum rights, gender
equality, EU / other international organisations
• Want a return to Germany’s 1937 borders (Poland) and a different understanding of Nazi past – annual rallies on ‘Allied war crimes’ in Dresden
• Attempts to ban the party• Bundestagswahl 2013 1.3% (down from 1.5%)
Merkel’s popularityEurope’s longest serving female head of
governmentSecond-most powerful person in the world
(Forbes magazine)From Kohl’s ‘Mädchen’ to ‚Mutti’ Personal popularityPragmatic, methodical, unpretentiousRisk-averseRepresents German interests / heads a
‘people’s party’One in six SPD voters preferred her as
chancellorAdaptability
German leadership in Europe?Is Germany too powerful for
Europe? (The Guardian, 31/3/13)With Angela Merkel’s Germany at
the helm, Europe will remain a tortoise (The Guardian, 25/9/13)
Von Merkel hängt nun das Schicksal Europas ab, Die Welt, 24/9/13
Bundnisfähigkeit ist Kern deutscher Staatsräson, Die Welt, 22/9/13
Germany, Greece and the euro crisisGermany ‚holding purse strings‘ Merkel: if the euro fails, Europe failsCommittment to European project Insistence on austerity measures27 February 2015: German Bundestag approves extension
of Greek aid package542 for, 13 abstentions, 32 against (including 29 members
of the CDU/CSU)Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble emphasised that no
more money would be released until reform conditions fulfilled; Greece simply being given more time
Linke called for a ‘Marshall plan’ for southern European states
Focus on ‘solidarity’ and ‘reform’ in the debateTense negotiations between Greece, Germany and EU
Greek-German tensions- Greek government began recent wave of bailout negotiations by demanding war reparations from Germany- Series of caricatures of Merkel and
Schäuble in the Greek press- Bild ‚no to greedy Greeks‘ campaign- Cultural differences / mistrust- Three quarters of Germans doubt that
Greece will fulfil reformrequirements- But ‚Grexit‘ would be worse scenario
for both countries
Bild: Neue Milliarden fuer Griechenland – wir sagen NEIN!
Newspaper of the Greek governing party Syriza (8/2/15)
Finance Minister Schäuble caricatured as saying ‘we insist on soap from your fat’ and ‘we are discussing making fertiliser from your ashes’
Greek protests at German ‘dominance’ in Europe
German foreign policy‘Peace policy’Focus on humanitarian intervention (‘nie wieder’ / ‘nie
allein’)Greater international role and influenceCombining universal values and national interestsMerkel as negotiator with Putin/Russia in Ukraine
crisisReferences to Cold War / European divisionGermany against use of military force
German economyOverall unemployment 2014 4.8% (5.4% UK)Youth unemployment 7.9% (compared to 21.7% in UK,
53.8% Greece) Source: Eurostat 2012Introduction of minimum wage under current Grand
Coalition (EUR 8.50/hour)Germany emerged strong from recessionContinued divergence between eastern and western
states
The ‘Energiewende’U-turn on energy policy following Fukushima nuclear
disasterClosure of 8 of Germany‘s 17 nuclear power plants –
the rest to be phased out by 2022Transition to alternative energy sources40-45% of energy to come from renewables by 2025
and 55-60% by 2035
Policy issues and challengesAgeing population Projected 14% drop in population by 2050 (source:
UN and World Bank). Britain’s population set to exceed that of Germany by 2040
Low birth rate (1.36 children per woman in 2012, lowest in Europe)
Family friendly policies (Elterngeld): parents can have up to 14 months off after birth of child with up to 65% of salary.
End to compulsory military conscription (2011); reduction in armed forces
Multiculturalism / immigration2013: 16.5 million people in Germany have a non-German
background (20.5% of the population)"Der Ansatz für Multikulti ist gescheitert, absolut
gescheitert!" (Angela Merkel, 2010)Pegida movement (Patriotische Europäer gegen die
Islamisierung des Abendlandes)Focus on integration of foreigners and learning languageRTL initiative Sag’s auf deutsch! 2014: Merkel presents CDU as ‘Partei der Migranten’
Gut leben in Deutschland: was uns wichtig istGovernment-sponsored survey / project launched in 2015 to establish what Germans consider important in life
https://www.gut-leben-in-deutschland.de/DE/Home/home_node.html
Web resources www.bundesregierung.de (Federal Government website; also has pages in
English) www.bundeskanzlerin.de (Federal Chancellor‘s website) www.bpb.de (Bundeszentrale fur politische Bildung) www.mitmischen.de (youth site on German politics) http://www.schekker.de (youth magazine sponsored by Federal
Government) Gut leben in Deutschland (government survey) https://www.gut-leben-in-
deutschland.de/DE/Home/home_node.html Germany: the accidental empire (series in The Guardian) http://
www.theguardian.com/world/series/germany-the-accidental-empire Voices from Germany video http://
www.theguardian.com/world/video/2012/sep/20/voices-from-germany-video
The Making of Merkel (Andrew Marr documentary) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvSA82z6Dig
RTL intiative Sag’s auf deutsch! http://www.rtl.de/cms/mein-rtl/sags-auf-deutsch.html
