The Third Reich's Effects On Modern Germany

The Third Reich’s Effects on Modern Germany To understand what Germany is today, one must understand the generational effect that the Third Reich not only had but continues to have. As Kempe says, “A historian would be hard-pressed to find a country where a mere dozen years of history, between 1933 and 1945, has cast such a long shadow.” Even though the Third Reich lost its power more than half a century ago, its effects on German culture and politics still stand firm. The effects can be seen in Germany’s idea of national pride and identity, race relations between Germans and German Jews, and Germany’s relationship with the international community of Europe that it fought a horrific, long, and bloody war against. One of the single most important aspects of Germany during the Third Reich was the idea of what it meant to be a German. In Defying Hitler, Haffner describes Germany as a sporting nation. He speaks of the national pride that Germans exhibited and the emphasis and importance that were placed on the sports. Post Nazism, the pride that
Germans took in their sporting accomplishments has vanished. Germans could not embrace their sporting heroes such as Boris Becker, Steffi Graf, or their World Cup soccer championship team as national icons because, “History (the Third Reich) has made Germanness as much a personal drama as national identity.” (Kempe 25). Nazism believed that not all races were equal.
This belief stated that Germans were threatened by Jews. The belief was that the Jews were purely evil and therefore were a direct threat to the German race. The Third Reich concentrated all of its power to eliminate the perceived Jewish threat (Tipton 451). In Fatherland, Kempe makes the point that the Third Reich had a definite side effect on German’s relationships with German Jews. He says that none of his German friends have a natural relationship with any Jews. He describes how ghosts take up chairs at the table making it hard for a dialogue to occur. He goes on to point out that Germans either love Jews to much because they are subconsciously compensating for the crimes of their ancestors (Kempe 21). This subconscious act even though difficult to describe is extremely easy to understand. It is similar to white American and African American
relationships. The subconscious and psychological effect of Germany post Third Reich is also infused in international relations. Helmut Kohl, chancellor or Germany from 1982-1998, viewed Germany’s inclusion in the European Union and use of its currency as a matter of war and peace. He said that a unified Germany could not stand as the strongest country in the middle of the continent. Fifty years after the end of the Third Reich and its attempt to conquer the entire world, Germany and its highest leaders do not trust themselves with power. Kempe goes as far as saying that Europe’s single currency in an offspring of Hitler (Kempe 24). Germany has had a long hard struggle to get to where it is today. As the German youth is forced to solve the real and abstract psychological problems that scar not only their politics but their psyche, the effects of the Nazism and the Third Reich are still being felt. Even though the older generation may be to blame, neo-Nazism exists and is a real threat. This threat even has garnered as much support as of 1998 to give the right-wing party twenty percent of the vote in the eastern German state of Sachsen-Anhalt. This is attributed to youth that has inherited intolerance from its elder generations. One the positive side effect of the Third Reich and their hatred is that history has forced most of the older generation to be silent so that the youth can form views independently and create a new Germany (Kempe, 135). Now the modern Germany shall be replaced by the post-modern Germany.