Germany Isn’t Ready to Lead. That’s a Good Thing.
The emphasis on the Nazi period that has reined in the country’s global ambitions since the end of World War II shouldn’t be swept aside.
Alexander Gauland, co-leader of Alternative for Germany, is stirring the pot.
Photographer: Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images
Alexander Gauland, the co-leader of the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, was seeking more than provocative headlines when he said Saturday that “Hitler and the Nazis are just a speck of bird poop on 1,000 years of successful German history.” His remarks fed into a larger debate as Germany wrestles with a historic opportunity to become one of the poles of a multipolar geopolitical system. Achieving that goal would require a perspective about the country’s history that is closer to Gauland’s than to the political mainstream.
Gauland’s statement in a speech to the party’s youth wing provoked angry reactions. For mainstream politicians, it recalled an infamous remark by the French nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen in 1987 (which he has since repeated) that the gas chambers were “just a detail” of World War II history. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier suggested Gauland’s comments were part of an effort to erode the postwar taboo about the National Socialist regime. “Those who today deny, minimize or relativize that unique break with civilization don’t just mock the millions of victims but deliberately open old wounds and sow new hatred, and we should stand against them together,” Steinmeier said. Even some AfD members apologized for Gauland.