Misstep two came in 2015, when Merkel opened her country to a million refugees and migrants from the Middle East. Here the price was the rise of the ultranationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) – an unprecedented victory of the extreme Right.
Misstep three involved the euro, when the Empress finally caved by withdrawing the knout of financial discipline, the first commandment of German monetary policy. On her watch, Euroland turned into a debt community that spared the wayward harsh internal reforms. So the Italians and Greeks now cheer their erstwhile arch-enemy Merkel. Worse, the European Central Bank kept interest rates near zero, allowing each and all to splurge. This is one, though not the only, cause of inflation unshackled.
Finally, this cold-eyed power politician, also known as “Mutti” (Mom), decimated her own party by eliminating any possible successor, toppling or sidelining all candidates. No wonder that her rudderless Christian Democratic Union crashed in the September general elections. Once good for 50% of the vote, the party was reduced to just below 25% in the September election. By November, opinion polls put the party at 21%, marking the further decline of the CDU. All told, future historians may not celebrate Mutti’s 16-year tenure.
What legacy will this leader leave? Fear not. The three-party coalition cobbled together in the final days of November will not challenge the miraculous stability of postwar Germany. Since the days of Adenauer, the country has become continuity incarnate. This is not the Germany we think we know when recalling its imperialist career in the 20th century.
Responsible citizens of Europe the Kaiser and Der Fuhrer were not; they dreamed of subjugating it. Such types don’t live here anymore. To stay in harness, the motley coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats will have to practice compromise and thus gravitate toward the center. Otherwise, the threesome will fall apart. That’s the curse – or blessing – of multiparty government. No wild swings as in the American two-party system lurching from Obama to Trump and back to Biden.
Continuity is a safe bet for Europe and Berlin’s allies in Washington and London. Germany ’22, thy name is “Lowest Common Denominator,” hence neither breakout nor foot-stomping. This LCD is not flimsy. All the coalition partners, whatever their hue, want to save the planet. The Greens and the Reds (the color of the Social Democrats) want to soak the rich a bit, but not too much.