Germany: Angela Merkeland? I ARTE Documentary

129 Aufrufe
Published
WATCH: Melania Trump - The Mysterious First Lady https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwM--ZPeJtA&list=PL-eZcc0GI8-U296x5kaAsyhyLEILjJ5-h&index=86

After 16 years as chancellor, an excellent economic record and record-breaking popularity ratings, Angela Merkel will retire from the political stage in 2021. Arte explains this Merkel Germany, which was and is an important driving force of the European Union, with all its strengths - but also its weaknesses.

No other political personality stands for the Germany of the 21st century as much as Angela Merkel. Born in the FRG and raised in the GDR, the chancellor made a political career in a united Germany and is thus emblematic of Germany's post-war history. The country’s economic and political success story since its reunification in 1990 is inextricably linked to the governance of Angela Merkel. Being part of the Christian Democrat Party, she was appointed Minister for the Environment in 1994. After becoming German Chancellor in 2005, she was re-elected 4 times, either governing in coalition with the liberals from the FDP or, since 2013, in a large coalition with the SPD social democrats.

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Germany managed to keep the death toll 4 times lower than in France, all the while having a larger population. In addition, the recession in Germany was less sharp than in its neighbouring countries. At the same time, the far-right opposition has increasingly gained traction among the Germans. During the European Elections in 2019 the right wing party AFD was very successful in Eastern Germany. Their success seems to be linked especially to their harsh criticism of Merkel’s policy of admission for Syrian refugees in 2015-16. Political crimes by the far-right are on the rise, being 5 times higher than that of the far-left. The murder of the pro-refugee politician Walter Lübcke is the symbol for this.

Germany is still the central power in the European Union, especially after the departure of the United Kingdom and the EU is at the heart of Germany’s foreign policy. Understanding Merkel's Germany is thus a good point of departure for making sense of EU politics.

Available until the 21/01/2028

ARTE Documentary is here to tell you more about what’s going on in the world of culture and current affairs with powerful, refreshing and entertaining docs subtitled in English for our international fans.

Discover a whole world on #ARTEdocumentary​​​​

Kategorien
Corona Virus aktuelle Videos
Kommentare deaktiviert.