Just Finished Reading: The Shortest History of Germany by James Hawes (FP: 2017)

To understand the history of Europe it is vital to understand the history of Germany. Not only is Germany the powerhouse – politically and economically – behind the European project but was a central player in both World Wars (being responsible for one and heavily implicated in the responsibility of the other). Furthermore German culture, science and technology shaped the European world view, helped shape our understanding of the world and helped the world master the natural environment. But the author of this intriguing and often delightful little book (a mere 227 pages) makes a strange assertion – that there is not one Germany but two: West and East and that these half nations have very different histories, natural alliances and historical trajectories. What is more, this has been the case from the very beginning when the Roman Empire created the German people.

It was not that the Empire simply wanted to advance, to take more territory, to conquer the known world. It was far more pragmatic than that. It wanted stable defendable borders. To defend its territories in Gaul Rome built a series of forts along the Rhine and connected them to a defensive line linking up with the Danube River. This area was essentially Romanised for centuries. Further East, as far as the Elbe the Empire had a steadily weakening influence over events and culture. Beyond the Elbe…..? There be dragons and worse, barbarian hordes. This is, of course where the present German capital is. For the rest of history, so the author maintains, this East/West split continued. The Western states in what was eventually a unified Germany (LONG after the supposed unification in 1871) continued to look West to France as their natural ally. Beyond the Elbe the Eastern states looked further East still and gravitated to their natural ally – Russia - which helps explain some seemingly inexplicable elements of the relations between Imperial Germany and Bolshevik Russia as well as Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia a generation later. It’s an interesting idea and the author sells it well.

Of course it’s often forgotten that Germany only officially (but maybe not actually) came into existence after the end of the Franco-Prussian war in 1871 when the largest and most militant state (Prussia) felt able to threaten and strong arm to other states inside the geographical area we now think of as Germany into joining it as the unifying power. With its capital (Berlin) firmly to the East of the Elbe the long history of German states looking west essentially came to an end. With the Junkers – farmers in the lawless lands on the edge of Poland – increasingly influential the soul of Germany became gradually infused with a crudely militaristic worldview. Looked at regionally Hitler (for example) never gained much popularity in the Western (in both senses of the word) provinces than he did in the East. It’s quite uncanny how voting patterns map almost exactly onto regional and denominational maps. The cultural divide is there for all to see. Time and again the author showed that in Germany’s LONG history it has mostly been a divided state. The post WW2 division almost exactly shadowed the map of Roman and barbarian ‘Germany’ and (if I’m reading it right from the author’s viewpoint) should have stayed that way. The vote to move the capital ‘back’ to Berlin was only passed by a single vote. This the author maintains was a mistake. The capital of the Germany of the West was located IN the West and not deep in East Germany. It might go a long way to explain the sometimes inexplicable split personality the Germany appears to presents to the world.

After enjoying the previous book in this series (on Europe as a whole) I’m really hoping that there are many more to come – even if it’s just the rest of Europe. These books are incredibly well written and give a real flavour of the subject in a format you could probably ease through over a weekend. Very informative and highly recommended.