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Forging an empire in 1871 - 150 years later: the German nation exists

2021-01-18T00:46:50.311Z


On January 18, 1871, Wilhelm I was proclaimed German Emperor. The start of a story full of catastrophes and errors. But the national idea has survived all crises.


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Imperial proclamation in Versailles 1871 (painting by Anton von Werner, 1885):

An empire of "awkward size"

Photo: United Archives / mauritius images

Every day people around the world look at tables that are organized by nation-state.

You can find out how your country compares to other countries in the fight against Corona, in terms of the total number of infected people, new infections, deaths, vaccination rates, in absolute or relative numbers.

In addition: your own population first.

Therefore, borders were closed and export bans for masks and protective clothing were temporarily imposed.

That is why German politicians are arguing about whether it was right to let the European Union alone order the vaccine.

It is believed that the federal government would have been better able to order sufficient quantities for Germans.

This narrowing to one's own country seems absurd at first, because the virus does not respect borders and does not differentiate according to nationality.

To a universal attack, the states respond primarily nationally.

In times of need it shows again how deep the concept of the nation is, despite decades of European integration, globalization and cosmopolitanism.

This also applies to the Federal Republic of Germany, which has already been on the way to primarily understanding itself as part of Europe.

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Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-01-18

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