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Category: Germany

The End of Germany?

After today’s attack on Nord Stream it is clear: the powers-that-be are working hard to speed a bitter end for Germany and European industry.

In case you didn’t know, Germany was once the most powerful state in Europe. It was called the Holy Roman Empire and it existed from 962 until dissolved by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806.

Russia traditionally established matrimonial unions with Germany in the 18th and the 19 th centuries; and so did Britain. However, following the demise of the HRE, Germany gradually became an anti-Russian actor in the European political theatre. Great Britain habitually drove a wedge between the two countries, assisted by France. The two bloodiest conflicts of the 20th century occurred between Germany and Russia, leading to significant losses in population, a separation of Germany, and a long-term economic regeneration of the countries.

21st century and Nord Stream

In the last 50 years there was a glimpse of hope for the future relations between Russia and Germany. However, as we can see now, the very idea of the European Union has been to ensure there would not be a single powerful state on the European continent. Scandinavian countries naturally “withdraw” from continental politics. Britain officially left the EU in 2020. Germany was pinpointed as the new leading power in Europe. Yet after today’s attack on three lines of Nord Stream it is clear: the powers-that-be are working hard to speed a bitter end for Germany and European industry.

The occurrence has already been called an act of economic terrorism. The US have previously indicated that they were going to destroy Nord Stream. It is clear that the USA and Great Britain worked together to hammer this “fizzy” bolt into the European economy. Now that Nord Stream is out of order Europe will have either no gas at all, or it will have to buy it from Britain and the US at an extremely high price.

Economic Piracy in 2022

Worse yet – and there is some analysis on this – this attack to destroy Nord Stream is to have some very sinister consequences. German investors have already turned to the US; now the business and engineers will have to turn there, too. If they cannot live and work in the coldness of European winter, they have to migrate… to the US.

This is more or less what the Soviet people experienced in 1990s, following the demise of the USSR. A lot of people left the country in search for better opportunities and salaries, often going to the US. Now the same is about to happen to Germany, which country, significantly, became united at the expense of the USSR collapse.

The Swedish seismologists acknowledge that there was no underwater earthquake in the area of the gas leak, and that the resulting ruptures in the pipes were caused by explosions, Meanwhile, the Polish ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs Radek Sikorski has posted this picture on Twitter.

The US and its satellites don’t even conceal their terrorist attack – on Germany, Europe, and peace. Such is the price you pay for adhering to Realpolitik. You endlessly create an enemy to exist.

Other posts in History

My Home Library: The German Expressionist Poets

It was absolutely normal for me to read “beyond my age”, so to say. When I was seven, I read Oscar Wilde’s tales, Voynich’s Gadfly, and the ancient myths. The book in Russian that you see in the photo was printed in 1990, so it was around the age of 10 that I first read the poems by German Expressionists. Being rather savvy for my age, I knew at least one of them by name: it was Bertolt Brecht, although as we know he did not remain an Expressionist for too long, just as Boris Pasternak moved on from Futurism fairly quickly. Back then I was, erm, thrilled to be able to read certain words that would be considered foul language (I understand now it prepared me for reading Henry Miller on the Moscow Underground a decade later). I remember being particularly impressed by the poetry of Gottfried Benn. However, he wrote truly lyrical poems, as well:
Gottfried Benn – Asters
Asters—sweltering days,
old entreaty, spell,
the gods shed timid rays,
an hour upon the scale.
Once more the golden flocks,
the sky, the light, the veil.
What breeds the familiar flux
of wings before they fail?
Once more now the lust,
the rush of roses, and you—
the summer’s leaned to watch
the swallows skirt the dew,
and once more does not falter,
sure dark precedes new light:
the swallows drink the water
and fade into the night.
Another poet I took a notice of (thanks to a brilliant Russian translation by V. Toporov) was Georg Heym. You can browse his poems in German here.
Georg Heym – Der Hunger
Er fuhr in einen Hund, dem groß er sperrt
Das rote Maul. Die blaue Zunge wirft
Sich lang heraus. Er wälzt im Staub. Er schlürft
Verwelktes Gras, das er dem Sand entzerrt.

Sein leerer Schlund ist wie ein großes Tor,
Drin Feuer sickert, langsam, tropfenweis,
Das ihm den Bauch verbrennt. Dann wäscht mit Eis
Ihm eine Hand das heiße Speiserohr.

Er wankt durch Dampf. Die Sonne ist ein Fleck,
Ein rotes Ofentor. Ein grüner Halbmond führt
Vor seinen Augen Tänze. Er ist weg.

Ein schwarzes Loch gähnt, draus die Kälte stiert.
Er fällt hinab, und fühlt noch, wie der Schreck
Mit Eisenfäusten seine Gurgel schnürt.
Георг Гейм – Голод
Торчит у шавки в горле, точно кость
Кровавая… Синюшным языком
Собака лижет клочья трав с песком,
А голод пробурил ее насквозь.
Разинута, как семивратье, пасть.
Огонь сочится каплями в живот
И жжет его… Покуда пищевод
Как лед не станет, распалившись всласть.
Все как в тумане. Солнце лишь пятно.
Печь пышущая… Квелая луна
Перед глазами пляшет. Надо прочь.
Как чернота, зияет белизна.
Ошейником тоски сдавила ночь
Дыханье. Только сдохнуть суждено.
(Перевод – В. Топоров / Translated into Russian by V. Toporov)

Colloquialisms and Salutations: A German Headmistress Bans “Hallo”

Image: DPA via Spiegel.de

To maintain my languages, I try to listen to the radio and read the press. The Internet access means that I can dedicate as little as 15 minutes every day to this. So, this Sunday I read a story in Spiegel.de about a headmistress  from Passau, Bavaria who banned “Hallo” and “Tschüs” in her school. From hereon students must use “Grüß Gott” and “Auf Wiedersehen” in their daily exchanges.

The peers of Petra Seibert generally support her, stating that her decision has sense, pedagogically. However, whether or not school students can abide by this decision, and what impact it may have regionally, remains to be seen. As far as Spiegel’s online readership goes, majority didn’t find the idea amusing: “Tschüs, Frau Rektorin! Sie sind unhaltbar” gained most votes (“Tschüs, Frau Headmistress! You are intolerable”).

Naturally, I wonder if anything like this could happen in a Russian school. I don’t contemplate English schools, simply because I never knew British students exchanging the French “Salut!” or the Russian “Privet!” In Russia, the situation similar to that in Passau in Northern Bavaria is quite possible, if only because the Russians are good at picking up various foreign words. I know for a fact that in 1980s “salut” (with all letters pronounced) was very wide-spread, as was “ciao”. Now “hello” or “hi” is most commonly used, sometimes augmented by a typically Russian diminutive suffix, “-yushk-” or “-ushk-“: “helloushki”, “hiyushki”.

So, could a Russian headmistress ban “hello” from being used as a salutation? I think so, yet, as in Passau, it’d remain to be seen how long the measure would stay for.

error: Sorry, no copying !!