Chancellor Angela Merkel has been in power in Germany since 2005. She has been the leader of the biggest European economy for a significant time, which is very unusual. Merkel’s use of the presence of the past is very prevalent within her speeches and the way she addresses the public. There was little indication that she would become a leader within memory politics. One of the most interesting factors about her coming to power is that she is the first East German to be chancellor. This is definitely one of the reasons her version of memory politics is most likely very different than her predecessors. Her knowledge of the significant events in Germany such as the Nazi period, the holocaust, and the Berlin Wall would be shaped by very different factors compared to past governing figures and a significant amount of people within Germany itself. Memory politics is the organization of collective memory by political figures. In general, it is the way events are remembered, recorded, or simply discarded. Looking forward, memory politics may determine the way history is written and passed on.
Furthermore, memory politics look at sites of memory and commemoration, ranging from places such as museums, monuments, and memorials, to texts, and public events. Each of these tributes interprets and reinterprets traumatic pasts that carry great consequence for national identities. Merkel is the most visible leader in Europe and has been involving the past in her speeches for years. She’s even more well known because memory politics are starting to be used around the world as she’s shown the majority how successful they can be. Chancellor Merkel has invoked the German past, particularly when addressing Germany’s role in Europe and the rest of the world to attempt to present a collective memory for a unified Germany. Regarding memory politics, success could be labeled as creating a better national identity for the country, recognizing mistakes or traumatic events, and uniting the nation all together. All in all, Merkel’s ability to incorporate the past into her present speeches and public addresses has been successful in outlining a collective memory of Germany’s past and presenting a more united nation.
As stated previously, Germany has been successful with Merkel’s ability to incorporate the past to create a more united national identity. One of the main questions brought up in Professor Yoder’s seminar was why the United States has not yet implemented memory politics. There were many plausible reasons brought up as to why a collective memory does not exist yet but one point that really resonated with me was simply that we won the war. Germany was put under mass external pressure to recognize and apologize for what happened. It’s interesting to look at how memorials in the United States regarding slavery are just being put up now. The United States has not necessarily felt that external pressure Germany experienced after the war thus there has not been that same recognition and apologetic attitude towards slavery in general.
Ultimately, Angela Merkel has lead Germany to adopt a collective memory and put forth a more united national identity after a series of traumatic events. She has been a major political leader that has pushed other countries to begin to adopt memory politics themselves. As said previously, the United States has not yet adopted these provisions but the country has definitely been affected by outside pressures very differently compared to Germany. Overall, through Merkel’s influence, politics have and will continue to involve past