“Germanophobia has become a persistent leitmotiv in the crisis hit southern European countries”

International Herald Tribune

Although, it is the unanimous decision of all the 17 member EU countries about allocation of aid to the financially bankrupt counties, there is one country which is forever singled out and ends up being the hot target of all the fury and outcry, GERMANY!

What makes Germany stand out alone and what causes all fingers to be pointed at it? While other EU countries get spared, Germany gets spanked. Let's try to get over this enigma. Efficient- yes; hard working-yes; successful- yes; financially secure- obviously! And there it is, just the right ingredients that go into making Germany the envy of the world, specially among those with tattered economies. Newspapers and social networking sites namely twitter are over flooded with anti German emotions, showering curses on Germany for dictating its rules over weaker countries. Undoubtedly, Germany has become a bone of contention for many crumbling and crippling nations who view it as more of a perpetual enemy than their benefactor. So naturally such stories about Germany brandishing its might on the weaker European countries have sprung up, and will resurface time and again, which I equate with the phrase 'grapes are sour'.

All of a sudden Germany has turned into an object of severe hatred among its neighbouring countries. Prosperity could be explained as one of the reasons, the more prosperous and financially stronger a nation is, it is likely to earn more jealousy of the lesser stable countries. The incidents which sent shock waves across Germany started in Cyprus where protesters took to streets in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia holding placards which depicted moustached Chancellor Angela Merkel as Hitler with words “Get out of our country”. Germany is alleged to have embarked upon the reign of terror once again by attempting to bring the Nazi era back by its forced domination throughout the continent. The frequent reminiscence of the country's dark past is used as a weapon to back stab and weaken its position internationally, thereby making Germany the scapegoat of Europe amid the Euro zone crises. All these allegations hurled upon Germany are nothing but unjustified complaints, totally uncalled for and have caused much hurt among the German populace. According to them, Germany is the paymaster for Euro zone bailout packages and major rescuer of fast collapsing economies hence deserves gratitude and not stark criticism. The Germanophophia stirred up by repeated mentioning of Hitler in media and associating present day Germany with Nazism have caused unease and a tensed atmosphere in the political arena.

Coming in strong defence of Germany, its Finance minister Wolfgang Schauble tried explaining why Germans are seen as “the bad guys”. He told ZDF broadcaster “It's always like this, also in the classroom when you have better grades than others, those with learning difficulties are a bit jealous”

Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece and now Cyprus, the recession is spreading like Black Death across Europe, if timely and stern measures are not taken then it might lead to an inevitable collapse of EU in the near future. After all, for how long can one country carry the burden of multitude of crises plagued countries and for how long will it be able to sustain itself? Germans on an average pay more taxes and the money that comes in, instead of being used in improving the country's own infrastructure, a large chunk of it goes in the rescue operation to bailout the sinking economies. According to German Finance Minister “Germany has contributed more than 220 billion Euros, pledged through loans and financial support packages for Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain” Interestingly, Berlin still gets blamed for its merciless austerity measures. However, it was the recent Cyprus deal that sparked up the anti- German fervour and took it to unfathomable depth. The tough terms and conditions of the bailout for Cyprus suggested by Germany were not easily gulped down and led to German bashing with a vengeance during the ongoing Cyprus crisis.

In the case of Cyprus, 10 billion Euos support came at the cost of depositors in the two biggest banks (mostly Russians) namely, The Bank of Cyprus and the Laiki Bank, having to pay huge levies on savings over 100, 000 Euros. Angered by the bailout terms which have come as a strong blow to the Russian stakeholders in Cyprus, the Russian Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev said “ The stealing of what has already been stolen continues”. The deal also closes down the island's second largest investor popularly known as 'a casino' financial sector, as part of the overhauling process. Also, it was proposed that drastic reduction in public spending be enforced as a condition of receiving loans to cope up with the devastating debt scenario.

“Germany is bringing a spirit of solidarity so that ultimately there is a perspective for crises countries and they may have a future” pointed out Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser Schnarrenberger. Berlin's recommendation that Cyprus' banking sector be improved upon as it was no longer feasible and be restructured has met strong criticism from different quarters which feel Germany is dictating a business model for other European countries. 'Striving for hegemony is wrong and un-European' is the belief which has emerged out of the public furore. To a large extent media in general and social media in particular have fanned the flames of hatred against Germany. “Since the start of Euro zone crises opponents of austerity measures have relied on Nazi comparisons to get their messages across” quoted German broadcaster.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly broken popularity charts by her sturdy German interests and is regarded as someone misusing powers by exploiting debt mired states further. Germany is said to have become the power hungry villain taking advantage of the crisis circling around for its own vested interests and greed, to make maximum profit at the cost of ripping the countries most likely to default. Germans on their part feel that the reason why increasingly European countries suffer from financial losses are caused by the laziness and inefficiency of the people, and lack of proper planning and ruthless spending on the part of their governments. The best example being the Celtic Tiger period in Ireland in 1990's, once it was over the country could not recover, the collapsing of banks and the Euro zone debt crises led Ireland from boom to bust!

“The drama over Cyprus has made clear that the Euro zone crises is developing into a struggle over German hegemony in Europe” wrote renowned German Journalist Jakeb Augstein in Der Spiegel. He further wrote in the column “Just like twice before in our recent history, the Germans are falling deeper and deeper into conflict with their neighours-regardless of the cost. It's a path that could easily lead to fear of German political hegemony on the continent. Indeed, Merkel's idea of European integration is simply that Europe should bend to Germany's political will” Well, I think that is an extreme view of what actually is happening around. Germany is witnessing the reality check of power, with success comes more enemies than allies. As of now the European crisis is turning into a bitter battle of dirty politics involving mudslinging, allegations, counter allegations and digging of the past to gain visibility. It's all about survival of the fittest and has always been, what we can do is, wait and watch, and hope things come under control soon. For God's sake, let's bury the past hatchet and move on. Why bring Hitler, Holocaust and those gruesome memories back in the picture to make your argument heard? If past is to be believed then we must not forget that Germany too extensively suffered after the second world war. No terms and conditions could ever be so humiliating as the clauses of the Treaty of Versailles which Germany was forced to sign. The Nazi nightmare is all past which will never return back, Germans themselves have lived through those past horrors and are now an outstanding example of a well balanced society which is tolerant and maintains harmony with its neighbours. Germany is an active member of the United Nations peace keeping organization and is involved in projects assisting in the democratization process. Like it or hate it, but for sure Europe can't do without Germany, so it's better to accept it.