20 years united Germany

[Ben1]

10/3, that`s the birthday of united Germany. It`s now 20 years ago. What do you think about it?

 

[White Eagle]

That is great, but where has all the time gone?
Seems like wasn't that long ago.

 

[chatolandia]

Congratulations to the Germans!

 

[Zeno Lorea]

It was long overdue. Now I'm only waiting for Germany and Austria to get back the bits and pieces that had always been theirs before 1918: like South Tyrol in the case of Austria, and the Eastern fringe of Belgium. I'm not referring to the territories that saw borders move every few decades in the previous centuries.

 

[unloadonme]

It was long overdue. Now I'm only waiting for Germany and Austria to get back the bits and pieces that had always been theirs before 1918: like South Tyrol in the case of Austria, and the Eastern fringe of Belgium. I'm not referring to the territories that saw borders move every few decades in the previous centuries.

Don't! The next thing you know they'll be annexing the Sudetenland all over again.

 

[TheFireGod]

Happy anniversary United Germany!

Don't! The next thing you know they'll be annexing the Sudetenland all over again.

That's Germany.

Austria's much worse if they did do a "We our want land back". Cause they (the Habsburgs) used to own:

• Czech Republic
• Slovakia
• Southern Poland
• Hungary
• Transylvania
• Northwest Ukraine
• Northern Serbia
• Bosnia
• Croatia
• Slovenia
• Parts of the Federal State of Baden-Wurttemberg in Germany
• Parts of Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Most of Belgium
• Region surrounding and including Milan
• Southern Italy
• Parts of Northern Italy
• Sicily
• Sardinia
• Spain
• Some parts of eastern France
• Tiny piece of land in Morocco
• Tiny pieces of land in Tunisia

 

[MoltenRock III]

Today was the final chapter of WWI, as Germany paid off it's last €70,000,000 remaining in WWI reparations.


http://www.suite101.com/content/world-war-i-officially-ends-today-a292712

 

[TheFireGod]

I wonder if Germany will ever get Kaliningrad (Konigsberg) back?

Are there even any Germans left there?

The Soviets and almost every other Eastern and Central European country were pretty harsh on any Germans in their occupied territories just after WWII.

 

[MoltenRock III]

I wonder if Germany will ever get Kaliningrad (Konigsberg) back?

BTW, I have mixed feelings about a united Germany, but you have to understand that I have some respect for the accomplishments of the DDR.

The Stazi's were quite good at what they did.

 

[MoltenRock III]

The Germans are still a manufacturing powerhouse, while retaining fantastic work wages and benefits for their highly trained workforce. America could learn a lot from Germany regarding education and manufacturing prowess.

 

[Knucklehead]

10/3, that`s the birthday of united Germany. It`s now 20 years ago. What do you think about it?

While I was in the Army my unit used to patrol the old DDR ,FRG and Czeck borders. think reuninfication wasgr eat thing.It should have happened long before it did..

BTW, I have mixed feelings about a united Germany, but you have to understand that I have some respect for the accomplishments of the DDR.

I always thought the Soviets treated the Germans like animals.What did you like about the old DDR?

^Yeah I would agree with that - they have have a far better standard of living than almost any country on earth. Also Literacy is truly 100% there with a highly educated population. The country works very well and the people seem very well adjusted. They lead the world in manufacturing of almost every category and are far ahead of even Japan and the United States in this regard.

I agree with that..I really enjoyed my two years in Germany.Being bombed to the ground and all,they came back better than ever and I often thought their standard of living was far superior to the U.S...

 

[MoltenRock III]

I agree with that..I really enjoyed my two years in Germany.Being bombed to the ground and all,they came back better than ever and I often thought their standard of living was far superior to the U.S...

The average German also works 360 fewer hours per year, which would be equivalent to 9 more weeks of vacation/holiday for American workers.

 

[Centexfarmer]

<snip>But they have also achieved a lot in the arts and culture and seem to have a very bustling scene. They are very hard workers but seem to play equally hard.

And from some documentaries that I've seen, and websites that I've visited, some would argue that Germany's culture IS its arts.

21st Century Germany, from what I've discovered, is nothing like what it seems to be perceived as by those living outside of Germany; living under Nazi guilt from their past, struggling to overcome the adversity of re-unification between the "east and the west," blah, blah, blah.

If that's what the rest of the world has been thinking, then they have some catching up to do.

It seems that Germany has been quietly kicking the rest of the world's asses in business, finance, the arts, engineering, and IT development, just to name a few.

While the Brits and the French have been pissing and moaning about whatever it is that the Brits and French piss and moan about, the Germans seem to be taking care of what really matters to the voting electorate; quality of life issues.

Seriously.

When was the last time we heard anything negative or weird come out of Germany over the past year that didn't have to do with an Octopus that could predict the World's Cup?

So to my friends in the Federal Republic of Germany:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBgEUTHTdhk&feature=related[/ame]

 

[MoltenRock III]

21st Century Germany, from what I've discovered, is nothing like what it seems to be perceived as by those living outside of Germany; living under Nazi guilt from their past, struggling to overcome the adversity of re-unification between the "east and the west," blah, blah, blah.

It seems that Germany has been quietly kicking the rest of the world's asses in business, finance, the arts, engineering, and IT development, just to name a few.

While the Brits and the French have been pissing and moaning about whatever it is that the Brits and French piss and moan about, the Germans seem to be taking care of what really matters to the voting electorate; quality of life issues.

Given the massive, wholesale, changes required, and sacrifices needed to make reunification work, was the equivalent of the US bringing Mexico in as its 51st state, and pulling it up to an equal wage / quality of life status within a decade or two, with very little internal strife. You do have to give them props for pulling off such a seamless transition. Here's a great article on Germany circa 2010.

Germany's Economic Engine: Why the German model has held up even as so many other major economies have collapsed.

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=germanys_economic_engine

 

[Centexfarmer]

Given the massive, wholesale, changes required, and sacrifices needed to make reunification work, was the equivalent of the US bringing Mexico in as its 51st state, and pulling it up to an equal wage / quality of life status within a decade or two, with very little internal strife. You do have to give them props for pulling off such a seamless transition. Here's a great article on Germany circa 2010.

Germany's Economic Engine: Why the German model has held up even as so many other major economies have collapsed.

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=germanys_economic_engine

OMG!

You've just given me an instant BONER!



I really like this part of your post:

Given the massive, wholesale, changes required, and sacrifices needed to make reunification work, was the equivalent of the US bringing Mexico in as its 51st state, and pulling it up to an equal wage / quality of life status within a decade or two, with very little internal strife.

Now if there were any Germans reading this they'd prolly be pissed for a Month of Sundays for the comparison, but considering NAFTA, and all of the other bullshit "fear items" that the Third "Right" in this country uses to destroy what was once great and wonderful in America what a FANTASTIC ANALOGY!

~

But we're not going to use this as an example to hijack and to "Americanize" a thread that was truly created to celebrate a country where we're represented by JUB members.



I'm just saying.

 

[Kulindahr]

The Germans are still a manufacturing powerhouse, while retaining fantastic work wages and benefits for their highly trained workforce. America could learn a lot from Germany regarding education and manufacturing prowess.

The U.S. could learn a lot from Germany about making executives perform for their salaries!

I always thought the Soviets treated the Germans like animals.What did you like about the old DDR?

I always liked that they made the Russians look sorry and kept Moscow worried, regardless of being "allies".



I still have a piece of the Berlin Wall, given me by my S&TA at the DZ where I did skydiving. We watched on TV as the Wall came down, and a few weeks later he opened a package from a member of his former unit in Berlin, a collection of chunks broken off the wall. Everyone who jumped with him regularly got a piece.

He sat for the longest time holding the biggest piece and crying. When a gal got the guts to intrude and ask if he was okay, he let us know he'd seen more than one person die trying to escape what that chunk of piss-poor-quality concrete was propping up.

 

[Kulindahr]

BTW, the one problem with the US/Mexico analogy is that the Germans at least had a common language and didn't have people marching in the streets insisting no one who didn't speak the "right" one should be allowed a job or housing...... whereas the US would have riots.

 

[MoltenRock III]

BTW, the one problem with the US/Mexico analogy is that the Germans at least had a common language and didn't have people marching in the streets insisting no one who didn't speak the "right" one should be allowed a job or housing...... whereas the US would have riots.

My point was strictly economical. But just because both East & West Germany had a common language they had separate education systems, as well as economic systems. You cannot underestimate what the Germans pulled off! It was incredible, all while maintaining one the highest living standards in the world. Even now, Germany is a manufacturing dynamo that competes easily with China, while paying western wages.

 

[Corny]

56% of East Germans still think they were better off under Communism.

MoltenRock, Germany's recovery since reunification has been remarkable, but uneven. There are still wide pockets of unemployment in the East, despite the fact that 2 million Ossies have left since reunification.

One 50-something Ossie polled liked many of the changes reunification brought, but he lamented, most of all, the fact that he couldn't find work. In the DDR, absolutely everybody had work.

One interesting thing about it all is that while the 56% think they were better off under Communism, only 8% want the Wall back.

oh. my. god.

yes, 56% wish old times back .. you know .. those "golden" good old times and childhoof memories from the past. where they had the most delicious cucumber brand X and children's tv show Y. that 's pure nostalgia (or "ostalgia" how we call it in this special case). as you should see for yourself from the 8% that want the wall back, they do not really want to live in the DDR again. lots of job? sure they had them. that's because 2-3 people used to work on a job that one person could do, so that the statistics looked better. after all communism had to work, and it seems for people like you it did just because of that. that at the same time the little money that they earned couldn't be spend on the things that they wanted, that they had to stand in lines for days to get fresh fruit, that they were never allowed to complain because at least one of their neighbors was working for the stasi, that they questioned the kids at school about their parents behavior, regularly read ALL of your mail, only promoted those who were in the "party" and and .. all just gets dropped under the table because they had "jobs"? nothing did work in the DDR.
please make your homework before you make deductions from a complaining old man on tv or wherever you saw it. given the economical infrastructure and the ridiculous "job" situation in the DDR, it is almost a miracle they there are so many jobs right now.

oh and by the way - it's heavily frowned upon and politically incorrect to call them "ossies" now. we are one nation for quite some time now - and this is just discriminating. walls in your head.

 

[MoltenRock III]

56% of East Germans still think they were better off under Communism.

MoltenRock, Germany's recovery since reunification has been remarkable, but uneven. There are still wide pockets of unemployment in the East, despite the fact that 2 million Ossies have left since reunification..

I certainly understand "the good 'ole days" mentality, it's human nature after all. We forget the painful times and remember the good times more sharply. I've spent a great deal of time in the Czech Republic on and off since shortly after the wall came down in Germany. Granted it's not the same but it's very similar.

My father was picked as a university staffer to go to Prague for a couple of different assignments. I went with him as a young teen for about 3 months of his stint there, and then I've been back a dozen times or so since then. I've watched it change (some for the worse, but much more for the good) with my own eyes. I've gotten to know a number of locals, a couple I consider close friends.

Older workers most certainly were at a disadvantage. They had become institutionalized, and essentially a "lost generation" as the younger, more flexible workers excelled at learning new ways. Schools shifted from teaching Russian over to English almost overnight. Graft and corruption have been virtually eliminated compared to what I first encountered there.