"Mögen Sie eigentlich die Amerikaner?" - The historical development of anti-Americanism in Germany

Table of contents

1. Introduction
1.1 Relevance of the topic
1.2 Structure and central research questions
1.3 Literary sources.

2. Anti-Americanism – a theoretical approach
2.1 Theories and definitions
2.2 Motives and functions
2.3 Anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism

3. The development of anti-Americanism in the context of German history
3.1 Anti-American perceptions in the 18th and 19th century
3.2 Anti-American images at the beginning of the 20th century until the Second World War
3.3 The Third Reich
3.4 The Post-War and Cold War period (1945-1990)
3.5 From the German Reunification to the war in Iraq
3.6 The presidency of George W. Bush

4. The future of German-American relations – change with a new president?

5. Conclusion

Appendix

Table of figures

List of references

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Relevance of the topic

The idea to write about the development of anti-American¹ resentment in Germany derived mainly from the growing negative attitudes toward the USA that emerged in Germany² during the years of the George W. Bush administration and the war in Iraq. It seems that never before had there been an American president that caused so much criticism and opposition among politicians and the public in Germany. The widespread antipathy seems unprecedented in history so far and the politicial discrepancies and disputes put the longstanding partnership to the test.

Although anti-American resentment is not a specific German phenomenon the recent tensions in Germany have been particularly strong and were displayed more obvious compared to other European countries. One important reason for this is certainly the historical connection between the two countries. Germany lost two wars against America and was occupied by U.S. military forces for about forty years. This has fundamentally shaped German opinions and attitudes.

Generally, it can be stated that Germany and the United States are bound together culturally, historically, politically and economically in many ways. About 46 million Americans claim a German ancestry and about 16 million American soldiers who have lived in Germany since the end of the Second World War have profoundly influenced German society. Today, the USA is the most important trading partner of Germany outside the European Union and American companies are the second largest investors in Germany. The official relationship between the two is described by the German government as “bound by a robust friendship founded on shared experience, values and interests” (Auswärtiges Amt: March 2008).

As the relationship of the two countries has thus always been of great importance on many levels and will continue to play a decisive role in the future, it is crucial to examine this development of the past and present anti-American resentment among Germans in more detail. This way, predictions for the future relationship can be made as well as possible solutions for a better understanding be suggested in order to avoid such strong fallouts that were to be found in recent years.

Above all, it will be analyzed and proved in this thesis that this wave of anti- American sentiments of the past years described-above has not just emerged during the time of the Bush administration. The development of the negative views Germans hold of the United States can be traced back by analyzing the historical process of the relationship between the two countries. Anti- Americanism had varying meanings in the different historical eras, always depending on the social and political context and by which group in society it was pronounced (cf. Lösche and Loeffelholz 2004: XVI). Starting in the 15th century but mainly in the 18th and above all the 19th century, a large number of negative stereotypes of the United States developed – images that can still be found in anti- American expressions today. Ever since Columbus ‘discovered’ America and Europeans started settling the country, many expectations were placed upon it but never met. Hence, the initial positive opinions of many people mingled with a more negative and critical perception.

One of the main aspects of this thesis will be to examine this growing mixture of negative and positive attitudes. It will be outlined that the German resentment toward America has historically always been ambivalent. Anti-American attitudes have often been accompagnied by feelings of fascination and admiration at the same time. Negative and positive opinions about the United States have frequently gone hand-in-hand in Germany, approval and despise closely interwoven. On the one hand, large parts of German society traditionally had a lot of approval for America, as it was considered the land of golden and new opportunities and a symbol for modernism. On the other hand, it is exactly these phenomenons that have caused the development of many negative attitudes toward the United States in the course of history:

„Amerika war stets eine ambivalente Konstruktion (…) – Utopie und Dystopie in einem (…). Es gibt einen Fundus von Stereotypen, die sich bis ins [15. und ]16. Jahrhundert zurückverfolgen lassen; und es zeichnet sich eine deutliche soziale Polarisierung der Amerikabilder ab, die im 19. Jahrhundert entscheidend geformt und verankert wurden“ (Maase in Lüdtke, Marßolek and Saldern 1996: 297-298).

A form of love-hate relationship evolved that still seems to exist today. “Die Aufmerksamkeit für alles Amerikanische ist in Deutschland riesig (...). Die Deutschen essen, trinken und sehen fern fast wie die Amerikaner, aber sie lassen keine Gelegenheit aus, sich gegenseitig zu versichern, wie sehr sie den Verwandten aus Übersee überlegen seien“ (Beste et al. 2008: 34).

This ambivalence is also reflected by the results of a 2004 poll by the Pew Research Center. Only 14% of Germans think that people who move to the United States can expect a better life compared to their old living conditions (cf. The Pew Research Center 2004: 5) . This clearly contradicts the fact that America has traditionally been and still is one of the most popular emigration countries for Germans themselves as shown, for instance, by the 2006 emigration statistics of the German Census Bureau (cf. German Census Bureau: 2006).

This paradox view is furthermore supported by the results of an annual survey conducted by the renowned Allensbach Institute. Since 1957 it has been asking the German people a question of which a short version can also be found in the title of this thesis: “Mögen Sie eigentlich die Amerikaner oder mögen Sie sie nicht?” (Allensbach survey in FAZ: July 23, 2003). The graphic (see appendix), that illustrates the results of the survey, shows clearly the constantly flactuating perception of Germans toward Americans. It also shows that after every period of negative resentment the athmosphere has usually turned more positive again.

It will hence be argued and pointed out in this thesis that the tensions between Germany and America and the strong anti-American resentment that was to be found in Germany in recent years, are simply one of many phases in the ever- changing relationship of the two countries. Misunderstandings and different perceptions are nothing new in the German-American relationship and do not come as a surprise – it is only the extent of the recent anti-American demonstrations and proclamations that might differ from the past (cf. Diner 2002: 38). Hanna Arendt agrees: “Das Unverständnis der Deutschen (...) für angelsächsische Traditionen und amerikanische Wirklichkeit ist eine alte Geschichte” (ibid: 6). Germans have often considered the American claim for leadership in world politics, world peace and the ‘correct behavior’ of other countries strange and elevated (cf. Spillmann in Kreis 2007: 37). Nonetheless, this has never completely damaged the overall positive connections between the two countries and should thus not be valued as the end of the strong relationship between Germany and America, but should be recognized as one of many tense times that the two countries have faced in their historical development.

The recent deterioration of the German-American relationship is thus not simply to be seen as a short-lived reaction and rejection of the politics and the behavior of U.S. President George W. Bush, but in fact as a resentment that can be traced back as early as to the first contact of Europeans and the North American territory (cf. Diner 2002: 13-15). Many negative opinions of America in Germany can be referred to deep-seated associations going back hundreds of years ago which proves that anti-Americanism is a historically grown, theoretical construct with ideology-like tendencies that simply gained new attention and importance during the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.

The following chapters and sections will now examine the historical development of anti-American resentment in German society and politics in more detail. In this context it will be analyzed by what the German perception of America, Americans and American politics have traditionally been influenced and how this can be put in relation to the blatant anti-American sentiments of the past few years. The question will be whether the damaged relationship will improve with the election of a new president in the United States in November 2008 - be it Barrack Obama or John McCain - and if the two countries will remain “partners in leadership” (George Bush: 1990), or if the process of separation will continue. The vivid discussions in Germany about the upcoming American presidential elections show at least the profound interest Germans have in the United States and thus the hope for a change with regards to the damaged relations. It will not be possible, of course, to make a precise prediction for the future. Nonetheless, suggestions can be made by analyzing the roots and causes of the anti-American resentment that became so obvious during the presidency of George W. Bush.

1.2 Structure and central research questions

To gain a thorough understanding of the development of anti-Americanism in Germany and its influence on the German-American relationship, it is first of all important to find out what exactly is to be understood by the term and theory of anti-Americanism and how it is recognizable. The notion could recently be found in almost every transatlantic discussion. It circulated in Europe, especially Germany, and has caused a lot of discussion among authors, politicians and intellectuals. Especially in the political context the term has gained some prominence.

The most important and comprehensive attempts of definitions and theories will be presented and analyzed in chapter 2 of this thesis. It then needs to be clarified where exactly anti-American sentiments come from and where the boundary is to be drawn between legitimate criticism and anti-Americanism. In this context it will be explained that anti-Americanism has always been a controversial term and that a satisfying definition is still under debate and discussion among experts. What experts seem to agree upon is the fact that it is seen as the neglection of something ‘typical’ American. This neglection is not an objective point of criticism but turns into the habitual negative stereotypification of anything American.

Section 2.1 will furthermore provide an overview of the numorous definitions the term anti-Americanism has evoked and present the most important ones. Section 2.2 will then focus on the motives and functions of anti-Americanism as a concept or ideological theory.

In this respect it is important to note that it would go beyond the scope of this thesis to explain both the American and the German point of view. Only the German perspective with regards to its attitude toward Americans will be examined in more detail, as the focus of this paper is solely to analyze the anti- American resentment in Germany and not describe German-American relations in its entity with a comparison of negative and positive opinions about each other. This presumably one-dimensional approach of the topic can also be justified with the fact that compared to the longstanding, vivid anti-American sentiments in Europe and Germany in particular, a strong rejection of Europe in American society can hardly be found in such a wide-spread manner. “Die lächerlichen

freedom fries stehen außerhalb eines historischen Kontextes“ (Behrends, von Klimó and Poutrus 2005: 324). There is also no equivalent to the term anti- Americanism with regards to Europe – ‘Anti-Europäismus’ does not exist in any dictionary. The emotional distance that many European countries – in particular Germany – have developed in the course of history has never reached the same extent in America with regards to anti-European sentiments (cf. ibid: 324).

This one-sided approach of the thesis might, furhtermore, naturally leave the impression that Germans are presented in a very negative way with regards to their attitudes toward Americans. This, however, is only to be seen in context of the research question on-hand. The main topic is the development of anti- American resentment in Germany and this will, of course, leave out the positive sides of the German-American relations. This narrowed point of view should thus be kept in mind when reading this thesis.

In section 2.3 possible similarities between anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism will be discussed as several authors see a connection of the two theoretical concepts (cf. Markovits 2008, Nitz 2006). In this context it will also be analyzed if there is a specific German anti-Americanism and what makes it distinguishable from other countries’ negative opinions about the United States. Furthermore, it will be examined if the anti-American resentment is simply a “response to American actions, or [if it] is a quest for national identity [as some have suggested]” (Weigandt 2003: 1).

Following the theoretical framework, chapter 3 will then outline where the historical roots and causes for the negative views of America in Germany can be found. It will become clear that anti-Americanism as such is not a new sentiment in Germany at all, but can be traced back until the very beginning of German- American relations. It should be noted, however, that due to the predetermined length of this thesis the explanations and analyis of this aspect will have to focus on chosen historical events and epochs and thus only exemplify the development. Section 3.1 will concentrate in detail on German attitudes toward America in the 18th and 19th century. The first half of the 18th century was still a period of mostly positive opinions about America. However, in those days many peoples’ and politicans’ opinions were heavily influenced by the writings of well-known intellectuals such as Nikolaus Lenau, Heinrich Heine or Ferdinand Kürnberger. Their overall negative view of the United States, often criticising the idea of

modernity and progress as well as the influence of civil society in America, had a profound and lasting impact on the German people’s perception of the United States. Examples of their opinions will be provided below. Section 3.2 will focus on the beginning of the 20th century, the events of World War I and the Weimar Republic with regards to the development of anti- Americanism in Germany. At the end of the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles the attitude toward America reached an all-time low so far. Especially the political right whose influence grew substantially in those days put forward the opinion that U.S. President Wilson was to be held responsible for the disreputable situation Germany found itself in after the war. Wilson was perceived as a betrayer with regards to the reparation costs Germany had to pay and seen as the personified imperialistic capitalist that only wanted to exploit Germany. This attitude would generally remain strong among many until the outbreak of World War II. The era of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) was a time of ambivalent feelings for Germans toward America. A growing fear of an increasing American economic and military influence was mixed with a fascination for cultural goods and values that were transported over the Atlantic. Accordingly to this comparatively positive attitude, there were hardly any anti-American writings published in those days.

Section 3.3 will discuss the period of the Third Reich in relation to anti-American resentment in Germany. This era was characterized by the National Socialist’s³ propaganda of already existing anti-American sentiments with a now very strong anti-Semitic touch to it. The Nazis established a picture of America of as a country that was ruled by Jews they considered greedy, selfish and capitalistic – the predominant stereotypes and prejudices used in connection with Jewish people. Adolf Hitler himself had an ambivalent relationship with America. On the one hand, he considered America being able to convert into a world superpower.

On the other hand, he saw the country as a threat and a place where Jewish people and other cultures he disliked could mingle and build a population he despised.

Section 3.4 furthermore focuses on the post-war period and the context of the Cold War until the events of September 11, 2001. After the Second World War the relationship generally seemed to become more positive as many Germas regarded the Americans as liberators of the Nazi terror regime. Nonetheless, some negative resentment remained in place and did not just vanish with the end of the war. German society was changing quickly and due to the historical developments and the circumstances they found themselves in, the population was struggling to find their own identity. This is one reason for the growing criticism of America’s strong presence in Germany. Some poeple complained about feeling colonialized by the United States and wanted more freedom and independence from the occupying forces. Others perceived the denazification and reeducation programs by the Americans as a disgrace.

Events such as the Vietnam War in the late 1960s deteriorated the relationship on a larger scale. The wide-spread demonstrations where many of the traditional anti- American stereotypes evolved again proved once more that despite many positive attitudes the negative opinions remained in place as well. However, the attitudes became more positive again during the time of the reunification of the two Germanies. Many Germans were thankful for the U.S. efforts and the support to “tear down this wall” (Reagan 1987).

Section 3.5 will furthermore focus on the years between the German Reunification until the war in Iraq, with regards to anti-American resentment among Germans. Due to the supportive role the United States had taken on during the reunification process the attitudes of many Germans had been quite positive for a while. Also, U.S. President Bill Clinton was a personality in the 1990s that was respected by many politicians and the public alike. The events of September 11, 2001, however, changed the relationship between Germany and the United States profoundly. After the initial period of sympathy a strong wave of anti- Americanism could be detected in Germany, mainly directed toward U.S. President George W. Bush and his plans to invade Iraq.

Section 3.6 will discuss this more thoroughly and analyze the past years of the Bush administration with regards to anti-American resentment in Germany. Bush’s presidency, the perception of his personality and the events that happened during its reign are crucial for the understanding of the current German-American relationship and its future. It will be shown that even though anti-American resentment became particularly obvious in recent years, the roots of this negative perception are to be found way back in history. George W. Bush can be considered the perfect “Projektionsfläche” for anything that Germans ever disliked about America.

Chapter 4 will provide an attempt to predict the future relations of America and Germany with regards to the upcoming U.S. presidential elections. In which direction will the relationship develop with either Barrack Obama or John McCain as president?

In chapter 5 a conclusion and summary of the topic as well as an overall outlook of German-Amerian relations will be given.

1.3 Literary sources

The present thesis is mostly based on the study of relevant literature, reports, newspaper articles and the analysis of survey results. When researching the topic on-hand it became obvious that there is abundant material available on general transatlantic relations from a historical, economic or cultural perspective. There are also more and more books, papers or reports that deal with the term and topic of anti-Americanism in Europe. However, there are still not that many comprehensive publications, yet, dealing with the specific question of anti- Americanism among Germans. Especially the topic of the recently developed strong anti-American sentiments during the Bush administration and the war in Iraq has not yet been researched thoroughly. The main reason for this is most likeley that the president is still in office and that the conflict in Iraq is not over, yet. Authors that have dealt with this particular topic so far and whose books were also used in the context of this thesis are Uwe Srp (2003) and Axel Birkenkämper (2006).

Another reason why there has just not been that much written about anti- Americanism in Germany is certainly that for a long time it was simply not a phenomenon that intellectuals and others were paying a lot of attention to or were consciously wondering about. Kreis (2007: 17) writes in this respect: „Entweder hat man den alten und ewigen Antiamerikanismus lange übersehen, oder es ist erst der jüngste, wesentlich stärker gewordene Antiamerikanismus, der uns die Augen für seine Vorläufer geöffnet hat.“ This lack of studies will become clear in chapter 2 of this thesis where it will be described in more detail that apart from numorous theories there is still not one completely satisfying, comprehensive definition about the topic.

The books that are available only partially provide satisfying theories and analyses of the phenomenon ‘anti-Americanism’. One of the first comprehensive books on how Germans perceive Americans was published by Ernst Fraenkel. His book “Amerika im Spiegel des deutschen politischen Denkens” (1959) still influences other authors today and is often quoted when it comes to the analysis of German-American relations. Other authors who have had a profound impact in this field of research and are also used for the analysis in this thesis are, for instance, Paul Hollander, Detlef Junker, Gesine Schwan, Dan Diner and Christian Schwaabe. Most of the material has been written by German authors and is often only available in German. The main reason for this is because there is a substantial lack of material available from the American side about this topic. This way, the analysis stays naturally one-dimensional which had some impact on this thesis as many references or quotes had to be added in German because it was not possible to translate them according to their explicit meaning. The points of views are thus naturally restricted to a more German perspective and mostly leave out American points of views.

The one-sided approach of this topic also needs to be kept in mind when the German-American relationship is mentioned in this thesis. Even though the term is used in this thesis quite often, the focus lies solely on the development of the negative German perception of Americans and only some general remarks will be made with regards to the overall German-American relationship in view of political, economical or cultural relations.

In sum, it seems thus that the literature available can overall not offer sufficient explanations and analyses about the topic anti-Americanism as such, as there is until today not a completely satisfying definition that all experts agree upon. It seems, for example, that apart from certain aspects everyone considers features of anti-Americanism, the remaining nuances of where exactly the boundary between legitimate criticism and anti-American resentment is to be drawn, still has to be explored and defined more thoroughly. As Behrends, von Klimó and Poutrus put it (2005: 35): “Die Literatur über den Antiamerikanismus ist fast so schillernd und verwirrend wie das Phänomen selbst, da die meisten Stellungnahmen in gegenwartsbezogene Identitätsbestimmungen eingebunden sind.” The current research level and the large number of theories surrounding the term itself thus prove that anti-Americanism has been increasingly discussed in recent years, but not been explored to its fullest extent yet.

2. ANTI-AMERICANISM - A THEORETICAL APPROACH

2.1 Theories and definitions

„Anti-Americanism is not a well-founded reaction to American politics, but a hysterical surplus that carries reason too far (…)“ (Joffe 2006: 81).

The tensions that arose between the United States and Germany during the war in Iraq in 2003 and the presidency of George W. Bush in general have eased but are still ubiquitous. The term ‘anti-Americanism’ has since become of major importance and has been discussed among journalists, politicians and intellectuals. However, anti-Americanism and its implications are not a new phenomenon at all, but, as will be shown in more detail in chapter 3 of this thesis, has simply been used in different epochs under varying social and historical circumstances. It would thus be wrong to regard anti-Americanism as a product of current political events or consider them remains of the 1968 protests only.

There are several theories when and why anti-American sentiments emerged for the first time, but it is unclear among experts when the term itself was brought into discussion for the first time. According to Birkenkämper it surfaced most likely after the First World War in Germany. Furthermore, Behrends, von Klimó and Poutrus (cf. 2005: 15) add that the notion was most likely introduced as a fighting word to discredit political opponents by well-known author, historian and philosopher Golo Mann in the first half of the 20th century. Schnieders agrees and

adds:

“Ein Blick auf die Geschichte des Antiamerikanismus als politischen Kampfbegriff zeigt, dass diese Keule zur Diskreditierung politischer Gegner der Bundesrepublik ursprünglich in rechten Händen war, inzwischen aber auch mit links bedient wird und gegen fast allen und jeden eingesetzt werden kann (…)“ (Schnieders 2002: introduction).

The use of anti-Americanism as a fighting word is also stressed by Birkenkämper (2006: 26):

“(...) In der praktischen Auseinandersetzung dient die Bezeichnung ‘Antiamerikanismus’ nicht selten als eine Art Surrogat, das aufgrund seiner zweifellos negativen Konnotation immer dann in kontroversen Diskussionen über die USA zum Tragen kommt, wenn Argumente zum Durchsetzen seiner Ansichten nicht mehr reichen.“

However, anti-American sentiments as such can be traced back hundreds of years earlier than that. This is proved, for instance, by the critical reactions and emotions triggered by Columbus’ travel reports of America (cf. Birkenkämper 2006: 25), an aspect that will be dealt with in more detail in chapter 3 of thesis.

Due to the changing perception and development of the meaning of the term in history it is problematic if not impossible to provide one single definition. There are numerous interpretations given by various authors and to explore them all would go beyond the scope of this paper. Thus, only a brief description of the most respected and widely know theories in this field of research will be presented below and used for further discussion in this thesis. Several authors cite Paul Hollander with regards to one of the best and most comprehensive working definitions of anti-Americanism:

“[Anti-Americanism] is a particular mind-set, an attitude of distaste, aversion, or intense hostility the roots of which may be found in matters unrelated to the actual qualities or attributes of American society or the foreign policies of the United States. In short (...), anti-Americanism refers to a negative predisposition, a type of bias which is to various degrees unfounded (...). It is an attitude similar to hostile predisposition as racism, sexism, or anti-Semitism” (Hollander 1995: 339).

Generally, it is important to note that there seem to be some aspects of anti- Americanism that can be found in all existing theories and are mentioned by most authors who have contributed to this discourse. Among others, as will be explained in more detail in this thesis, these elements are, for instance, that Americans are continuously criticized for allegedly being capitalistic, imperialistic or ‘cultureless’ ( Loesche and von Loeffelholz 2004: XVI).

“What holds together the varieties of anti-Americanism is a sense of grievance and the compelling need to find some clear-cut and morally satisfying explanation for a wide range of unwelcome circumstances associated with either actual states, or feelings of backwardness, inferiority, weakness, diminished competitiveness, or a loss of coherence and stability in the life of a nation, group or individual” (Hollander 1995: 343).

As will be shown in more detail below, anti-American imagery and rhetoric have been used by very different societal levels and political groups in the course of history. However, even if the historical context changed most of the stereotypes and prejudices stayed the same. Intellectuals, for instance, have traditionally criticized the alleged lack of culture in America. The right-wing parties have often complained about the United States’ claim for freedom, equality and democracy. The socialist and communist parties usually have denounced America for being capitalistic and imperialistic (cf. Lösche and Loeffelholz 2004: XVI). The different groups and parties have thus all condemned the United States for their own particular reasons. However, they all shared the above-mentionend elements of a cultureless, capitalist and imperialistic America that recurred in every historical period (cf. ibid).

Moreover, anti-Americanism has often been confused with other terms that have a similar meaning and have been used in the same context of discrediting America. One example of this is ‘Americanization’, a notion with just as many interpretations as well as negative but also positive connotations. Since the 1920s Americanization has been related to the transfer of cultural goods and theories as well as the economic influence of the United States. However, it also stands for something that does not necessarily have anything to do with the country America itself, but symbolizes change, modernization and progress . These last aspects have been perceived in Germany with leaving old habits and traditional patterns behind. This has often produced a certain fear and feeling of threat among the German population. Adopting to these new, unknown products and circumstances has led to anti-American sentiments using the United States as ‘Projektionsfläche’ for people`s fears and irritations (cf. ibid).

Another term that has been mentioned in connection with anti-Americanism is that of ‘Philo-Americanism’. This term idealizes America as a place of democracy, enlightenment and progress and shuts off any criticism against American politics, American social conditions or culture. Even though this term implies a positive attitude toward the United States, America’s reality is presented in an exaggerated, superficial way that, once again, leads to clichés, stereotypes and prejudice (cf. ibid).

The different definitions that experts use today to describe anti-Americanism reach from some calling it an emotion (cf. Todd Gitlin in Markovits 2004: 37) to a “backwards utopia” (Joffe 2006: 113), or an independent ideology as Markovits suggests (2004: 39): “Antiamerikanismus ist eine Sammlung von Annahmen, eine Haltung, eine Ideologie und kein Charakterzug”. Nitz as well as Behrends, von Klimó and Poutrus agree: “[Antiamerikanismus ist eine Ideologie], keine einfache Meinung, Missverständnis oder Manipulation” (Nitz 2006: 13). [Er] ist ein integraler Bestandteil unserer Welt: er ist sichtbar, greifbar, hörbar (…)“ (Behrends, von Klimó and Poutrus 2005: 325). Diner (2002: 25) shares this opinion only partially and rather calls anti-Americanism a mentality:

„Antiamerikanismus tritt nicht als geschlossene und sich auf den ersten Blick als solche zu erkennen gebende Weltanschauung auf, sondern legt sich als Schleier unterschiedlicher Konsistenz auf in den Vereinigten Staaten tatsächlich anzutreffenden oder ihnen auch nur zugeschriebene Phänomene von Politik, Kultur und Alltagsleben.“ (ibid: 8).

Kreis (2007: 13) calls anti-Americanism a prejudice: „Antiamerikanismus ist ein Vorurteil, (…) eine generalisierende und globale Dimensionen annehmende und wegen der globalen Dimension sich selbst verstärkende Abneigung gegen vermeintlich oder tatsächlich Amerikanisches.“

The difficulties of finding a common concept or theory for anti-Americanism with regards to its varying meanings and functions under changing historical circumstances point to the danger of confusing legitimate criticism of America with outright hostility in the form of anti-American resentment. Not every critique of the United States is wrong but can obviously bear some truth. As Loesche and von Loeffelholz (2004: XVII) put it:

“Amerikakritik stellt nichts anderes als im Wesentlichen rationale, im Prinzip auch legitime Kritik an einzelnen amerikanischen Phänomenen, an amerikanischer Politik, an einem Präsidenten und seiner Administration, an gesellschaftlichen und ökonomischen Verhältnissen (…) dar. Entscheidend ist, dass Kritik an Amerika Argumenten zugänglich ist, die bedacht und überdacht, modifiziert, auch zurückgenommen werden kann. Sie bestimmt nicht das Leben desjenigen oder der Gruppe, der bzw. die die USA kritisieren.“

This is to be seen in contrast to anti-Americanism. Here, it is more the character and the nature of Americans as a whole that is criticized:

“[Antiamerikanismus] bestimmt das Leben, das Denken, Fühlen, Handeln, die Einstellungen und das Verhalten desjenigen oder der Gruppe, die von ihm erfasst sind. [Er] erstarrt zur Weltanschauung, zum Vorurteilssyndrom, kann nicht modifiziert oder differenziert werden, ist Argumenten unzugänglich. [Er ist] mehr als ein Image, ein Klischee, ein Stereotyp, das sich jemand von den USA macht. [Antiamerikanismus] ist emotional und irrational aufgeladen, mit Ängsten und Befürchtungen besetzt (…), ähnlich wie Antisemitismus und Antikommunismus (…). Antiamerikanismus hat kaum oder nichts mit der Wirklichkeit der USA oder der Amerikaner zu tun, dagegen aber alles mit dem Gerücht über Amerika und „den“ Amerikaner. Und dieses Gerücht, dieses Vorurteil, hat primär mit der eigenen sozialen, politischen oder kulturellen Situation des

„Antiamerikaners“ zu tun, der sich bedroht und bedrängt fühlt, auf Veränderung reagiert, sozialen Abstieg befürchtet und seine eigenen Probleme auf die USA projiziert, die ihm als „Feind“ gegenübertreten (ibid: XVII).“

Hence, it is hard to distinguish between the two concepts of anti-Americanism and legitimate criticism. One way to differentiate between the two theories is that Anti-Americanism is to be considered ‘real anti-Americanism’ when “American behavior is explained with generalising and denouncing terms involving ‘racism’ (extinction of Native Americans), ‘imperialism’ (blood for oil) or ‘bigotry’ (they consider god on their side). This way the whole of American society is condemned, not just a single policy (cf. ibid: 69-70). Anti-Americanism is thus “the obsessive stereotypification, degradation and demonization of the country and its culture” (ibid: 69-70).

Anti-Americanism can be politically, culturally or psychologically motivated and based on prejudice and stereotypes that are not critically questioned, anymore:

“(…) Es wird bewusst oder unbewusst ein Feindbild aufgebaut, das zur Begründung spezifischer, häufig auch aktueller politischer Zwecke dient. Grenzen zwischen Antiamerikanismus und berechtigter Kritik sind daher oft fließend. Antiamerikanismus liegt dann vor, wenn einzelne Handlungen als allgemeingültig angesehen werden und gleichzeitig die eigenen Standpunkte auf einen Sockel moralischer oder politischer Überlegenheit gestellt werden.“ (Langguth 2004: 2.)

The distinction between legitimate criticism and anti-Americanism is furthermore made more difficult as the history of expressing anti-American sentiment is characterized by a strong discontinuity. Different groups at varying times in history have shown anti-American resentment, which makes it complicated to formulate a single, overall basic message. Moreover, the ambigous relationship Germans had and still have toward America further makes it more difficult to distinguish simple criticism from the more deep-seated anti-Americanism. Due to these obscure definitions and the broad usage of the term and its meanings the boundaries of objective criticism and anti-American stereotypes overlap and it is hard to find the nuances. Basically, illegitimate and unobjective criticism of America combined with criticism that bears a certain truth thus builds the ideological construct of anti-Americanism:

“Amerika-feindliche Metaphorik als Ausdruck von Weltanschauung und Ressentiment einerseits sowie Kritik an tatsächlich kritisierenswerten Auswüchsen in den Vereinigten Staaten, an Missständen in der politischen Kultur, an der Sozialstruktur und dem Wirtschaftsgebaren andererseits vermischen sich so zu einer weltweiten Zuspruch erheischenden Ideologie“ (Diner 2002: 25).

Even though it is problematic it remains important, however to try to separate the two concepts in order to analyze the development of anti-Americanism in Germany thoroughly.

As was examined and discussed in this section, it is very difficult to find a comprehensive definition of anti-Americanism or to distinguish it from legitimate criticism. The next section will now try to shed more light on this phenomenon and will analyze the motives and functions anti-American resentment can possess.

2.2 Motives and functions

The terms ‘Amerikanisierung’ and ‘amerikanische Verhältnisse’ are commonly perceived as something negative in the German language. For many they imply something threatening and thus are portrayed und used as something that should be avoided. In the following, this perception will be analyzed in more detail. Furthermore, the reasons and motives for anti-American sentiments and what their function is for the German society will be examined.

In the course of history, the messages and meanings of anti-Americanism have changed within the specific historical context. It has been used to reject the loss of the national and social status by the process of democratization, for example, or as a means of keeping the German political and cultural identity. Also, it has been deployed as a propaganda tool during the Third Reich to justify a war against the United States. After the Second World War it was furthermore used as a form of discharge from the blame of the Nazi era and to politically integrate the ‘Feindbild America’ (cf. Schwan 1999: 61).

However, despite all these different meanings depending on the historical context, the core functions have mostly stayed the same. Hollander (1995: 339) provides one of the most comprehensive summaries regarding possible motives for the development of anti-American resentment:

“Anti-Americanism is a predisposition to hostility toward the United States and American society, a relentlessly critical impulse toward American social, economic, and political institutions, traditions and values; it entails an aversion to American culture in particular and its influence abroad, often also contempt for the American national character (or what is presumed to be such a character) and dislike of American people, manners, behaviors, dress, and so on; rejection of American foreign policy and a firm belief in the malignity of American influence and presence anywhere in the world. Frequently anti-Americanism is a form of anti-capitalism, when the United States is thought to be a repository of social injustice as the major capitalist nation in the world and defender of other capitalist nations”.

According to Schwan (1999: 68) anti-American resentment can function, for instance, as means to keep one’s own political and cultural identity, achieve political integration by using the common ‘Feindbild USA’ or as a psychological justification against a war with the USA as happened during World War I and II (ibid). Furthermore, she suggests that the basic roots for the development of anti-

American resentment are to be found in the historical events of the 18th and 19th century. Romantic intellectuals spoke out against enlightenment as the widespread emigration to America was perceived by them as treason. They feared that Germany would become inferior to the USA. Motives such as cultural anti- modernism, anti-egalitarianism, capitalism, nationalism, paternalistic ideas of a social state system and anti-Semitism evolved as the main trigger for anti- Americanism (cf. ibid).

Berman suggests that „anti-Americanism functions like a prejudice, magnifying the power and presence of its presumed opponent, turning it into a ubiquitous threat” (Berman 2004: 34). Behrends adds (Behrends et al 2005: 48): „(…) Antiamerikanismus muss als eine radikale Form politischer Polemik über die deutsche Vergangenheit, Gegenwart oder Zukunft verstanden werden, die mit dem Stereotyp Amerika hantiert, um durch seine Bildhaftigkeit die Gegner aus dem Felde zu schlagen.“

Another motif for the development of anti-American sentiments is the feeling of inferiority and shame towards the United States, which has won twice a war against Germany. The allied occupation after the Second World War was felt by some as an offender to the German dignity and honor (cf. Behrends et al 2005: 42). In this context people often compared alleged American political failures such as the Vietnam War to the Third Reich in order to discharge Germany’s own blame.

This phenomenon of using the USA as a “Projektionsfläche” for Germany’s own identity problems has played a crucial role in the development of anti-American resentment in German society. Self-doubt, which is a phenomenon of modern times, as well as inner conflicts are projected onto the United States so that feelings of inferiority that Germans might be feeling toward America because of their special historical connection, are compensated (cf. Nitz 2006: 22). Sharing a common feeling of anti-Americanism creates a strong bond between the members of German society and forms its collective identity (cf. Kreis, 15). Hence, anti- Americanism can be seen as an ‘Integrationsideologie’ (Lösche and Loeffelholz 2004: XVIII).

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¹ To simplify matters - and because they are widely accepted in practical use - the terms ‘American’, ‘United States of America’, ‘USA’ or ‘U.S.’ will be applied synonymously in this thesis. However, the author of this paper is conscious about the fact that this use is in many cases not politically or geographically correct.

² When necessary there will be an indication whether the term Germany refers to all of Germany or inclusive/ exclusive the GDR. In all other cases Germany always means the state (or agglomeration of states) as it was defined in each particular historical epoch.

³ In the following, both the longer term ‘National Socialists’or the shorter form ‘Nazis’ will be used interchangeably.