When the Germans longed for freedom
#196
My Dear Friend of Democracy,
People strive for freedom. They've always had.
For example, in 19th-century Germany.
After the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the victorious powers had turned the clock back to before the French Revolution. That meant restoring the monarchy in most of Europe, also in Germany, which was called German Confederation back then.
"In this Germany," the British novelist and popular historian James Hawes wrote in The Shortest History of Germany (a review), "social mobility was non-existent; high government or army service was reserved for aristocrats; and active politics was forbidden."
So what did the many people in Germany longing for freedom do?
They left Germany.
Hawes again:
"If you wanted to say or write, let alone do, anything critical of the state of affairs in poor, oppressed Germany, you had one simple option: get out. Britain, the workshop of the world, had a limitless demand for labour, absolutely uncontrolled borders, no limits or even registrations of residence, and a policy of never handing over anyone to any foreign power for any reason, whatever. London became the most-favoured destination of German exiles, whether they were seekers of political asylum or simple economic migrants."
Do any of these many people in today’s Germany who want to close the border, at least tighten controls, have in mind these times when we, the Germans, fled our country?
See you in Europe,
Johannes