European integration was designed to contain Berlin’s power – instead, it has increased it.
Ein reich über alles: Hans Burgkmair the Elder’s woodcut of 1510 shows a double-heaed eagle, symbol of the Holy Roman empire. Photo: AKG-Images In a blistering speech to the Greek parliament on 15 July, the former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis referred to the harsh “bailout” conditions imposed by eurozone leaders, and especially Berlin, as a “new Versailles”. This calculated allusion to the punitive peace inflicted on imperial Germany after the First World War, especially the “reparations” she was forced to pay, was picked up by media …read more
Source: New Statesman
