Bearing the Cross
German officialdom has lately been ruminating whether or not the Germany military’s increased involvement abroad calls for the creation of a new decoration commending special acts of bravery – including possibly reviving perhaps the best known German military award: the Iron Cross. A peitition in support of re-issuing the Iron Cross was registered with the German parliament’s Petition Committee in 2007 and both the German Defense Minister and President Horst Koehler have signaled their approval in principle of the idea of a new decoration – though theydemur at reviving the Iron Cross.
Originally designed and issued in 1813 during the struggles against Napoleon, the Iron Cross was reissued for each of the major conflicts in which Germany was involved through the Second World War. It has not been issued since, however, because of the medal’s popular association with Nazism and German militarism and because it has historically only been awarded to German soldiers serving in times of war. Those in favor of bringing it back into service point out the German military’s current lack of any award specifically aimed at recognizing acts of bravery. They also remind the public of the Iron Cross’s history prior the Nazi era and its use as a national emblem (albeit in slightly modified form) on all vehicles employed by the postwar German armed forces. Somewhat despondently, they also refer to the German public’s generally cool attittude toward its own military services, and to the cuts and deficiencies those forces have faced – suggesting that a historically established symbol like the Iron Cross could compensate to a degree for these slights.
Judging from the public response to news reports on the matter, the idea of reviving the Iron Cross is not viewed at all favorably. Reader comments to stories on the topic carried in Der Spiegel, Frankfurter Allgemeine and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung were overwhelmingly (almost unanimously) negative. But this rejection appears to come less as a consequence of the historical „baggage“ that the Iron Cross bears than it does from its role as a commendation bestowed during wartime. Clear majorities of German public opinion are against Germany’s military engagement in Afghanistan – and many Germans oppose any Germany military involvement abroad (except perhaps as part of UN-sanctioned peacekeeping or purely „humanitarian“ missions). So the suggestion that their armed forces be granted a special decoration for bravery in combat runs against German self-perception of the country’s role in the world. Germans do not see themselves „at war“ (even in places, like Afghanistan, where combat is a reality) and so resist the notion that their soldiers be grannted war commendations. Online commentary reflects this sentiment, with few giving much attention to to the matter of the Iron Cross specifically and focusing instead on the the broader topic of German military invovlement. For the bulk of German opinion, it seems, there should be no medal for bravery in war (no matter the form the award may take) since there should be no war. So long as this view prevails, any commendation that Germany may issue will have little or no public meaning.
Background:
www.bmvg.de
www.demokratieonline.de
www.sueddeutsche.de
www.spiegel.de
www.faz.net
Originally designed and issued in 1813 during the struggles against Napoleon, the Iron Cross was reissued for each of the major conflicts in which Germany was involved through the Second World War. It has not been issued since, however, because of the medal’s popular association with Nazism and German militarism and because it has historically only been awarded to German soldiers serving in times of war. Those in favor of bringing it back into service point out the German military’s current lack of any award specifically aimed at recognizing acts of bravery. They also remind the public of the Iron Cross’s history prior the Nazi era and its use as a national emblem (albeit in slightly modified form) on all vehicles employed by the postwar German armed forces. Somewhat despondently, they also refer to the German public’s generally cool attittude toward its own military services, and to the cuts and deficiencies those forces have faced – suggesting that a historically established symbol like the Iron Cross could compensate to a degree for these slights.
Judging from the public response to news reports on the matter, the idea of reviving the Iron Cross is not viewed at all favorably. Reader comments to stories on the topic carried in Der Spiegel, Frankfurter Allgemeine and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung were overwhelmingly (almost unanimously) negative. But this rejection appears to come less as a consequence of the historical „baggage“ that the Iron Cross bears than it does from its role as a commendation bestowed during wartime. Clear majorities of German public opinion are against Germany’s military engagement in Afghanistan – and many Germans oppose any Germany military involvement abroad (except perhaps as part of UN-sanctioned peacekeeping or purely „humanitarian“ missions). So the suggestion that their armed forces be granted a special decoration for bravery in combat runs against German self-perception of the country’s role in the world. Germans do not see themselves „at war“ (even in places, like Afghanistan, where combat is a reality) and so resist the notion that their soldiers be grannted war commendations. Online commentary reflects this sentiment, with few giving much attention to to the matter of the Iron Cross specifically and focusing instead on the the broader topic of German military invovlement. For the bulk of German opinion, it seems, there should be no medal for bravery in war (no matter the form the award may take) since there should be no war. So long as this view prevails, any commendation that Germany may issue will have little or no public meaning.
Background:
www.bmvg.de
www.demokratieonline.de
www.sueddeutsche.de
www.spiegel.de
www.faz.net
KMPRINCE - Fri Mar 14, 10:57 Topic: German memorial culture
