The Merkel Years: A Chronicle of Political Misjudgments
Germany’s current crisis is neither a sudden event nor an unavoidable consequence of external shocks. It is the result of a long chain of political misjudgments that accumulated over Angela Merkel’s 16-year chancellorship, reinforced one another, and ultimately condensed into a comprehensive structural predicament.
Economic stagnation, energy insecurity, industrial relocation, social polarization, weakness in security policy, and political paralysis are not independent phenomena. Rather, they represent the cumulative outcome of a policy approach that prioritized short-term stability over long-term safeguarding of the future, avoided risks instead of managing them, and postponed conflicts until they became systemic.
This review therefore does not aim at personal retribution, but at reconstructing a chain of political errors: each individual misstep may have been understandable or even popular in isolation, but taken together they led Germany into its current situation. The present crisis is thus not the failure of individual sectors, but the result of a consistent political pattern of lack of strategy, avoidance of responsibility, and mere administration of power.
Only by clearly naming these mistakes and their consequences can one understand why Germany today is simultaneously economically weakened, energy-dependent, socially divided, and politically blocked—and why a simple continuation of the previous course cannot offer a solution.
Error 1: Power-Oriented Entry into Politics Without Strategic Vision
Error:
After the collapse of the GDR, Angela Merkel moved from academia into politics without developing a recognizable long-term political vision for Germany or Europe. From the outset, politics was pursued as a career and power instrument, not as a mandate to shape the future.
Consequence:
A governing style of pure administration later became established at the highest level. Strategic thinking, long-term planning, and the definition of national objectives remained permanently underdeveloped.
Error 2: Disloyal Ousting of Helmut Kohl
Error:
Merkel publicly withdrew her support from her political mentor Helmut Kohl and played a decisive role in bringing about his political downfall.
Consequence:
Within the party, a style of intrigue and power consolidation took hold. Trust and loyalty within the CDU were sustainably damaged.
Error 3: Break with German Foreign Policy During the Iraq War (2003)
Error:
Merkel publicly opposed the German and French rejection of the Iraq War and indirectly supported the U.S. intervention.
Consequence:
Germany lost foreign-policy cohesion. Merkel’s credibility as a representative of German interests was damaged early on.
Error 4: Renunciation of Strategic Leadership as Chancellor (from 2005)
Error:
Merkel did not lead Germany strategically, but reactively. Decisions were aligned with opinion polls, media resonance, and short-term public moods.
Consequence:
Necessary structural reforms were neglected. Political problems were postponed until they became unmanageable.
Error 5: Energy Policy Double Strategy Without Safeguards
Error:
Simultaneous deepening of dependence on Russian gas (Nord Stream) and abandonment of nuclear energy without viable alternatives.
Consequence:
Germany became vulnerable to energy coercion. Industry, electricity prices, and security of supply fell into a structural crisis.
Error 6: Abolition of Conscription and Hollowing Out of the Bundeswehr
Error:
Merkel ended conscription and systematically neglected the equipment, operational readiness, and morale of the Bundeswehr.
Consequence:
The Bundeswehr lost its defensive capability. Germany became dependent on alliance partners for its security.
Error 7: Dogmatic Fiscal Policy Despite Historic Opportunities
Error:
Adherence to the “black zero” balanced-budget policy despite zero and negative interest rates.
Consequence:
Infrastructure, education, digitalization, and innovation deteriorated. Germany lost economic competitiveness.
Error 8: Failure to Pursue Digitalization
Error:
Failure to consistently expand fiber-optic networks, digital administration, AI, and future technologies.
Consequence:
Germany fell technologically behind comparable countries and lost its connection to future industries.
Error 9: Opening of Borders in 2015 Without Legal and Social Safeguards
Error:
Uncontrolled opening of borders to mass immigration without integration, security, or capacity concepts.
Consequence:
Overburdening of social systems, housing shortages, social division, and loss of trust in state order.
Error 10: Moral Elevation Instead of Integration Policy
Error:
Migration was treated as a moral project rather than as a state responsibility with obligations and limits.
Consequence:
Integration often failed. Parallel societies, security problems, and political radicalization increased.
Error 11: Narrowing of Public Discourse
Error:
Criticism of government decisions was morally delegitimized; media and public debate became impoverished.
Consequence:
Loss of diversity of opinion, erosion of trust in media and politics, strengthening of political extremes.
Error 12: Minsk Agreements Without Genuine Mediation Intent
Error:
Merkel presented the Minsk Agreements as a peace solution, but later stated that they had served to buy time for Ukraine’s rearmament.
Consequence:
Trust in German diplomacy was destroyed. Germany’s role as a mediator has been damaged in the long term.
Error 13: Failure to Prepare for Geopolitical Ruptures
Error:
No precautions were taken for energy, security, and economic disruptions despite foreseeable risks.
Consequence:
Industrial crisis, tendencies toward deindustrialization, and relocation of companies.
Error 14: Retrospective Justification Instead of Reckoning
Error:
Publication of an extensive autobiography without self-criticism or analysis of mistakes.
Consequence:
Missed opportunity for political reckoning and social reconciliation.
Error 15: Undermining One’s Own Party After Leaving Office
Error:
Public intervention against CDU leader Friedrich Merz over migration policy initiatives.
Consequence:
Further weakening of the CDU, political deadlock, and continued inability of Germany to govern effectively.
Overall Consequence of Errors
Chain of Errors:
Power orientation → lack of strategy → dependencies → loss of control → social division → economic decline → weakness in security policy.
Final Outcome:
Angela Merkel’s decisions left behind a weakened Germany, a destabilized Europe, and a politically paralyzed party landscape.
