German Unification and World Peace

My overwhelming reaction when I read Jeff Douthwaite’s letter (Feb. 9) was sadness. It’s a shame that anyone has to harbor such irrational fears. To suggest that a reunified Germany would somehow be a military threat (or any kind of threat) to the rest of Europe in 1990 ignores present reality in favor of history.

The Germany of 1914 had no tradition of democracy, but was ruled by the iron hand of the kaiser. And Hitler only had to kick the legs out from under the weak-kneed Weimar Republic, taking advantage of a decade of economic ruin.

Contrast that with today’s Federal Republic of Germany. The FRG is one of the most prosperous of the Western nations and has a two-generation-long tradition of democracy. What happened in 1933 is a virtual impossibility today. To suggest that Germans instinctively turn into militaristic aggressors whenever their country is unified borders on racism.

There would be no need to impose a limit on Germany’s military. With no appreciable threat left in the east, one would be hard-pressed to convince the Germans to fork up any cash for guns instead of butter. If Germany is going to do any conquering, united or not, it will be the field of economics, not the field of battle.

PAUL McELLIGOTT

Fullerton