Chancellor Kohl Draws the Line : But Germany is rocked by strikes, inflation, the far right and doubt

Germany, which only a short time ago was joyously celebrating its unification and moving confidently to claim its place as Europe’s leader, now finds itself beset by social unrest and troubled by doubts.

The biggest strikes in nearly two decades have interrupted travel, mail, garbage collection. In the former West Germany, anger mounts over the soaring costs of trying to make one country out of two that over 45 years had grown ever less alike. Eastern Germans, meanwhile, complain that too little is being done to improve their lives.

Economic discontent, inevitably fueling some of the uglier manifestations of nationalism, helps feed a far-right protest vote that while not yet large nonetheless is growing. That alarms Germany’s democrats and its neighbors.

The public-sector strikes represent a refusal by German workers to accept a reduced living standard because of the costs of unification. At the same time, the government has refused to grant wage increases that it believes would set the stage for an inflationary round of pay hikes in the private sector. It is one of those issues where there is merit on both sides.

Unification also has raised taxes for Germans, despite Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s assurance two years ago that it wouldn’t happen.

In addition, unification has fueled a modest inflation in a country that remembers the cataclysmic economic experiences of the 1920s and retains a visceral dread of inflation.

Workers understandably want to play catch-up; the government urges restraint. Kohl’s tough stand on the strikes seems for now to have strong public support. But his appeal for willing sacrifices across the economy has yet to be tested.

Kohl had predicted that economic integration could be brought off in four or five years at a bearable cost. But that cost is now $120 billion a year and rising, and bringing eastern Germany’s economy up to western levels could take another decade. What is going on in essence is income redistribution on a massive scale. It is a noble effort, but one that threatens to invite a backlash.

Germany has contributed more generously than any other country to the effort to revive the economies of the former communist bloc. But now Germany “has reached the limit of our capacity,” as Kohl said this week while pleading for greater contributions from Japan and others.

The aid effort aims primarily at preventing a destabilization that could produce a revival of authoritarian governments in the East, and a devastating stampede of refugees to the West. In this way, Germany’s continued economic health is linked with Europe’s security--in which the United States retains a profound interest.

Kohl seems convinced that giving the strikers what they demand would weaken Germany’s economy. If Germany’s economy in fact declines, all Europe would feel the consequences.