So… I managed to put together the post about the
Germany’s involvement on the issue and why many Greeks are angry with Germany. Again, this is not a post about the total Greek situation,
and it is by no means a post attempting to throw all blame at Germany, it’s simply an answer to quite a few posts here wondering why Greeks would use images of Merkel as a Nazi and what’s up with that.
!! IMPORTANT NOTE: This is not, in any way, an attack against the German people.
I feel that the people of Germany have also been lied to and some (many?) have been led to believe that Greece is an ungrateful parasite of sorts, living off their money. I do consider Merkel and her staff as cold-blooded colonialists and servants of banking cartels, but I place them as far from the average German citizen as I place Greek politicians in comparison to the average Greek citizen.
Personally, after endless reading and watching political shows, I consider German leadership’s behavior to be a way to promote acceptance upon public opinion over the humiliating and sometimes dehumanizing measures that the TROIKA imposes on Greece, and goes further to include political gains for Merkel as she uses harsh rhetoric against Greece and pushes for even harsher measures of impoverishment.
Also on a personal note, I hate the fact that nationalism is on the rise, here and sadly all over Europe, and I hope, perhaps against reason as things are starting to get out of hand, that this whole rivalry and outbursts of racism will not escalate and will be remembered as a misunderstanding.
1. Germany is involved in numerous Greek scandals, having profiteered through corrupt Greek politicians.
The largest and latest scandal involving German companies bribing their way through Greece was with
Siemens. It’s estimated that it cost Greece more than 2 billion. According to testimonials Siemens actually had a sort of “bribing division” so as to be working in Greece.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,633198,00.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704698004576103481318124252.html
http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2011/01/25/siemens-scandal-cost-greek-taxpayers-2/
Ferrostaal is another example involving the infamous ‘side tilting’ submarines. The minister of Defense during that deal, Tsochatzopoulos, has actually been restricted from leaving the country, which is ground breaking here since there is a specific law acquitting ministers of pretty much all crimes (the law regarding ministers’ responsibility. Nothing to do with Germany, just mentioning it).
Ferrostaal was fined almost 140 million in a Munich court of law.
http://www.lepointinternational.com...submarine-deals-that-helped-sink-greece-.html
These are only the latest scandals involving German companies bribing so as to get over-priced, no-contest deals in Greece and I could easily find some sources.
Half of Greece is literally built by German companies, a huge part of our infrastructure, including major roads, Athens airport, Athens underground metro system.
2. Germany along with France were forcing Greece to buy insane amounts of military equipment, at ridiculous prices, even as the “bailouts” were seen as needed. They actually demanded this as a term for the loans.
In the following New York Times article Turkey is blaming Europe of forcing Greece to buy weapons and military equipment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/world/europe/30iht-turkey.html
Greece Spends Bailout Cash On European Military Purchases:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/greece-spends-bailout-cash-european-military-purchases
France, Germany Forced Greece to Buy Arms:
http://www.defensenews.com/article/...306/France-Germany-Forced-Greece-Buy-Arms-MEP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7fnJCmbuPU Daniel Cohn Bendit, French EU parliament member, describes how Greece is given money so it can buy German and French weapons. At 2:20 he mentions some economical details. At 4:20 he talks about military spending and at 4:49 start specific about French and German sales. “we are giving them money so they can buy our weapons.”
3. Merkel and her staff keep being needlessly insulting and condescending in statements, while also demanding deals that serve banks in expense of the Greek people.
The latest idea has to do with a separate bank account that will serve for the debt to be repaid. “Bailout” money would be automatically transferred from the IMF and the ECB to the Banks, through a Greek account, disregarding any other government priorities:
http://www.happensingreece.com/?p=2682
http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...n-bankruptcy/2012/02/06/gIQAbq4UtQ_story.html Essentially all but saying that Greece’s first and foremost responsibility is to pay the banks to the expense of its people and humanitarian crisis that is developing here (see later below if you feel this is an exaggeration).
http://www.sovereignindependent.com/?p=35139 :
In terms of any Western country’s finances, €325m is petty cash. There are private individuals walking around the streets of most capital cities in the world who could write a personal cheque for €325m.
The €325m is not a reason. It’s an excuse.
It’s an excuse to put more pressure on the Greeks by way of more humiliation. In other words, the Germans want to find out how far they can push the Greeks before the Greeks snap and walk out of the euro – leaving Mrs Merkel saying ‘more in sorrow than in anger’ that ‘we did all we could to help, but they decided to leave.’ (Is this German manoeuvre what the shrinks call ‘passive aggression?’ I think so.)
Further humiliation awaits Athens on bailout terms :
http://www.irishexaminer.com/opinio...on-awaits-athens-on-bailout-terms-184009.html
Germany actually asked for a commissioner to essentially run Greece:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16773974 He would be a ‘budget commissioner’ and have final say as to what must be cut (education, healthcare, etc) so as long as the banks are paid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PjJEvtVupfA#!
Nigel Farage, British EU parliament member, giving a speech about German wanting to impose a Gaultier (Nazi regional commander) and Greece being a colony.
4. Greece is essentially being run by German overseers, more literally than you may think.
Greece's current true ruler is Horst Reichenbach, German head of the TROIKA force here to impose laws and policy.
Hans Hoachim Fuchtel is a German parliament member assigned deputy minister of Greece.
Greece is seen by many here as being a German colony.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ds-Nazis-picture-Merkel-dressed-SS-guard.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pry5iL4TIa8 Nigel Farage – Greece under IMF-ECB dictatorship, EU killed democracy in Greece.
5. World War II reparations.
I fully realize how this is seen by many as outlandish, but truth be told Germany never did pay the WWII reparations, relying instead on our corrupt political caste to never demand them. Some see it as ancient history, others claim that there are still living people from that war and its effects very much still apply.
The real issue here is that Greeks feel cheated since Greece never asked for these reparations during Germany’s time of need, while Germany is doing its damnest to protect banks during Greece’s time of need.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/21/germany-greece-greek-debt-crisis
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2093990,00.html
Interview on Spiegal magazine with Albrecht Ritschl, a professor of economic history at the London School of Economics.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,769703,00.html
The Greeks are very well aware of the antagonistic articles in the German media. If the mood in the country turns, old claims for reparations could be raised, from other European nations as well. And if Germany ever had to honor them, we would all be taken the cleaners. Compared with that, we can be grateful that Greece is being indulgently reorganized at our expense. If we follow public opinion here with its cheap propaganda and not wanting to pay, then eventually the old bills will be presented again.
6. Occupational loan.
That’s a different issue than reparations. It’s a loan the German Nazi government forced the
Greek puppet government to take during the occupation and provide all money to the Nazi war machine.
That debt was never paid back to Greece, and Greece is actually still paying interest for loans taken to repay that loan. So saying that “let that be history” is hard when this is part of the current debt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_o...II#Economic_exploitation_and_the_Great_Famine
7. Irony about Germany defaulting and Greece helping.
There is a sense of a prevalent injustice since 'Germany Was Biggest Debt Transgressor of 20th Century' according again to Albrecht Ritschl. Germany has defaulted 3 times. During the 50s Greece was one of the countries agreeing to not ask for German debts so the country can be rebuilt.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,769703,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2011/nov/24/debt-crisis-germany-1931
8. Humiliating articles in German media.
I think it pretty much started with focus magazine:
And then again with focus:
A video from a British TV show I found talking about the focus magazine issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qF0aBMANTE&feature=related (focus)
Here is an amazing German TV show insulting Greece, making fun about Greece being thrown out of Europe, and ending with an image from an ancient Greek vase showing a Turk fucking a Greek:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=epUloNxPnfk
There were many other examples I saw on Greek TV but I can’t find the sources any longer.
Personally I want to point out that I’m perfectly fine with satire in most cases, and I can’t get myself to be bothered by these so much.
But if you look at the larger picture, of people here losing jobs, seeing our nation drugged through the mud, and seeing Germany spearheading all that, you can see how many people went crazy nationalistic over these.
9. Germany waiting to gain for Special Economic Zones in a way that I also agree can only be seen as colonial abuse.
Special Economic Zones:
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_02/12/2011_417284
http://www.thelocal.de/money/20110722-36467.html
While it’s being presented as positive, as in being an attraction for German investment, creating ‘special zones’ with non-existent worker rights, lower taxation and lower wages pretty much looks like setting up sweatshop zones to many people.
An article about German companies going ‘bargain hunting’ in Greece as prices of public assets drop:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304906004576369572348921238.html
Meanwhile in Greece:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/18/greek-woes-suicide-rate-highest
Suicide rates are going through the roof. That’s an article about 2011, now things are even worse, reading daily about Greek people killing themselves due to losing their jobs or houses.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/the-greek-vise/
How much is the troika demanding from Greece? How tight is the squeeze?
The current plan calls for Greece to move into large primary surplus — that is, surplus not counting interest payments on the debt:
That’s a huge swing — and it’s supposed to happen in the face of a deeply depressed economy. Here’s what it implies for real government spending:
Can I say that this looks basically inconceivable?
And here’s the thing: when this started, Greece was running a large primary deficit — which meant that even if it repudiated all its debt, it would still have been forced to make a major fiscal contraction. This is no longer true. So we’re now looking at a scenario in which Greece is forced into killing levels of austerity to pay its foreign creditors, with no real light at the end of the tunnel.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...l-crisis-experts-say/articleshow/11144759.cms
ATHENS: Poverty in Greece has risen to new heights under a gruelling recession exacerbated by austerity that has swelled the ranks of the unemployed, the homeless and the destitute, experts said on Saturday.
In comments to Ethnos daily, public officials, senior churchmen and welfare group representatives warned of a brooding humanitarian crisis as official data showed over 320,000 people had lost their jobs in a year.
Athens Mayor George Kaminis told the daily that the city's homeless had increased by around 20 percent while queues at soup kitchens organised by municipal and church organisations were up 15 percent.
"Care workers no longer meet typical homeless people, they meet a person who likely had a perfectly organised life weeks previously," said Kaminis, who has asked for additional state funding for city welfare services.
"We have noticed a dramatic increase in our mess halls over the recent period," added Chrysostomos Symeonidis, head of the Athens archdiocese poverty fund.
"We distribute over 10,000 meals on a daily basis and 250,000 meals are given out nationwide on a weekly basis," Symeonidis said.
Greek unions warn that the number of jobless will exceed 20 percent next year because of the recession and public sector cutbacks demanded by the country's creditors, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
The Greek government has pledged to reduce the state payroll by 150,000 people by 2015 but only a fraction will be staff already near retirement.
Greece is in the grip of a four-year recession set to continue next year, bringing the cumulative fall in economic output to 15 percent, according to EU estimates.
Official data this week showed there were over 878,000 people out of work in the third quarter of the year, most of them women and persons aged under 30.
The state statistics agency said the number of employed had fallen to nearly 4.1 million from 4.4 million a year earlier.
"It can be quite hard for young people who can't find work, but imagine the psychological anxiety of someone my age," 60-year-old radio technician George Barkouris, who lost his job just before retirement, told Ethnos.
"Everything shows that the family fabric as we once knew it is fading, those close to us aren't there when you need them the most," said Barkouris, who has children but is now staying at a homeless shelter.
http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2011/12/12/cnn-reporvideo-greeces-new-homeless-video-shocked/ CNN report and video on the new homeless of Greece.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business...the-worst-recession-in-modern-history/253128/ Greece on pace for the worst recession in modern history.
So, honestly tell me, if you were living through loss of job, the closing down of businesses, couldn’t feed your family, loss of national dignity, and seeing all of the above regarding Germany, how would you feel and react?
