Germany
Germany military welcomes new defence minister
By Ulrich Rippert, November 7, 2009
The German military has welcomed the newly appointed defence minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, as one of their own. Guttenberg’s noble title and his aristocratic family’s 800-year-old traditio...
Twenty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall
Statement of the Bund Sozialistischer Arbeiter, October 18, 1989—Part 2
Overthrow the Stalinist bureaucracy! Build workers’ councils in East Germany!
November 6, 2009
This statement by the Central Committee of the Bund Sozialistischer Arbeiter, the predecessor of the Partei für Soziale Gleichheit (Socialist Equality Party of Germany), was issued on October 18, 198...
The Opel-Magna fraud
A betrayal of GM employees in Europe
By Ulrich Rippert, November 5, 2009
The refusal of German and European trade unions to organise a common defense of jobs and wages has encouraged GM to impose restructuring measures in Europe along the lines of the American model.
German chancellor at US Congress
Merkel pledges support for Obama administration foreign policy
By Stefan Steinberg, November 5, 2009
The speech by the German chancellor to the US Congress on Tuesday stood out for the full and unqualified support she gave to the foreign policy of the Obama administration, marking a clear shift on th...
Germany: Trial opens of former SS member Heinrich Boere
By Elisabeth Zimmermann, November 2, 2009
The trial has begun of former SS member Heinrich Boere. The 88-year-old is accused of having shot three civilians in occupied Holland as part of an SS murder squad 65 years ago.
Opel’s future once again up for grabs
By Dietmar Henning, October 30, 2009
Although the new German government has barely taken office, all the deals struck between the trade unions, General Motors and the consortium from the Canadian-Austrian automotive supplier Magna and th...
Education spending targeted by all parties in Germany
By Johannes Stern, October 29, 2009
The new German government coalition’s attack on education draws on the devastating work already carried out by the Social Democratic Party, the Greens and the Left Party.
Germany: A government of social confrontation
By Ulrich Rippert, October 28, 2009
All of the parties represented in the new German coalition government are agreed that the burden of the economic crisis and the ballooning state debt is to be placed upon the backs of the general popu...
German building cleaners strike against wage cutting
By Ludwig Weller, October 26, 2009
On Thursday of last week 96.7 percent of union members active in the building cleaning branch voted in favor of the first national strike in the history of the industry. The response of the union, how...
German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk defends racist remarks by central banker
By Stefan Steinberg, October 26, 2009
The German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk has openly defended racist remarks made by German Central Bank executive member Thilo Sarrazin.
Merkel coalition agreement
A program of social devastation in Germany
By Dietmar Henning, October 26, 2009
The new German government plans to use cuts to social expenditure as its most important means of redistributing social wealth in favour of the wealthy.
Twenty years after capitalism’s return:
Living standards continue steep fall in Eastern Europe
By Stefan Steinberg, October 24, 2009
Twenty years after the reintroduction of capitalism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, a World Bank report acknowledges that a third of the population in the region lives in poverty.
