Germany and Russia - The New Dimensions of an Old Relationship

By Silvia Brigido - Blog Entry II


Our theme for the day was on the German financial system, its international interactions and focus on their partnership with Russia.  Therefore, it was quite fitting that the day started at the German Financial Ministry building, a piece of architecture that reflects the many stages of the history of Germany’s governmental development.  The building itself started out as the first Prussian Ministry of War and later held great significance during the Third Reich when it was utilized by the Nazi Air Force specifically due to its unique aerial view.  After the fall of the Nazi regime in 1945, the Soviet forces took over the building and used it as an administrative center to the German Democratic Republic (GDR), as it sits just outside of where the Berlin wall divided the socialist east from the capitalist west.  Today it stands as the symbol of Germany’s strength, its stable financial system and role of economic leader to the European Union.  Just as appropriately, the day ended with a visit to the German Federal Chancellery building, the Bundeskanzleramt, which holds the seat of the Federal Government.  

As our meetings with Mr. Klein (from the Financial Ministry), Mr. Ruprecht Polenz MP (the chair of the Foreign Policy Commission of the German Parliament), Dr. Henning Riecke (of the German Society of Foreign Policy), and Dr. Joachim Bertele (staff of the German Chancellery) reflected the topics of foreign security policies and the financial cooperation between Germany and Russia, the significance of the two aforementioned pieces of architecture became increasingly clear: not only for Germany but for the shifting of policies toward cooperation among nations. 

It is interesting to see that, despite the strained historical relationship between Germany and Russia, they now seem to have a quite dependent working relationship, mainly bonded by energy supplies of natural gas.  Since Germany is phasing out its use of nuclear power as a source of energy, in the attempt to utilize safer and more efficient forms of energy, they have become increasingly dependent on the Russian supply of natural gas.  However, this is a bilateral dependency since Russia benefits greatly from the much needed foreign investments to further develop their energy infrastructure. This is a win-win situation in which each nation gains from the relationship.  That is, Russia has abundant natural resources while Germany has none to speak of, and Germany has the funds and technology that Russia lacks.  Due to this interdependent relationship some say that the safety of Germany is not compromised since Russia is not considered a perceived threat unless Russia may chose to combine strengths with China.  Yet, I cannot help but feel that while Germany is a strong promoter of democratization of nations and supports human rights, they seem to give Russian government a more lenient approach due to such dependency on their energy sources. Yet, Dr. Bertele says that this is not the case and Germany participates in dialogues that reflect their criticism of  Russia’s internal governmental policies.   

When one reflects on the history of relations between Germany (what was once the Kingdom of Prussia) and the Russian Empire, which goes as far back as 1721, it is quite interesting to see how its has reached its position of today.  The two powers fought on opposing sides of significant wars of that time and it wasn’t until the signing of the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, in 1762, that they became allies (this partnership was especially significant during the Napoleonic wars).  However, after the unification of the Germanic states and the rise of the German Empire in 1871 the relationship between the two powers became strained due to Prussia itself playing a lesser role in the new Empire.  Skipping ahead, after the fall of the Nazi regime, the Soviet forces took over the eastern side of the capital Berlin and had  shaped communist East Germany.  The city, which was divided by a wall, housed two extremely opposite governments and societies. Finally, in 1989, the Berlin wall came down and gave way to not only a new Germany, but a new Europe. With the rise of a financially prosperous Germany and the end of the Soviet Union new doors opened for a more  diplomatic relationship between these strong powers.