The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel’s tenure as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021 is a significant period in contemporary European history, marked by radical political, economic, and social changes. To understand her chancellorship, one must understand the historical context that shaped post-World War II Germany.

After the end of WWII and the fall of the Third Reich, Germany was divided into four occupation zones controlled by the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union. The western zones, influenced by democratic ideals and capitalism, merged to form the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in 1949. By contrast, the Soviet-controlled eastern zone became the German Democratic Republic (GDR), adhering to the Soviet interpretation of Marxism. This division created stark contrasts between the two Germanys. The FRG, with its capital in Bonn, developed into a prosperous, democratic state integrated into Western Europe and NATO. The GDR, with its capital in East Berlin, was marked by state control and limited political freedoms. The Berlin Wall, erected in 1961, became the physical symbol of this division, representing the ideological clash of the Cold War.

The Berlin Wall’s fall in November 1989 marked the end of the Cold War and the fall of the communist regimes sustained by the USSR across Eastern Europe.