To think the Daily Mail have totally surpassed themselves by calling the current German administration 'The Fourth Reich'

[LaurieFairyCake]

Isn't that appalling? I can't believe they are insinuating that Germany has an 'empire' or 'kingdon'.

Genocide in Greece? Seriously? Anyone who can equate the current financial crisis with the holocaust needs a serious re-evaluation of their sense of perspective.

Obviously the use of the Fourth Reich is ridiculous. It's also ridiculous to say that Germany is the only credit-worthy economy in the Eurozone. It's the biggest AAA rated economy, but certainly not the only one.

Apart from anything else, Greece has had a huge hand in their own misfortune. Victims of genocide do not. That is not to say that Greece deserves what has happened - of course it does not - but...well. they should have paid their taxes

Ok. Not being able to feed your children; giving them up to charities; lining up to the soup kitchens; properties repossessed; no medications in hospitals; no chemotherapy medications available in hospitals; cancer patients without palliative treatment - only waiting to die in agony; bodies left at the morgue because relatives can't afford to bury them; elderly -and young - people dying of the cold last winter because they could not afford heating; 2500 suicides since the beginning of the year.
That's the general picture. Of course, we are not sent to concentration camps but we are slowly robbed of our dignity, independence and lives. This not just financial hardship. The Germans - as a people - are not to be blamed. Their government are doing everything wrong.

Not being murdered. Not a genocide. I suggest you rephrase.

do you scan the DM on an hourly basis looking for reasons to be outraged?

In context it's a perfectly legitimate use of a phrase - and one already widely used when describing the European financial situation.

if you all loathe the DM so much then don't read it, don't link to it 400 times a day

I will not respond any more. Obviously, I am very very biased. But when you don't know much about a situation it is best to stay out of it. Not paying taxes has had nothing to do with all of it. I'm genuinely sorry if I have offended anyone with my posts, but I hope you will also understand my position.
Thank you all

sounds horrendous the state of affairs in Greece QueenofS

Yes, I feel desperately sorry for you all, Queen. but I think Greece needs to accept some responsibility and not blame Germany/whatever for it all.

Sparta - i don't understand the financial situation in Britain, let alone Europe, & i do think it's offensive to use the term Fourth Reich in view of what happened during Nazi times (in Greece as well - 100s of burnt villages & massacres by the SS, Jews sent to be gassed in Poland etc.)

But what Greek people are going through financially sounds unbearable - i hope the situation improves soon. It's very sad to hear about what's happening to the Greeks; & others in this Recession.

I think the Mail is utterly vile. They don't even like the EU, they wish the .uK were out of it, and yet they begrudge even ounce of success by a country trying to make a go of it.

apocalypse it wasn?t me comparing the situation in greece to a genocide.

It's utterly awful in Greece at the moment and all our governments should be ashamed that they are letting this happen.(Sadly, I do not think they are capable of feeling shame, any more) I am opposed to the EU, as a concept but the fact remains that we are part of one and we should be doing all we can to help Greece.

Sparta, not paying taxes contributes to the rise of public deficit, we have a similar problem in italy.

I am not opposed to the eu at all. i think the management of this crisis hasn?t been effective and what is happening in greece is awful

Didn't the Daily Mail actively support the Nazis in the 1930s?

Reich merely means empire or realm, as far as I can see. I cannot see why people deem it to be so offensive. They are not saying it is like the third reich and the first and second reichs were not responsible for any genocides (though a historian may correct me here). And, in a sense, Germany is demanding more and more controls in return for subsidy so, in a sense, they are looking to control a raft of policies over several so-called nation states. Calling it a reich is not unreasonable in the German meaning of the word.

It is indeed dumbing down of a complex financial situation but the DM is not competing at the intellectual end of the market. If you want more detailed analysis, buy another paper.

Sparta I sympathise with you as a member of the general public in Greece but surely you can't be blaming the German government, rather than your own, for the mess the country is in?

larry but isn't reich one of the words that is now shunned in Germany, despite its simple meaning? Along with fuerher, which just means leader, and luftwaffe, which just means airforce? I may be wrong but I thought tha was the case as the associations are too powerfully emotive?

openerofjars - ooh yes you are right. They did. Conveniently they seem to have forgotten. Hehehe.

German uses phrases like der Reich der Traeume (dreams), Kaiserreich to talk about imperial days, Weltreich - world empire, Tierreich animal kingdom, Heilige Roemische Reich deutscher Nation, the Holy Roman Empire under German domination etc. It is not shunned as such maybe in combination with fourth it wouldn't go down well, I don't know about that though.

larry - no in the German sense Reich is very offensive. The DM is being deliberately provocative & silly.... as usual....
In fact here is my DM Headline of the Day:

Evil Obese Anorexic Women Oppress Men By Choosing Careers Not Babies in the new German EU-Reich And It's All The Muslims Fault And The Immigrants Too Because Health And Safety Has Gone Mad So The 1950s Were Much Better As Women Did All The Housework.

There wasn't really a first or second reich. It was just a term used by the Nazis to make it seem like Germany was returning to it's past status as dominant world power that had been taken away from them by the Jews and other dissidents.

I don't have a problem with the Mail using the term.

Josephine - you mean Germany's 'past status as dominant world power that THE NAZIS ALLEGED had been taken away from them by the Jews and other dissidents WHO WERE USED AS SCAPEGOATS..'

I hope that's what you meant?

I think it's excessively ignorant and rude, but then I wouldn't expect any less from the Fail.

I agree with whoever said above that Merkel is not the Leader of Europe (however the press would like to paint her) and she has to look after Germany's interests first. She's damned if she does (Greeks hate her) and damned if she doesn't (her country will fail too).

The Greeks need to take some personal responsibility rather than blaming the Germans. The Brits need to take some responsibility rather than blaming the Euro. We are all in this crap together and it's not Germany's fault that they have more natural resources, a better share of the good bits of the market, a better work ethic or whatever it is that makes them come out on top. I can't think of any other country that could lose two world wars, go through separation and reunification and still end up with the best economy in Europe. They have something the rest of us don't and that makes people jealous.

I would also add that the Germans I know are fucking paranoid that the rest of us Europeans will see them as trying to conquer Europe again. Not without justification, it seems.