Note from Berlin: Bismarck and Germany’s pro-Russia lobby

The German debate about how to treat Russia has been lively. Over the past year, the political mainstream has moved towards a much more critical position towards Russia. But Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and its reckless threats towards Europe have seemed to inspire some dubious forces on the extreme left and right wings of the political spectrum. One argument frequently made by pro-Russian politicians and opinion leaders – such as, for example, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) Party’s Alexander Gauland and former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder – is that Germany should pursue a foreign policy like that of Germany’s famous nineteenth-century chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. For the sake of Germany’s own security, it should mend close ties with Russia. Whenever Germany has abandoned Bismarck’s paradigms, they argue, it has put itself on the road to defeat – most notably, after 1914 and 1941. Therefore, Germany should always be respectful of Russian interests and should seek not to alienate Moscow.