Wow. It's getting ugly in Europe. Everyone remembers the Nazis and their claim to a Third Reich. As you can imagine it's a bit of a touchy subject in Europe. Well, here were the headlines in Italy's il Giornale this past Friday ...
The "Fourth Reich"? Putting Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, on the front page with her right hand up under the "Fourth Reich" headline is no accident. And with Standard & Poor's downgrading 15 Italian banks today it seems like it's déjà vu in Europe, again (see here and here).
So, what's the big stink over? Pretty simple. Italy - like other European states - is upset with Germany and Angela Merkel for taking a hard line on saving the Euro and bailing out Europe. Specifically, the Italian article says that Merkel and the Germans have brought Europe its knees, paying special attention to point out that "Italy is no longer in Europe but in the Fourth Reich."
The ugliness goes on, with the article claiming:
In many way, what we're looking at are the first steps towards economic warfare, as I've discussed many times (here, here, here, and here).
As ugly as all of this is, one thing that helps to temper the piece is knowing that il Giornale is also going after current Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti pretty hard for not doing enough to stand up to Germany.
Yellow journalism or not, I think everyone recognizes that this topic is a sleeping dog that is better left alone.
- Mark
The "Fourth Reich"? Putting Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, on the front page with her right hand up under the "Fourth Reich" headline is no accident. And with Standard & Poor's downgrading 15 Italian banks today it seems like it's déjà vu in Europe, again (see here and here).
So, what's the big stink over? Pretty simple. Italy - like other European states - is upset with Germany and Angela Merkel for taking a hard line on saving the Euro and bailing out Europe. Specifically, the Italian article says that Merkel and the Germans have brought Europe its knees, paying special attention to point out that "Italy is no longer in Europe but in the Fourth Reich."
The ugliness goes on, with the article claiming:
In the First Reich, Germany also wanted the title Emperor of Rome and in the next two they used their own means again against the states of Europe, two world wars and millions dead, obviously this wasn't enough to quieten Germany egomania.Continuing, the inflammatory piece notes that rather than coming with cannons this time the "new Kaiser" (Angela Merkel) and the Germans are using the Euro as its weapon of domination.
In many way, what we're looking at are the first steps towards economic warfare, as I've discussed many times (here, here, here, and here).
As ugly as all of this is, one thing that helps to temper the piece is knowing that il Giornale is also going after current Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti pretty hard for not doing enough to stand up to Germany.
Yellow journalism or not, I think everyone recognizes that this topic is a sleeping dog that is better left alone.
- Mark
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