"In an editorial marking the 250th anniversary of the United States ("What Has Become of America," *F.A.Z.*, July 4), Andreas Ross writes regarding frequent criticism of the US political system: "Especially in our country—for whose freedom young Americans shed their blood—such criticism is all too often voiced without a critical look in the mirror." Surely you cannot believe that America entered the two world wars—in each case very belatedly—for the sake of "German freedom."
Today, the date marking the end of the Second World War is recognized in the Federal Republic almost exclusively as the "Day of Liberation from Nazi Rule." Yet for many Germans, that day was associated with profound suffering. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the American Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe, commented on the defeat and unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany with the following statement: "Germany is not being occupied for the purpose of liberation, but as a defeated enemy state." This expresses all too clearly what America really wanted: to eliminate Germany once and for all as a European economic power. And the Morgenthau Plan—which aimed to completely deindustrialize Germany and reduce it to a purely agrarian state—was abandoned only because tensions with the Soviet Union were rapidly mounting. West Germany was needed as a military buffer.
In both world wars, America had but one goal: to weaken—if not eliminate—the German Reich as a competitor, given that it had become industrially too powerful. Bringing us freedom was certainly not their primary objective. That is clearly a narrative from the immediate post-war period, coupled with the "re-education" of the German people. The fact that the interpretation of a war's causes and course is determined by the victors is a truism. However, one does not necessarily have to adopt this one-sided perspective.” [1]
1. Amerika wollte Deutschland schwächen. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Frankfurt. 10 July 2026: 6. ECKHARD BRÜGGEMANN, HERNE
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