The new chancellor wants to shake consciences with shock therapy that starts from the German language and culture.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has shaken public opinion stating that Israel, in the conflict with Iran, is making Drecksarbeit – dirty work – for all of us. A declaration that, in addition to worth threats of legal actions, has turned on the debate for the newspapers for days. The reaction is not born only from the content, but from the way Merz has chosen the words: in a German political and media panorama dominated by aseptic and detached terms, his direct expression has pierced the curtain of euphemisms that often hides the brutality of reality.
The German language, marked by history and responsibility for the crimes of the past, has developed a tendency to neutralize the painto distance death and suffering with words such as Kollateralschand (collateral damage) or Zivileto (civil victims). Terms that transform the tragedy into abstract concepts, easier to digest. In this context, Drecksarbeit bursts like a splinter, a raw word that does not allow detachment or removal. But German rearmament is not measured only in orders of panzer, drones or missiles. Even before in military investments, the real change takes place in the consciences, culture and language of a people who, more than others, has known the horrors of militarism. In Germany, the language was a tool for manipulation and propaganda, but also of reflection and collective memory. Each word pronounced in the public debate shares the perception of reality and, consequently, the future of the nation.
This tendency to linguistic detachment is not accidental. After the trauma of Nazism, Germany has developed a strong aversion to emotional and populist rhetoric. The Nazis exploited every communicative register to manipulate emotions, cultivate the cult of sacrifice and food and fear. Since then, German politics has preferred an aseptic, rational, almost clinical communication, which however risks becoming an escape from reality. The concept of Vergangenheitsbewältigung – the overcoming of the past – has often turned into an abstract reflection, which makes the knowledge of historical crimes more and more superficial. The Shoah, for example, is called Zivilisationsbruch, a term that, despite its importance, risks becoming a simple placeholder. Historical and journalist Nils Minkmar underlines from the columns of the Süddeutsche Zeitung as the German language is full of terms that remove the public from reality. There is no longer talk of “war” (Krieg), but of “special military operations” (Militärische Spezialoperation) or “armed interventions abroad” (Bewaffnete Auslandseinsätze). A language that, according to Minkmar, creates a “discursive background noise” (Diskursivesive Grundrauschen), filtering the horror and transforming the war into a play on words.
But the threat does not come only from the inside. Germany, like most of Europe, is the target of influence and disinformation operations from Russia. Fake news, deepfake audio, false websites and manipulated social profiles. The goal is always the same: to sow division, spread distrust in institutions and weaken European solidarity. Despite the persistence of these attempts, the impact on the voting behavior of the Germans remains limited. In this climate, the German political language – already distant and aseptic – becomes fertile ground for manipulation. When the public debate is lost in abstract issues, it is easier for extraneous voices, such as those of the maximalist right represented by the AFD, they can insinuate and deviate the speech with a simplified and divisive rhetoric.
Faced with these challenges, German politics has often not been up to par. Merz’s predecessor, Social Democrat Scholz, for example he evoked a prophecy of recovery, that of Zeitenwende, but appeared vague and inconclusive. Merz instead understood that one of the lessons of German history is that silence and distance are not the solution. The reality of the war, of Gewalt (violence) and Leid (suffering) cannot be hidden behind a curtain of words. Merz wants Germany and Europe to find the ability to look reality in the face, to call things with their name and act accordingly.
