ABSTRACT
The generation is a dynamic compromise between mass and individual, and is the most important conception in history. The distortion of national identity which had occurred under the Third Reich, as well as across four decades of division, was seen as an aberration, at least against the broader background of a shared culture between the Germans of East and West. The search for a post-war turned post-wall identity is the search for a broader consensus on key political qua national-security values that will render the perceived legitimacy of united Germany less dependent upon citizens’ oft-cited satisfaction with economic miracles of the past. As self-validating as both post-war states had become, the first official visit to the Federal Republic by an East German Premier in September 1987 did not serve to expunge the term reunification from the speculative vocabulary of foreign journalists and political pundits. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
