Germany honours four soldiers with new version of Iron Cross - Times Online It’s official: Germany is again allowed to brag about its military heroes. A politically correct, newly minted version of the Iron Cross — awarded to German soldiers since 1813, but withdrawn after the Second World War — was pinned on the chests of four senior non-commissioned officers yesterday. They had dragged comrades and children to safety after a suicide bomb attack in northern Afghanistan. “In my trips to Afghanistan I have seen for myself the conditions under which these men have to serve,” Angela Merkel, the Chancellor, said at a ceremony attended by German military top brass in the Berlin chancellery. The award of the bravery medal — known as the Honour Cross, although it has the same shape as the Iron Cross — marks a breakthrough in the way that Germany sees itself. <!--#include file="m63-article-related-attachements.html"--> <!-- BEGIN: Module - M63 - Article Related Attachements --> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/js/picture-gallery.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> function slideshowPopUp(url) { pictureGalleryPopupPic(url); return false; } </script> <!-- BEGIN: Comment Teaser Module --> <!-- END: Comment Teaser Module --> <!-- BEGIN: Module - M63 - Article Related Package --> <!-- END: Module - M63 - Article Related Package --> <form name="relatedLinksform" action="" method="post"> </form> <form name="relatedLinksform" action="" method="post"> </form>Until now, Germans have done everything they could to avoid the impression that their soldiers were in the fighting business — indeed, after the Second World War it was constitutionally forbidden for the West German Army, the Bundeswehr, to serve in combat missions abroad. The only medals on offer were for good or long service, and even they resembled school prefects’ badges. <!-- BEGIN: POLL --> <!--This block will execute if an article of type Poll is attached--> <!-- END : POLL --> <!-- BEGIN: DEBATE--> <!-- END: DEBATE--> <!-- END: Module - M63 - Article Related Attachements --> After unification, successive governments realised that the country could no longer avoid international peace-keeping missions. The paraphernalia of heroism, however, was not in place: no regimental traditions, no flags bearing battle honours and no role models. The four officers who received the Honour Cross yesterday had gone to the aid of a German patrol vehicle after it was attacked by a suicide bomber on October 20 last year. The dangers facing them were real — two soldiers died in the blast and two were injured, along with a number of civilians. The incident happened ten days after the bravery medal was introduced. It had not been an easy passage. Many argued that it was too similar in function and design to the Iron Cross — millions of which were awarded during the First World War, with Adolf Hitler one of the more prominent recipients. The German Government is still studiously avoiding the word “war” in relation to Afghanistan, and the reason is plain: the Social Democrat Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, once clinched what seemed to be an unwinnable general election by opposing George Bush’s war in Iraq — mobilising German pacifists and leftwingers. If the campaign in Afghanistan is upgraded, rhetorically, into a full-scale war, Ms Merkel will face problems getting a parliamentary mandate for German operations there — and she may well lose crucial votes at the September general election. So German military heroes are welcome once again — as long as they remember not to mention the war. <!-- End of pagination -->
Phew! Thought for a minute then that I had to splash out to keep my EK collection up to date! (Luckily, I don't...the likenesses to the EK are just media speak, I think... it doesn't even look like one, never mind fall under the same criteria) "New" medals seem all the rage worldwide these days, it seems! dave.
Pardon me for saying so but it looks a bit like the Iron Cross meets the Victoria Cross though I hardly think any Crimean cannons have been lent out for their minting.
It is good to see they are bringing it back, hopefully it helps with the morale issues plaguing the German army today. Those who have made sacrifices should be honored. But was a design change really necessary? Although it isn't stated in the article it is hinted at that the "Nazi connection" may be a part of it. The Iron Cross has had such a rich history before the second world war, if the change was indeed brought on by those not wishing to "strike a nerve" for lack of a better term, it is a bit disappointing. Given the article does mention this technically means soldiers can be honored, I would be interested to see how it affects those who had fought in previous wars. Are soldiers in Germany commemorated like they are in other countries? Not just the second World War but even the first, conflicts after that, before, etc? Given this is a recent development, I wonder how "the world" will react to this. Edit: According to the Wiki entry at least, this design isn't new, this is however the first time it is being re-issued for non World War combatants. If I read right, they were re-issued after the war as a part of "denazification". Iron Cross - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Edit 2: Holy cow! Have you guys read the comments on that post? There seems to be a lot of Germanophobia, even from the German posters! People must think they handed out medals to the Germans who could committee atrocities the fastest! I didn't think it was such a toucy subject, 60+ years later especially with the internet you would think people would let go of such myths, misconceptions, etc about the war?
I'm sure we had a thread on this, buggered if I can find it. Owen, You are not losing your marbles. I too replied to the original post and also cannot find it after much searching! Just to say that the award looks nice in its presentation box with ribbon. Regards Tom
Edit 2: Holy cow! Have you guys read the comments on that post? There seems to be a lot of Germanophobia, even from the German posters! ... Eh? I didn't read that much Germanophobia in the 'discussion' section of the link provided. Ignorance and shallowness yes,but straight mouth-foaming Germanophobia not. Which posts are you referring to? On the other hand this internal German gut twisting is ridiculous, the Iron Cross has been the national symbol on the postwar German Luftwaffe and I don't see anyone getting blue in the face for it. Here are two chronological extremes: No negative ideological connections to this:
Holy shiitake mushrooms! And this is in New Zealand (swastika and all, but that's a separate can of worms )
No, this is a pre-nazi swastika The swastika has been around for thousands of years in a lot of cultures, and it's a pity it got a bad name because of a failed painter with a bad taste for moustaches. Detail on the 1940 French Hawk 75 above, the WW1 US Lafayette Squadron Sioux:
Yeah I know about is origins, it's still used in today in the Hindu and Buddisim religons today. Regarding the German Cross I think no matter what they did I think someone would relate it to the Iron Cross of WW2. Some folk will always draw comparisons. Cheers
The Swastika is the wrong way round - Legal Loop Hole? On the other side of the airplane it's facing the correct way.
Eh? I didn't read that much Germanophobia in the 'discussion' section of the link provided. Ignorance and shallowness yes,but straight mouth-foaming Germanophobia not. Which posts are you referring to? On the other hand this internal German gut twisting is ridiculous, the Iron Cross has been the national symbol on the postwar German Luftwaffe and I don't see anyone getting blue in the face for it. Here are two chronological extremes: I was more so refering to Germanophobia in this sense, Anti-German sentiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Here are some that I found so ridiculous, I wouldn't know where to begin! Germany is responsible for a unique terror in history -- the Holocaust. The Iron Cross was a major part of the symbology of those dark times. Now they want to revitalize it. This is troubling to say the least. The worst aspect is that it just may unintentionally revitalize some of those dark ideas. Steve Cohn, West Bloomfield, USA So much wrong with this, were does one begin? Type in "bundeswehr" on youtube and you'll find black uniformed and coal scuttle helmeted german troops marching by torchlight outside the Reichstag with the Imperial Eagle at the front. No this wasn't in 1939, it was last week. Germany has never forgotten its mighty past, the rest of the world has. Andrew Carpenter, Cauterets, France Those are some of the worst I came across. Do these people actually think the Nazi Party will magically rise from the grave if a few soldiers are being honored? You can never please the world when your Germany it seems, a few weeks ago weren't people telling the German army to get their act together? Now the government introduced "reforms" that could boost morale and people call "renazification". I was always under the impression that by now a majority of the world had known of the "infastructure" that allowed the Holocaust to take place during the war. Then I read comments like this and it seems like the world still knows very little.
The Swastika is the wrong way round - Legal Loop Hole? I don't think... it must decoration like.. like on ancient monuments, lol seriously, I heard once, that only half-turned Swastikas thos standing on one arm of the cross are to be considered as nazi symbol... but I'm not sure this is true...
Those are some of the worst I came across. Do these people actually think the Nazi Party will magically rise from the grave if a few soldiers are being honored? You can never please the world when your Germany it seems, a few weeks ago weren't people telling the German army to get their act together? Now the government introduced "reforms" that could boost morale and people call "renazification". I was always under the impression that by now a majority of the world had known of the "infastructure" that allowed the Holocaust to take place during the war. Then I read comments like this and it seems like the world still knows very little. I don't see what is so horribly anti-German about these statements? Elven, it's not like people fear the NSDAP could magically rise again. The way I see it is that the problem lies firstly in German mentality and secondly in its history, or rather what conclusions were drawn from it. Using the same iron cross would be kind of like continuing a traditional line, which started before WW2 of course, but it includes the time of the Third Reich, hence it's like white-washing the Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS and whoever else got iron crosses. You can call that overreacting - but Germans are very, very cautious about it. I think they fear the image of a proud, soldierly people and try to avoid any step towards this at all costs (that's also why they dreaded the decoration of soldiers in general for a very long time). Apart from that you should keep in mind that right-wing radicalism resp. the so called "new nazis" are a problem in Germany.
I was more so refering to Germanophobia in this sense, Anti-German sentiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Here are some that I found so ridiculous, I wouldn't know where to begin If you had made yourself clear in your post you wouldn't have needed to have had your ear pulled, right? I don't think... it must decoration like.. like on ancient monuments, lol seriously, I heard once, that only half-turned Swastikas thos standing on one arm of the cross are to be considered as nazi symbol... but I'm not sure this is true... Ropi, some people are too ignorant to make those fine distinctions. Whatever we as more knowleageable know about the "other" meaning of the swastika, unfortunately a vocal and strong minority will make bad use of it so we have to be careful. ---- edit: Here's one example of the swastika, standing on it's arm, so to speak. As you see, there was no distinction in use, turning right or turning left, it means the same. http://bp2.blogger.com/_MDQXhDAkFfU/Rtv0bNbxk1I/AAAAAAAAARs/6ku_VXewLxc/s400/Adolph-Hitler-Banner-Standard-Nazi-Third-Reich-Flag-01LG.jpg (I'm not going to dirty my monitor with this image) By the way, I got this image from here, and as you can see nazism is still much alive. More than one thinks.
Here's one example of the swastika, standing on it's arm, so to speak. As you see, there was no distinction in use, turning right or turning left, it means the same. http://bp2.blogger.com/_MDQXhDAkFfU/Rtv0bNbxk1I/AAAAAAAAARs/6ku_VXewLxc/s400/Adolph-Hitler-Banner-Standard-Nazi-Third-Reich-Flag-01LG.jpg By the way, I got this image from here, and as you can see nazism is still much alive. More than one thinks. Sorry to hear that...
