Thread by @andersostlund

I just learnt that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the GDR in 1984 and met with the Communist Party leadership. One wonders on what grounds the communists agreed to such a meeting? Maybe they saw "potential" in Scholz?

Then Scholz visited the GDR again in 1987. One can assume such visits weren't allowed unless they supposedly gave results for the communists. The "peace" movement from the time was an instrument from Moscow to reduce the will to fight in the west.

Then I looked at Merkel's background when she grew up in the GDR. Apparently she had the backing of the local communist party for an "unprecedented" initiative. What person gets "unprecedented" backing in a communist dictatorship?

It has also been said that as a young adult Merkel propagated Marxism, but it should be stated that Merkel disputes this.

In 1986 Merkel was allowed to travel to West Germany. Keep in mind that people dreaming of escaping to the West risked being shot dead while trying. Merkel were allowed to leave, she was trusted enough to come back. How come she was so trusted?

Many people say that persons mature over time and leave their ideology from youth behind them. Is that really true? I think we become more moderate but I don't think we leave the fundamental beliefs from youth.

I remember studying geography at school when I was eight. We looked at a map over the Baltic Sea and I mentioned the USSR was so close. My teacher snapped at me. "That's not the Soviet Union. Thats Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania" she said angrily. Lesson learned and remembered.

My teacher was born in Finland and thinking back on it I understand why the normally so lovely woman snapped at me. She new the price of freedom, and she shared her knowledge with me.

That episode from my childhood gave me an early understanding of what the Soviet Union was. Now I wonder what it does to a child's brain if the child is subjected to daily propaganda with potential punishment if the message is not accepted. Will that not form thinking for life?

Gerhard Schröder started working for Putin right after he left office, Merkel was so trusted by the dictatorship that she was allowed to travel to the West and Scholz went on his on free will to the East and was allowed to meet communist leaders.

Germany is the EU's largest country by population, it's the leading economy and considering its leaders the last 20 years one might also draw conclusions about why so many political decisions made in Germany were beneficial to Moscow.