Kohl leaves legacy of German reunification, European integration

Helmut Kohl, the giant of post-War German politics, leaves behind a vital legacy, one that includes German reunification as well as European integration. It is, then, quite apt that Kohl’s coffin was draped in the EU flag as world leaders gathered to pay tribute to the former German chancellor.Chancellor Angela Merkel has said it is up to this generation to preserve Kohl’s legacy, while former US president Bill Clinton has described him as “the largest figure on the continent of Europe for decades”. Whether today’s generation agrees with his politics or not, or has doubts over the fate of his legacy, it has to acknowledge that Kohl was one of the most important figures in the world of politics during the ’80s and ’90s. And his work still remains relevant.Kohl had most of the talents of a successful politician: ambition, ruthlessness, tenacity, tactical skills and a sense for the minds of ordinary people, according to one observer. While he did not have the charisma or gift for words that his two predecessors, Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt, could boast of, Kohl had a clear vision for the future of his country. It was this that enabled him to achieve the previously unimaginable: Germany’s reunification within a united Europe.Kohl worked for German reunification as others hesitated, Merkel said, stressing that his motivation was always that there should be no more war in Europe. “Now it’s up to us to preserve your legacy. I bow before you and your memory in gratitude and humility,” she said.The eulogies kept coming. “All of us who came - why? Because Helmut Kohl gave us the chance to be involved in something bigger than ourselves. Bigger than our terms of office, bigger than our fleeting careers,” Clinton said.Kohl’s death marks the first time that the European Parliament in Strasbourg has paid tribute to a leader in such a way. This was the first ever occasion of its kind: in essence, a European state funeral. And though in essence it was sad, it was also - certainly for believers in the European ideal – uplifting, according to some analysts. “That is because talking about Helmut Kohl is a chance to contemplate history, and to remember the forces that changed the face of Europe in the 1990s,” a BBC report on the funeral said.Kohl’s chief method to avoid mistakes was to build trust with all powers, big and small, that were relevant to Germany’s well-being. Moreover, Germany would need external support for any degree of national reintegration should the opportunity present itself. “While for Schmidt the key strategic tool was the assurance of calculability, for Kohl it was the creation of trust. And he set out to strengthen and build it,” another report said.For Kohl, a closely united Europe was a deeply emotional matter, as well as the key condition for Europe’s peace and Germany’s well-being. For most Germans, his strategy of building trust still echoes in the country’s official German rhetoric.While Kohl also leaves behind a toxic family feud and some consider him Germany’s ‘under-appreciated’ giant, his importance in the history of modern Germany and Europe cannot be overstated.