乌尔里希·施利是波恩大学的亨利·基辛格讲席教授，同时也是圣安德鲁斯大学的联合研究教授。
Ulrich Schlie is Henry Kissinger Professor at University of Bonn and Joint Research Professor at University of St. Andrews.
多年来，每年10月3日的德国国庆日都是德国人静心反思国家现状与内部团结的时刻。1990年，德国在和平与自由的氛围中实现了统一，这是历史的馈赠。这一成果源于一系列震撼世界的政治变革，正是这些变革推翻了两极格局以及雅尔塔-波茨坦体系。在德国外交史上具有里程碑意义的时刻，赫尔穆特·科尔总理凭借敏锐的洞察力、明确的方向感以及一点运气，将看似不可能的事变成了现实：在获得周边国家同意的前提下，实现了东西德人民的统一。
Germany's National Day on Oct. 3 has for years been the moment in the nation’s annual cycle when Germans pause to reflect on the state of the union and the country’s inner unity. Reunification in peace and freedom came in 1990 as a gift from history. It was the result of earth-shattering political upheavals that brought down the bipolar system, the order of Yalta and Potsdam. In a defining moment for German diplomacy, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, with tact, a clear sense of direction, and a stroke of luck, made the seemingly impossible possible: the reunification of Germans in East and West with the consent of neighbouring countries.
从对外层面来看，这一成就堪称巨大成功，但在国内层面却遇到了天然的局限。由于身处不同的政治体制之下，德国人有着截然不同的成长经历与生活背景；1990年时，他们在国家与社会层面也处于不平等的起点。仅靠财政转移支付、基础设施建设、行政体系完善以及行政援助，根本无法在一夜之间消除这些差异。自1990年以来，德国人始终未能真正团结一体。
What was a resounding success in external terms reached its natural limits internally. Biographically diverse experiences -- indeed, fundamentally different life experiences shaped by opposing political systems -- and unequal starting points in 1990 in terms of state and society could not be erased overnight through transfer payments, infrastructure projects, the development of administrative structures, and administrative assistance alone. Germans have never been truly united since 1990.
这其实不足为奇，毕竟德国具有浓厚的联邦制特征，各地民众的思维方式也大相径庭。即便在西德地区，石勒苏益格-荷尔斯泰因州、上施瓦本地区与下巴伐利亚州的民众之间也存在着明显差异；而当萨克森州、图林根州以及梅克伦堡州的民众也加入其中后，这种差异就更加显著了。财富、信仰与依然存在的差距总体而言，由东西部财富差距引发的经济不平等现象始终未能彻底消除。
This is hardly surprising, given that the country has a strong federal character and significant differences in mindset. Even in the West, the contrasts between people from Holstein, Upper Swabia, and Lower Bavaria were striking, and this was all the more true once people from Saxony, Thuringia, and Mecklenburg joined the mix. Wealth, faith, and the lingering gap Above all, the economic disparities resulting from the wealth gap between West and East have never completely disappeared.
东部地区的政党忠诚度也始终未能达到原联邦德国时期所具备的水平。新教教会既未能在东德维持其作为“社会主义体制下的教会”的独特地位，也未能借此在统一后的德国获得相应的政治影响力。东德的天主教会则属于流散型教会，始终未能摆脱这一定位。如今，这两大教会在整个德国的影响力都在持续下降。
Nor has party loyalty in the East ever been able to develop the strength that had long characterized the old Federal Republic. The Protestant Church was unable either to maintain its unique position in the GDR as the "Church under Socialism" or to translate this into political influence in reunified Germany. The Catholic Church in the GDR was a diaspora church; it never really emerged from this position, and both churches have steadily lost influence across Germany as a whole.
自1990年以来，尽管有许多令人瞩目的成功案例，但东部地区的不满情绪始终比西部更为普遍。政治界与媒体也助长了刻板印象的传播，将人们心态上的差异夸大为难以弥合的鸿沟。如今，不满情绪已蔓延至整个德国：民众对政治家解决问题能力的信心降至冰点，各类机构的声誉也随之受损。在萨克森-安哈尔特州、梅克伦堡-前波美拉尼亚州及柏林的州选举中，选民们纷纷表达不满，导致极右翼政党支持率大幅上升，而传统主流政党的得票率则出现两位数跌幅。
Since 1990, a general sense of dissatisfaction has been more prevalent in the East than in the West, despite many impressive success stories. Politics and the media have played their part in perpetuating cliches and exaggerating differences in mentality into deep rifts. Dissatisfaction is now widespread throughout Germany; confidence in politicians’ ability to find solutions has hit rock bottom, and the reputation of institutions has suffered as a result. Whilst voters expressed their frustration in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Berlin -- resulting in a significant rise in support for the far-right parties and a collapse for the former mainstream parties, with double-digit losses in the vote -- this phenomenon cannot be explained solely as an East-West issue.
不过，这一现象不能仅仅用东西部差异来解释。诚然，如今德国东部地区的传统政党忠诚度明显低于西部。但政党地位问题的影响范围远不止东西部对比这么简单。两极分化与主流政治的失败最新的选举结果——选择党的崛起、前主流政党的崩溃、自由民主党的消失，以及在柏林等大城市左翼党获得相当大的选票份额——在东部地区尤为清晰地揭示了德国政党体系的危机。
It is true, however, that traditional party loyalties in Eastern Germany are now significantly less pronounced than in the West. That said, the issue of the political parties’ standing extends far beyond a comparison of Germany’s East and West. Polarization and the failure of mainstream politics The latest election results -- with the rise of the AfD, the collapse of the former mainstream parties, the disappearance of the Liberals and, in major cities such as Berlin, a significant share of the vote for the Left Party -- reveal the crisis in the German party system particularly clearly in the East.
在东部，选民对现状的不满甚至大于西部；对政党解决问题能力的信心甚至更低；而进行结局未卜的政治实验的意愿——部分源于上述两大趋势——则格外强烈。即将到来的国庆纪念日，将在其引发的反思中，尤为清晰地凸显这些令人担忧的发展。尽管东西部之间存在诸多差异，但新出现的趋势并非相互矛盾，而只是以不同的色彩表现出来。
In the East, voters’ dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs is even greater than in the West; confidence in the political parties’ ability to find solutions is even lower; and the willingness to engage in experiments with an uncertain outcome -- partly as a consequence of the two aforementioned trends -- is particularly strong. The forthcoming anniversary of the national holiday will, in the reflections it provokes, highlight these worrying developments particularly clearly. Despite all the differences between East and West, however, the emerging trends are not contradictory, but merely manifest themselves in different shades.
在马格德堡组建政府的困难，那里选择党依赖某种形式与左翼民粹主义的理性与公正党合作；以及在柏林，社民党和绿党现在表现出倾向将一个公开反犹太和反以色列的极左翼政党推上市长宝座——这些都将导致政治体系进一步两极分化。前主流政党迄今未能从危机中汲取任何真正的教训。它们依然遵循“闭眼前行”和“故步自封”的座右铭。
The difficulties in forming a government in Magdeburg, where the AfD is reliant on some form of cooperation with the left-wing populist BSW, and in Berlin, where the SPD and the Greens are now showing a tendency to elevate an openly anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli far-left party to the office of Governing Mayor, will lead to further polarisation of the political system. The former mainstream parties have so far failed to draw any real lessons from the crisis. They are proceeding according to the mottos "close your eyes and carry on" and "carry on as before."
过去二十年的大联合政府是政治沉疴的主要成因，它们仍在就所谓的领地收益进行惯常的拉锯仪式，由于政策主张缺乏差异，这种状况更加恶化。它们只是增加挫败感，强化政治边缘势力。
The grand coalitions of the past two decades, which have been a major factor in the political malaise, are continuing with their usual tug-of-war rituals over supposed territorial gains, a situation exacerbated by the lack of distinction between their policy proposals. They merely increase frustration and strengthen the political fringes.
当前东德的局势——基民盟/基社盟（CDU）和社民党（SPD）在某些地区的支持率已跌至几乎名存实亡的自民党（FDP）水平——部分归因于错误的政治优先事项、过度的官僚主义、对农村地区支持的忽视，以及缺乏有效的区域和产业政策。
The current situation in Eastern Germany, too -- where the CDU and SPD have, in some regions, sunk to the level of the almost defunct FDP -- is partly attributable to misguided political priorities, excessive bureaucracy, the neglect of support for rural areas, and a lack of effective regional and industrial policies.
一段时间以来，德国一直在应对与其地理结构相关、以及城市中心与农村地区对比所带来的问题——这些问题长期以来一直主导着英国或意大利等国的政治议程。随着政治危机持续、德国整体情绪低迷，东西部鸿沟将继续加深。
For some time now, Germany has been grappling with problems relating to its geographical structure and the contrasts between urban centres and rural areas -- problems that have long dominated the political agenda in countries such as the UK or Italy. The East-West divide will continue to deepen as the political crisis persists and the general mood in Germany remains gloomy.
尽管存在某些执行层面的错误，但其真正根源不在于国家的内部统一，而在于一场政治危机，这与错误的妥协、缺乏勇气、过度的官僚主义，以及国家缺乏思想指南针有很大关系。
Despite certain implementation errors, the real roots of this lie not in the country’s internal reunification, but in a political crisis that has much to do with misguided compromises, a lack of courage, excessive bureaucracy, and the absence of an intellectual compass for the country.
*本文观点仅代表作者个人，不一定反映阿纳多卢通讯社的编辑方针。
*Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Anadolu.