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place.
After new multitudes repeatedly invaded the Empire and could no
longer be integrated, prejudices spread against the bearded
Germans in their long trousers and furs, who could not shake off the
odium of barbarism.
The government lost control of the provinces, the state monopoly
of weapons could not be sustained and the executive failed and the
overburdened bureaucracy collapsed.
Demandt asks why it was that the rich, highly developed Romans
had not stood up to the pressure of poor, barbarian neighbours? He
writes, One reads of decadence, of a society that had become
comfortable, striving for the good life for individuals, but having
nothing with which to resist the energetic and active hordes of
Germans when they flooded over the border, driven by desperation.
The authors repugnant historical parable is intended to create an
intimidating scenario. A mass of refugeeslike the energetic hordes
of Germans of oldare streaming towards Germany, posing a deadly
threat to the state, which can no longer be defended by a society that
has become comfortable in an Empire of peace.
The article was originally set to appear in the magazine Die
Politische Meinung, which is produced by the Christian Democratic
Union-aligned Konrad Adenauer Foundation. But Chief Editor Bernd
Lmann, who commissioned the article in the context of the refugee
crisis, ultimately rejected it.
Justifying his decision, Lmann told Demandt that the text could
be misinterpreted in the context of our political magazine by
undesirable sources in light of the events of New Years Eve in
Cologne. From his point of view, there existed the danger that
isolated parts of the text could be misused to construct all too facile
parallels to the current situation that we would not wish.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung did not shrink from publishing
Demandts article in full.
As if to make clear that the historian intended to stoke up sentiments
against refugees by drawing a simple parallel with the current
situation, it asked him what we [could] learn from the decline of
Rome and what he [would] advise the chancellor today as an
historian?
Demandt answered bluntly that it was necessary to pay attention to
the long-term consequences of immigration and restrict the
influx. He argued that the word must first of all get around that it is
not worth coming to Germany. He continued: We cannot afford to
give up our sovereignty. Mrs. Merkel cannot be allowed to act for the
benefit of other governments and at the cost of the German people.
Her oath of office suggests the exact opposite. One has to
intervene for ones own peopleand not run away from this.