First of all, let’s discuss pride. Pride is not unique to Germany. It is an element of nationalism prevalent in almost every culture worldwide, although in Germany many take it to a

Nationalistic pride shows up also in the German value of patriotism. Patriotism is a devout love of one’s country. From the popular plan of LeitKultur, or guiding culture, proposed to become law by Friedrich Merz, it is evident that Germans have a deep love of their country. He intends to impose the culture or at least the language of his people on the millions of foreigners now residing in his country (Cohen “Guiding Culture” 1). Since World War II Germans have been taught that patriotism was appropriate only in certain areas:”[T]he democratic values enshrined in the constitution of 1949, the German mark, and – perhaps – the German soccer team”. But because of the growing discontent with foreign influence, this renewed sense of pride in their country and culture has become popular. “[T]he fact is that Mr. Merz appears to have struck a chord in a country where anxiety over immigration is widespread and impatience with the historical shame engendered by the Nazi years is increasingly common. The notion that it might now be reasonable to take pride in being German has become a theme of insistent debate” (Cohen “Guiding Culture” 10). Stemming from this patriotism is also a pride in the ethnicity of being German. As the New York Times put it, “The key to German identity is found in the blood. A German is not someone born in Germany, but someone born to ethnic German parents anywhere in the world” (“Redefining German Citizenship” 1). Currently the law provides a prime breeding ground for reinforcement of German nationalism through pride in their blood heritage. Although some are fighting to change this law, the majority of Germans feel pride defining themselves as German through bloodlines (“Redefining German Citizenship” 1).

The performance and competitiveness of performers in sports has long been a measure of a country’s nationalism. The Olympics provide a prime opportunity to carry out idealistic goals. It has well been publicized that Hitler tried to use his so-called Aryan race in the 1936 to prove the superiority of his ethnic Germans over the many races competing for other countries there. Much more recently there was a resurgence of this idealism in sports. “Starting in the mid-1970’s, East Germany embarked on a relentless state-sponsored campaign using anabolic steroids to further a single goal: Olympic gold as proof of communism’s supremacy” (Cowell 1). The government began to issue steroids to unsuspecting Olympic athletes in the form of “vitamin” pills designed to enhance their performance. The government called this plan “State Planning Theme 14.25”. Apparently, idealism got well out of hand in this case. As a result, many deformed fetuses were aborted and many female athletes were permanently altered sexually (Cowell 2). What they failed to realize was that when these improper means were discovered it would actually weaken the nationalism they had worked to promote (Cowell 4-6).

The final aspect of nationalism we will discuss is assertiveness. This value did not become immediately apparent to me. Germans desire to be independent in political rule, and in culture. As far as politica

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