Know Your Neighbours

The Guardian's New Europe series launched at perhaps the busiest time for international news since 9/11. Revolution in north Africa and the Middle East, a triple disaster in Japan, Ivory Coast on the brink. What could a month-long journey through Europe's most important countries tell us about the crises of the day?

Plenty. Within hours of launching Germany week, the nuclear disaster in Japan was contaminating German politics, forcing a rethink on nuclear power and propelling the Greens to a remarkable electoral triumph. France week kicked off at the same time as the French-led air assault (pictured below) on Muammar Gaddafi's regime, which rebooted not only French foreign policy but perhaps the Sarkozy presidency. The immigration debate in southern Europe faced a new dynamic with the sudden spike in the number of Africans heading north across the Mediterranean.

All this at a time when the leaders in all four countries we examined faced questions about their mandate: Nicolas Sarkozy and Poland's Donald Tusk are both girding for imminent re-election battles; Spain will get a new prime minister next year after José Luis Zapatero announced he would not be seeking a third term; and Germany's Angela Merkel suffered an electoral setback in Baden-Württemberg.

But New Europe month told us most about the post-crash Europe that we live in. It gave us a chance to understand how our neighbours are dealing with the biggest economic upheaval in a generation, an opportunity to find out who had the best answers to universal European problems of ageing populations, listless youth, insolvent governments, bankrupt welfare systems, restive regions and often unfair health and education systems.

Economics and welfare

Our correspondents found that when it comes to economics, Europe's post-crisis nations are a little like Tolstoy's families: happy economies are alike, but every unhappy economy is unhappy in its own way. In France, les misérables are striking workers, jobless youth and a president who has had to water down his grand designs for Thatcherite reform. In Spain, the unhappy are residents of construction-boom towns that now sit almost empty, the bankers who are all but bust and the one in five unemployed. In Poland, the unfortunates are those on the wrong end of deepening inequality.

Ailing economies weaken the power of the state, nowhere more critically than in France, where the sense of entitlement now dwarfs the ability of the state to subserve it. Polly Toynbee found that in a country which diverts a full third of its national income to pensions, income support, health and social services, "cross-party commitment to welfare runs deep". Readers online and of the paper were as divided as the French themselves on the issue of whether the generous French welfare state was still affordable. For some, the country's system is a model for the UK; others expressed concern about its top-down economy and an emergent two-tier system for workers, in which those on low pay and temporary contracts are excluded from the security, tax breaks and welfare payments enjoyed by their permanent counterparts. One reader, Gwan, said: "No one in my office has a permanent contract, and we're all educated to master's level and employed by the state. Job insecurity aside, there's zero hope for advancement."

Health and education

France's health system impressed our correspondents, beating the NHS on most yardsticks. The picture was more nuanced elsewhere, but readers took issue with the suggestion that Spanish healthcare and medical staff have been protected from cutbacks during the financial downturn. Healthcare standards vary greatly between regions as the organisation of the communidades autónomas play their parts, they said, with one reader citing a 10% cut in Catalonia's health budget this year. There was much praise, however, for the work of the donor co-ordinators mentioned in the article and for hospitals' treatment of family members and visitors.

On schools, our correspondents were surprised to find that elitism, selection and ghettoisation were not just a British disease. The German system of streaming at 10, which heavily favours the middle classes, felt like a formalisation of the UK's own patchwork system in which the well-to-do try to buy better futures for their children.

The Spanish mix of concertadas (academies) and faith schools alongside down-at-heel state schools also felt deeply familiar. France, with its long school days, rigorous grading system and uniform curriculum, is falling down international league tables.

Immigration

Also familiar are the various debates across the continent on immigration, minorities and integration. In France, Angelique Chrisafis spoke to Marine Le Pen, pictured, dauphine of the far right, who still argues that immigration is a threat to the economy and security of France, and speaks of immigrants as "neverending queues of foreigners". Her Front National scored well in local elections and an opinion poll found she was more popular than Sarkozy.

In Germany, steeped in a sulphurous debate about whether Turks are doing enough to integrate, Gary Younge found housing projects where there was "not a lot of tension here, but there's also not necessarily a lot of contact". Readers weighed in on both sides: many took issue with "multiculturalism". JoeDeM wrote: "It seems that Germany has similar problems to the UK when it comes to the integration of Muslim immigrant communities. Hardly surprising." Ostberlin offered a first-person perspective that provided a nice counterpoint: "Although everybody speaks about education all the time, I think the poison of racism is the key issue; if, like Günther Wallraff, you treat people with affection and dignity, they respond in kind. This is my experience."

In Spain and Poland, our writers found countries preoccupied with a different kind of migration: exodus. With jobs hard to find, a new cohort of Spanish youth is preparing to move overseas to find work. Poles did the same, of course, throughout the past decade. Amelia Gentleman found that many are now returning, and not always with good stories. One migrant, JanPomorski, said: "I was one of those migrants myself, came back after two years … I was just another Pole living in the ghetto (Stratford, London) for 900 pounds/month, in overcrowded place, struggling to save some money. As for the promised land, I can say just one thing: agencies. Some work agencies are advertising, hiring, and even training in Poland (like I was trained) and as soon as you start working they don't give a sheet about you any more."

Gender and family life

Zoe Williams found Germany preoccupied with its low birth rate, France suffused with pervasive, tacit misogyny, and Spain with a lot of women in its government, but many more discriminated against in the job market. Readers challenged the view of France, pointing to a proliferation of political and business high flyers, with lavieenrose offering this personal perspective: "As a woman who has lived in France for 40 years, I worked my way up the corporate ladder to senior management positions back in the supposedly dark days of the 70s and 80s. Not easy, particularly with two children, but not exceptional by any means and probably easier than in the UK due to the higher percentage of working women, superior maternity benefits and well-organised childcare facilities. And why no mention of leading French businesswomen such as Anne Lauvergeon, president of one of the biggest companies in the world, Areva?"

However, support for the piece came from mireillep: "It is anecdotal but I find women here so subservient in subtle ways. Men rule, no doubt about that. In this Latin society the male has space, he is entitled. It is indefinite, it is subtle, but even my British husband feels it. They strut their stuff and it's OK. Women work, have babies (the highest birthrate in Europe), do the washing, the shopping, the cooking, the kids' stuff (82% of childrearing is carried out by women, 80% of domestic tasks too) and they get depressed (recent studies done) and anxious. France is the highest consumer of antidepressants."

Our G2 writers, meanwhile, found young European families grappling with the same issues that their British counterparts face: trying to be good parents as well as good professionals; short of time, space and money.

Art and culture

Correspondents found arts at the sharp end of the cuts agenda – even in France, which has traditionally earmarked lavish funds to ensure the persistence of the exception culturelle. Some readers argued that Spain's art scene might not be as bleak as our piece portrayed, pointing to "an overwhelming amount of art that doesn't involve gallery spaces, public or private". Street theatre, outdoor performances and exhibitions are found all year round, some readers said, and there has been an improvement in Spanish arts since the 1980s and 90s, with increased involvement of public institutions at national, regional and local level, leading to new collections, grants, exhibitions and museums. Others suggested Spain was "a cultural desert" that neglected to nurture artistic talent at youth and university levels and also lacked cultural programming on TV – factors that are driving Spanish talent abroad.

Marie Winckler's appeal for new, subversive French theatre directors, actors and playwrights produced a wide range of recommendations on who to follow, from the Théâtre de la Colline in Paris to the writers Bernard-Marie Koltès, Jean-Luc Lagarce and Olivier Py, and actor/writers such as Joël Pommerat. Commenters broadly agreed there was a shortage in this area of French theatre, with some suggesting the stagnation was being felt in other cultural areas such as the visual arts, too, and was fed by being "a closed space which only services a small group [of friends and influencers]".

Dorota Maslowsa's summary of the development and future of Polish art since the fall of communism was welcomed by commenters as "interesting" and "well-observed", although one worried: "I just hope that 'modern' and 'universal' are not euphemisms for 'western' and 'homogenous'."

Europeans

Readers were invited to send us short videos in support of their favourite European country. Spain emerged as the most popular and Spaniards the most likely to nominate their own land, possibly helped by a Twitter campaign urging Spaniards to fly the national flag. "Where else can you ski in the morning and go to the beach in the afternoon?" pondered Cristina and Lola.

Miles from Wiesbaden took us on a tour of his city to show us "why Germany is a nice place", explaining that Germans are old-fashioned people who love traditional food, nature and romance. Italians made wry references to Silvio Berlusconi's extracurricular activities while extolling their food, lifestyle and landscape. Ambra told us: "I don't eat pasta every day, drive a Ferrari or participate in bunga-bunga parties with my prime minister."

As for the European project itself, battered by the debt crisis, correspondents found Germany determined to defend its national interest, Spain's prime minister told Giles Tremlett the country would not need a bailout – words that take on greater significance in the wake of the Portuguese cry for help this week – and Timothy Garton-Ash's overview of Poland's journey to being a "normal" European country elicited plenty of responses. Alex, a 28-year-old living in Warsaw, said: "I am surprised how well authors of articles from the series New Europe describe Poland." Talking of his own, post-communist generation, he went on: "When I observe young people, born in the 80s and 90s, it is obvious they have no complexes, they feel Europeans, and speak at least one foreign language. It is the generation of our parents and grandparents who still live in the past, slowing down reforms and any other necessary changes in the country. I'm not sure if we should complain that much about the situation when people who govern still don't understand our reality – we are Europeans with European problems just living on Polish territory."Guardian readers also shared their views of Poland – its cities, countryside, food and people – in our Flickr group, inspired by David Levene's shots of Warsaw.

Big Boys: Insurance

Big Boys: Chemicals

Life Is Bizarre, Sometimes...

It seems that Hitler died 65 years ago today.

But what is really amazing is the fact that the future grand philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and future political monster Adolf Hitler shared classroom in Primary!

A Greek Dra(ch)ma

Why is Greece still in crisis, wasn't there a bailout?

After months of uncertainty, the EU and IMF had finally offered a €45bn rescue package (€30bn from Europe and €15bn from the IMF), which might have seen Greece through its short-term borrowing needs. But political opposition in Germany led investors to lose confidence and drove up Greek borrowing costs to the point where a far bigger rescue package now looks necessary.

What happens if a bigger bailout can't be agreed?

With short-term borrowing rates hitting 38% on Wednesday, investors fear Greece will have no choice but to default on some of its existing debt obligations, or at the very least negotiate a partial debt restructuring. In short, refuse to pay. The latest crisis was sparked on Tuesday when credit rating agency Standard & Poors downgraded Greek sovereign bonds to junk status.

Why is this so bad? Don't the bankers deserve it?

It is bad for Greece because it will make it almost impossible to borrow its way out of trouble in future, making it difficult to pay all its public sector employees and deepening its recession. It is bad for everyone because most fund managers invest in these bonds on behalf of international pensioners and savers. Though Goldman Sachs has been criticised for helping Greece hide its problems and hedge funds are blamed for exacerbating the market reaction, the banking industry is far less culpable in this crisis than it was last year.

Will Greece leave the euro?

If its domestic economic crisis gets bad enough, Athens may decide a currency devaluation is the only way to restore international competitiveness. It is hard to imagine it would restore the drachma with so many corporate and household debts still denominated in euros.

How might the contagion spread?

Rating agencies have downgraded government debt issued by Spain and Portugal, suggesting greater fears of default and higher borrowing costs across much of southern Europe. The cost of insuring against default in Poland and Ireland has also jumped as the so-called "sovereign" credit market suffers a widespread loss of confidence. Confidence could quickly return if European governments agree a more convincing rescue plan when they meet on 10 May.

Could the UK be next?

A wider collapse in investor confidence could make it more expensive for the UK to continue its heavy borrowing programme too. Lying outside the single currency means this would probably express itself first in a sharp fall in sterling rather than an outright "gilts strike" (when investors refuse to buy UK government bonds). Interest rates would also have to rise, potentially pushing the economy back into recession.

Hi Mate! Dear Sir/Madam...

The complex etiquette of du and Sie in Germany

Reuters

With all du respect

“AT 2.12 our work was finished. At 2.15 we called each other Horst and Guido. This is the beginning of a great friendship.” That is how Guido Westerwelle, the Free Democratic leader in Germany’s coalition government, broke the news that he and Horst Seehofer of the Christian Social Union would henceforth address each other by the familiar du rather than the formal Sie. Since Mr Seehofer had called Mr Westerwelle a crybaby just weeks earlier, it was a touching reconciliation. But how much warmth does the intimate du convey?

It used to be so simple. Relatives, friends, children and dogs were du; everyone else was Sie. The offer of du, usually by an older interlocutor, was not made lightly. But this formula has become scrambled during the past 40 years. Germany is not America, where everyone is on first-name terms except in the doctor’s surgery. The rules are now confusing, so that instead of guarding the borders between friendship and acquaintance, Sie and du often now smuggle coded messages across them.

It started with 1968ers who impudently called their professors du. Later generations of students reverted to Sie. But with each other, indeed with everyone of student age, du predominates. Bouncers at Berlin’s clubs are gesiezt but bartenders are geduzt. Shoppers at upmarket KaDeWe are Sie but in shops packed with young Germans even those not so youthful may be called du. Annett Louisan, a pop singer, laments the passing of Sie: “This distance adds a little more/to something that would be a bore/‘What can I do for Sie?’/stimulates wild fantasy.”

In less erotically charged settings Sie holds sway. Banks, law firms and ministries remain bastions of Sie, though egalitarian companies like Sweden’s IKEA have converted to du. It is easier to sack a Sie than a du. Sometimes du can even be dangerous: try it on a policeman and you may end up paying a fine for insulting an officer.

Politics has its own rules. In the Social Democratic Party (SPD) it would be an insult to siezen a “comrade”. Communists in East Germany were du to each other, which gives it a sinister ring to some Ossis. In conservative circles and across party lines du is not yet automatic. Angela Merkel, the Christian Democratic chancellor, never said du to Frank-Walter Steinmeier, her SPD foreign minister, though she apparently already does so to his successor, Mr Westerwelle.

In Mr Seehofer’s case, as the older man, he almost certainly made the first move with Mr Westerwelle. But that has not stopped him repeatedly sniping at the new foreign minister. In this case du seems less a profession of friendship than a screen for hostility.

The Lady Is Staying

1 Sep 39: Germany invades Poland

The File

The File

Timothy Garton Ash

Timothy Garton Ash lived in East Berlin in the late 1970s and early 1980s, conducting academic research on the German resistance to Nazism. As a foreigner he inevitably came under the scrutiny of the Stasi. Returning to Berlin in 1992 after the demise of the DDR he gained access to the file that had been kept on him, and on reading through it, discovered a network of informants, divided loyalties and betrayals that forced him to re-examine his memories of the time. During the momentous events of 1989 Garton Ash became one of the leading Western commentators on the unravelling of state communism in Eastern Europe, an experience he describes as ‘like being lashed to the saddlestraps of a racehorse at full gallop: very exciting, but you don’t get the best view of the race.’ The File, first published in 1997 and now reissued to mark the 20th anniversary of die Wende, benefits from years of self-reflection, and is a masterful limning of the moral complexities of life under a totalitarian regime. ‘A chilling portrait of treachery and compromise’, thought John Le Carré, ‘an invaluable document for our time, bravely and beautifully written.’

Franco and His Generals

Winston Churchill authorised millions of dollars in bribes to stop General Franco from entering the Second World War on the side of Germany, a new book claims.

The British wartime leader persuaded Juan March, a Spanish banker, to act as a secret agent, organising payments of millions of dollars to the generals. In return the generals persuaded Franco not to side with Hitler.

The plot was revealed by the historian Pere Ferrer in Juan March: The Most Mysterious Man in the World, after researching papers in British and US archives.

In the summer of 1940 Churchill was convinced that Spain would enter the war on the side of Hitler after receiving reports that Franco and the Germans were planning to invade Gibraltar. Ferrer has claimed that a British officer, Alan Hillgarth, came up with a plan to bribe the generals, believing that Franco's high command was corrupt and, because they were not paid much, would be open to bribery.

A letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Solborg, a US agent in Portugal, to J. Donovan, the head of strategic services, read: “The Spaniard selected to be the main internal instrument to acquire the political favours of these generals was the rich financier Juan March.”

March, who earned a fortune during the First World War dealing in contraband tobacco, seemed an unlikely ally because during the Spanish Civil War he sided with Franco.

Ferrer said that questions remained as to whether March was a double agent. He claimed that documents suggested March may have stayed in the pay of the Germans while working for the British. When he was approached by the British in 1940, however, March accepted the role. He approached 30 generals who had fought in the Spanish Civil War. Though their sympathies had been with the Nazis they switched sides.

The $10 million bribe money was deposited in a bank account in New York in 1940 but the plot nearly fell apart a year later when the US Treasury thought that March was using the money to support Hitler.

The British Ambassador in Washington convinced President Roosevelt that British military interests depended on the account being unfrozen. The Americans relented and in 1942 alone the generals received between $3 million and $5 million.

The book said that some generals were not simply bought off by bribes - many loathed Franco. In a reference to Franco, General Alfredo Kindelan wrote in his memoirs: “You could sense vertigo in him above all else because, like climbers who go higher than they are able, he felt dizzy from having reached such heights with limited abilities.”

After the Second World War March returned to the sedate life of finance, dying in 1962 aged 82.

Franco and Hitler

— General Franco’s rise to power, leading the Nationalist armies to victory against the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War, was supported by Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy during the 1930s

— Franco’s only meeting with Hitler took place in October 1940 in Hendaia, Basque Country. Hitler refused to offer Franco French colonial possessions in return for Spain’s support in the war. After their meeting, Hitler remarked that he would “as soon have three or four teeth pulled out” as barter with Franco again

— Franco did allow Hitler to use Spanish naval bases during the Second World War. German U-boats were resupplied at its ports and Italian bombers refuelled at its airfields, while Spain helped to build observation posts around Gibraltar for German spies

— Spain declared complete neutrality in 1943, allowing Franco, right, to retain power until 1975, when he died in his bed.

Funny Guys of the Day (IX)

"The Party must not become the servant of the masses, but their master."
Adolf Hitler (an Austrian)

"The defence of internal peace and order constitutes the sacred mission of a nation's armed forces and that's what we have carried out."
Francisco Franco (a Galician)