A Nation Offside: An Analysis of the Disparity Among East and West German Soccer Teams and Players Following Unification - Return of Identity Politics and Populist Nationalist Sentiments

This report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. Support of a soccer club has become a cultural cornerstone for a significant portion of European society, yet a major portion of the German population has been denied this opportunity to root for a home team or even a local player. The cultural significance of soccer in the region may also have helped fuel societal divisions that extend beyond the boundaries of the soccer pitch, such that the absence of representation may have played at least a small role in the unhappiness with the current political and cultural environment in the former GDR. If those in the East feel that their identity was compromised after unification, and it seems likely that on the soccer pitch it was, it may have played some part in the return of identity politics and the populist nationalist sentiments there. As the security situation in Europe today continues to become more concerning, the lessons of 1789, 1848, and 1932 warrant the resolution of any issue that could even be loosely connected to the explosion of nationalism—and other divisive particularisms—in the region.

The unification of Germany in 1990 brought the former Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and German Democratic Republic (GDR) together under a common Federal German flag without the socialist hammer and compass. The Europe of a quarter century later seems bent on renationalization, despite the high hopes of the European Union, in which a united Germany has been a driver of multinational progress in security between East and West. How can an American student of European security make sense of this epochal shift of citizenship, nationhood, and security in light of the ongoing U.S.-European defense bond threatened by an integral nationalist challenge of special viciousness?

One place to begin to answer this question lies in the depths of national feeling and regional belonging via society and culture that is central to modern Germany—and especially to Germany since 1990. This common German identity has not translated to equal representation in one of Germany's signature sports, football (soccer). Indeed, clubs and players from the former FRG have dominated the Bundesliga1 and the German National Team, leaving clubs and players from the former GDR behind. In a country with such a storied past and proud identification with its football identity, how has this disparity contributed to continued social divisions within Germany? Have any policies implemented by the divided governments of the FRG or GDR facilitated this enduring inconsistency?

Soccer occupies a significant, relevant status as the king of German popular sporting culture. Indeed, the Bundesliga enjoys continuing success, breaking its own attendance record in the 2016-2017 season. As soccer is the most popular sport in the nation, it would be reasonable to predict somewhat uniform distribution of premier clubs and players from locales across the country. However, in the quarter-century-plus following unification, only five teams from the former GDR have gained promotion to the Bundesliga's top tier. In fact, there was a complete lack of representation from the East from 2009 until 2016, when RB Leipzig acceded to the first division. The situation is much the same for the German national team; both the 2014 World Cup-winning lineup and the 2018 squad that crashed out in the group stage featured just one player from the former GDR.