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Old 09-13-2008, 11:13 AM
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Warren, it's not a long bow to draw when the Prince's wording is interpreted as very intenionally aggressive.
It's a matter of language here; you translate and equal Reich with Empire, but that's not correct.
In German, as the Prince knows very well, the use of the word "Reich" has practically become obsolete apart from the historic context of the "Dritte Reich" which is Nazi Germany. The word "Reich" itself is not taboo, but strictly connected to Hitler's regime in today's language.
In German ears, his use of words in describing current Germany as the fourth reich is therefore obviously either degrading the present or cynically marginalising the past.
In the German original, there's no way that the quote can be interpreted as a neutral way of just putting his hope for the the survival of his own country into words, even when taken out of its context - and if you read it within the context of his additional remarks, it's even worse.
It's certainly no coinscidence that the Prince chose to vent his anger at Germany at the time of the investigations of Liechtenstein's financial politics.
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