«Freedom» or Liberty

n the form of a historical essay, 500 years full of connections, misunderstandings, and disputes between the US, Europe, and Germany are examined. This «kinship» across the Atlantic has fluctuated for centuries between ignorance and affection, both between changing governments and among the population. The 18th century elevated the US to a model of Western «liberty,» which, despite two world wars—triggered in imperialist Europe in the 19th century—only prevailed in the 20th century, after the defeat of Nazism and fascism. Germany, too, only found its way westward to parliamentary democracy and civil society within the EU.