Just days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, German chancellor Olaf Scholz proclaimed the moment to be a Zeitenwende. The post-cold war era was over. Germany and its allies must stand together in resolute defence of freedom and democracy. Germany would have to rethink its foreign, energy and economic policies, spend more on defence and not be shy of providing leadership for Europe. No chancellor since the Federal Republic’s birth in 1949 had made a speech quite like it.
