Banana republic

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Banana republic is the derogatory term for states in which corruption and bribery prevail, whose legal system does not work, economic or political-moral conditions are characterized by inefficiency and instability or in which state arbitrariness prevails or to which these characteristics are ascribed.

General

The slang term is a loan translation of the US term banana republic . The small states in Central America that were primarily dependent on banana exports and were dependent on foreign capital - mostly from the USA - were originally referred to as banana republics . The defenselessness of a state against particular interests leads to its status as a banana republic. Military interventions by the US Navy , the United States Marine Corps and occasionally also by the US Army to safeguard trade interests in the context of a gunboat policy and which took place until 1934 were referred to as banana wars .

history

The particular interests had a particularly clear impact in Central America. In the beginning only those countries were named that only or predominantly exported or cultivated bananas . The term goes back above all to the Central American states such as Honduras , Nicaragua or Panama , whose politics and state affairs were determined over decades by the influence of the large tropical fruit exporters United Fruit Company (Chiquita) and Standard Fruit Company (Dole). The economic power of these American companies was far greater than the political power of the governments or even the people of these countries. A former US public relations consultant, Edward L. Bernays , was u. a. responsible for the public relations of United Fruit .

In April 1907, the United States installed a corrupt dictatorship in Honduras under Miguel R. Dávila to protect the interests of the United Fruit Company. As early as 1910, US companies controlled 80% of the Honduran banana plantations. The dictators Tiburcio Carías Andino and Juan Manuel Gálvez , who were in power from 1933 to 1948 and 1949 to 1954, respectively, were also the helpers of the United Fruit Company. It was similar in 1930 in the Dominican Republic with Rafael Trujillo , in Guatemala in 1954 with Carlos Castillo Armas and in Chile in 1973 with Augusto Pinochet . The United Fruit Company not only controlled the banana trade (" Chiquita ") in Guatemala , but also the post office, the largest port and the power supply in the country.

Extension to other states

The term banana republic probably goes back to the American writer O. Henry (actually William Sydney Porter). In a 1904 published novel Cabbages and Kings ( cabbages and kings ) states, probably alluding to Honduras: "At did time we had a treaty with about every foreign country except Belgium and did banana republic, Anchuria" ( "had at this time We signed a treaty with almost every country, with the exception of Belgium and this banana republic, Anchuria ”). The derogatory term used in its current form was first widely used in 1935. The term initially reflected the excessive influence of banana importers. The term banana republic has since expanded to other states and is now used around the world as a negative expression for a state in which there is corruption in an economic, political or legal area.

System-critical protest
flag "Banana Republic of Germany"

On January 26, 1978, opposition leader Helmut Kohl told Defense Minister Georg Leber in the German Bundestag that the CDU / CSU parliamentary group would “not allow the psychology of a banana republic to be made the way the German parliament treats” and accused MP Willy Brandt of him have "introduced the style of a banana republic in the Federal Republic of Germany".

On May 4, 1981, Der Spiegel ran the headline in Germany “As in a banana republic” about the business practices of German life insurers. In connection with the Flick affair , Der Spiegel took up the term again: "Since mid-December 1981 Bonn has been providing a new definition: FRG = Banana Republic of Germany." The Flick affair developed into one of the greatest scandals of the post-war period. It was about illegal party financing with funds mainly from the entrepreneur Friedrich Karl Flick . In this context, Banana Republic became one of the Words of the Year in 1984 .

Usage today

The term is used today beyond Central and South America for other states that have the attributes of a banana republic. These include a weak economy that is largely dependent on an export item, political instability, mafia- like structures that determine the economy and politics , disputes are carried out with armed violence, missing or non-functioning, despotic governing state power, lax laws and non-functioning criminal prosecution or seepage .

Today "banana republic" is used in a derogatory way for countries (mostly in the Third World ) in which corruption, crime , nepotism , personal enrichment at the cost of the state and dubious elections were promoted through considerable influence from foreign companies . On the other hand, the term is also used as a vague controversial term against states whose political culture is associated with corruption and arbitrariness. Therefore, this term is also used pejoratively in political discussions and polemics about industrialized countries such as Switzerland , Germany , France , Austria , Greece or Italy , if one assumes or criticizes similar practices (which are partly covered up or glossed over).

Graphic allusion

After the mishaps in the Austrian federal presidential election in 2016 , city architect Markus Voglreiter publicly hoisted a flag alluding to the word banana republic. On top of each other, it bears three funny, alienated ones - for example with a cigar in its beak, a red-white-red strap on the upper body - or mutated Austrian federal eagles and bananas with different designs in the claws, drawn by the artist Manfred Kiwek. The flag hoisted at the master builder's office next to the Obertrum roundabout caused a sensation, triggered some positive reactions from passing cyclists and motorcyclists, according to Voglreiter, and caused reports on ORF. The police then had him dismantle the flag on September 19, 2016 and made a complaint for “degrading state symbols”. "Anyone who publicly 'insults, scorns or otherwise disparages' the flag or any other symbol of the Republic of Austria faces up to six months imprisonment or a fine according to Section 248 of the Criminal Code." At the beginning of December 2016, it was reported that "the protection of the constitution The investigation ceased because no 'degradation of the state and its symbols' could be proven. "

literature

  • O. Henry : Cabbages and Kings.
  • Fritz Lietsch, Bernhard Michalowski (ed.): The banana republic: scandals and affairs in the Federal Republic; a Chronik , Heyne, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-453-03364-7 ; 2nd edition (expanded to include the GDR), 1990, ISBN 3-453-03364-7 .
  • Wolfhart Berg: Banana Republic of Germany: Corruption - the everyday scandal , mvg, Landsberg am Lech 1997, ISBN 3-478-71830-9 .
  • Steve Striffler, Mark Moberg: Banana Wars: Power, Production, and History in the Americas . Duke University Press, Durham (NC) 2003, ISBN 978-0-8223-3196-4 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Banana Republic  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich Kluge, Etymological Dictionary , 2002, p. 87
  2. ^ A b Renate Wahrig-Burfeind: Brockhaus Wahrig German Dictionary . With a lexicon of language teaching. In: Digital Library . 9th, completely revised and updated edition. knowledgemedia at inmedia ONE GmbH, Gütersloh / Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-577-07595-4 (CD-ROM edition). , Keyword »banana republic«
  3. ↑ Stephen Schlesinger , Stephen Kinzer : Banana War - CIA Putsch in Guatemala Ernst Kabel Verlag GmbH, Hamburg 1984, ISBN 3-921909-52-X .
  4. ^ Robert J. McMahon / Thomas W. Zeiler, Guide to US Foreign Policy: A Diplomatic History , 2012, p. 112
  5. ↑ James H. Hill, The Everyday Language of White Racism , 2011, o.p.
  6. ↑ Dr. Word (radio ffn), The monkey laust me: News from the world of idioms , 2012, no p.
  7. ^ German Bundestag, stenographic report, 69th session in Bonn, Thursday, January 26, 1978. Retrieved on March 17, 2019 .
  8. ↑ DER SPIEGEL 19/1981 of May 4, 1981, p. 79
  9. ↑ DER SPIEGEL 52/1981 of December 21, 1981, quotation from the rear-view mirror from the Handelsblatt, p. 182
  10. ^ Society for German Language, Word of the Year 1984 , 5th place
  11. ^ "Protest flag" hoisted in Kobersdorf orf.at, November 18, 2016, accessed November 19, 2016.
  12. ^ Police action against federal eagles with bananas orf.at, September 19, 2016, accessed November 19, 2016.
  13. ↑ Banana Republic flag: No more investigations orf.at, December 2, 2016, accessed December 2, 2016.