Did Angela Merkel Save the European Union?

This was at the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, "Germans Reconsider Ties to Europe: Merkel Scrambles on Bailout Vote as Key Allies Desert Her" (and at Google):

BERGISCH GLADBACH, Germany -- As Angela Merkel races to convince Germans that their continued prosperity rests on preserving the euro, she is encountering strong resistance even from those in her own party who have been traditionally among the country's most pro-European politicians.

When German lawmakers vote Thursday on whether to put more money into Europe's bailout fund—a step many investors see as essential to prevent a market panic—several conservative deputies, including Wolfgang Bosbach, a prominent champion of European integration, are expected to vote "no." Mr. Bosbach, a high-ranking conservative in Ms. Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, has recently become an outspoken critic of the bailout strategy.

"The first medicine didn't work, and now we are simply doubling the dose," said the lanky Mr. Bosbach of the Greek debt crisis. "My fear is that when the big bang happens, it won't just be us who will have to pay but generations hereafter."

The lawmaker rebellion underscores a broader shift among Germans about their nation's role in Europe since the crisis erupted nearly two years ago. While the Thursday vote is expected to pass, and a vast majority of Germans continue to feel a strong, historical commitment to Europe, with a common currency as its anchor, many have grown doubtful of whether it's worth the ever-growing cost of saving the euro.

Like many Europeans, few in Germany today fear the return of armed conflict in Western Europe, the decades-long impetus behind what Germans still often call the "European peace project."

Instead, economic prosperity and stability have become the main rationale for monetary union, an argument many Germans say they have trouble reconciling with one ineffective bailout after another.

Unable to persuade an increasingly skeptical German nation to go along with more rescue measures, Ms. Merkel risks presiding over Germany's growing isolation and the dissolution of the euro—the crowning achievement of Europe's post-World War II drive toward integration.

See if you can get through at those links. It's a fascinating piece. Seventy-five percent of German voters opposed Merkel's vote on the European bailout fund, which was approved Thursday.

And a roundup of opinion at Der Spiegel, "'Europe Can Breathe Easier' after Crunch Vote":

"The markets would prefer more and more money, and ever-increasing loans, but in the end, the money will not have much value anymore. The first serious experts are already talking of an impending need for currency reform, a traumatic idea for the Germans."

"Countries that live beyond their means should not be allowed to expect more money. Banks who make bad deals must be allowed to go bankrupt, without putting the whole system in danger. Creating the necessary structures to allow that is the task of politicians. What's needed are clear rules for national bankruptcies. It is also necessary to force banks to accumulate, as quickly as possible, enough capital so that they can survive a debt restructuring by, for example, Greece."

Man, that's harsh.

Merkel bought some time, and not a whole lot else.