but what merkel lacked in fiery rhetoric she made up for as a crisis manager, both during the lehman collapse in 2008 and the greek debt crisis in 2012, she took bold action to prop up the g german economy and eu member states, possibly saving the single currency, the euro. translator: europe will fail if the euro fails. and europe will win if the euro wins. reporter: in 2015 hundreds of thousands of refugees mostly displaced by the syrian civil war were literally on the eve s doorstep seeking shelter. angela merkel led the eu as it opened its gates, taking in well over a million people. translator: we have achieved much. we managed this and whenever something gets in the way, we will overcome it. reporter: but integration of the refugees proved more difficult, giving rise to nationalist forces in germany.
play this game of power, it was too late for that. when angela merkel became germany s first female chaps lore in 2005, her style was completely different than previous chancellors, calm, quiet and reserved. but what merkel lacked in fiery rhetoric, she made up for as a crisis manager. both during the lehman collapse in 2008 and the greek debt crisis in 2012. she took bold action to prop up the german economy and ailing eu member states possibly saving the single currency, the euro. europe will pay if the euro fail and europe will win in the euro wins. arguably angela merkel s biggest hour came in 2015 as hundred of thousands of refugees, mostly displaced by the syrian civil war, were literally on the eu s doorstep
but what merkel lacked in fiery rhetoric, she made up for as a crisis manager, both during the lehman collapse in 2008, and the greek debt crisis in 2012, she took bold action to prop up the german economy and ailing eu member states, possibly saving the single currency, the euro. translator: europe will fail if the euro fails. and europe will win if the euro wins. reporter: arguably angela merkel s biggest hour came in 2015, as hundreds of thousands of refugees, mostly displaced by the syrian civil war, were literally on the eaves doorstep seeking shelter. angela merkel led the eu as it opened its gates taking in well over a million people. translator: we have achieved so much. we ll manage this. and whenever something gets in the way, we will overcome it. reporter: but integration of the refugees proved more