--- description: Find out why Olaf Scholz is one of the 100 most influential people of 2023. title: Olaf Scholz: The 100 Most Influential People of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29388b0099bf970c/698a3bc922fb854f96e2e8dd/Olaf-Scholz-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 13, 2023 # Olaf Scholz by Yasmeen Serhan  GRANSEE, GERMANY - MARCH 05: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during a press conference after a retreat of the German government cabinet at Schloss Meseberg on March 5, 2023 near Gransee, Germany. The cabinet is holding the two-day retreat as Germany continues to face high inflation and Russia's war in Ukraine enters its second year. (Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images) GRANSEE, GERMANY - MARCH 05: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during a press conference after a retreat of the German government cabinet at Schloss Meseberg on March 5, 2023 near Gransee, Germany. The cabinet is holding the two-day retreat as Germany continues to face high inflation and Russia's war in Ukraine enters its second year. (Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images)Carsten Koall—Getty Images When [Chancellor Olaf Scholz](https://time.com/6170974/olaf-scholz-germany-interview/ "undefined") declared the Russian invasion of Ukraine a _Zeitenwende,_ an epochal turning point, he pledged that Germany would rise to the occasion. Though Berlin’s response hasn’t always been as quick as many of its allies would like, [Scholz](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177688/olaf-scholz/ "undefined") has begun to deliver. In the space of a year, Germany overturned its postwar pacifism, ramping up its military spending (albeit by a fraction of what was pledged) and becoming one of Ukraine’s biggest arms suppliers. It also ended its reliance on Russian energy and, after international pressure, sent [coveted Leopard 2 battle tanks to Kyiv](https://time.com/6249710/germany-leopard-2-tanks-ukraine/ "undefined"). Delays that critics regard as needless hesitation are seen by others as due caution in a nation still scarred by its own history of wartime aggression. “Living in Germany, you can’t go away from the disasters of the first half of the 20th century, which were caused by Germany,” Scholz told TIME in 2022\. “It is in all the things we do politically, and it is in my mind too because we have a historic responsibility to help secure peace.” _Serhan is a TIME staff writer_ Olaf Scholz Is on the 2023 TIME 100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269861/olaf-scholz-2023/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269861/olaf-scholz-2023/"},"headline":"Olaf Scholz","datePublished":"2023-04-13T10:32:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:32.124Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269861/olaf-scholz-2023/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","sponsorshipblock","TIME100 2023"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29388b0099bf970c/698a3bc922fb854f96e2e8dd/Olaf-Scholz-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29388b0099bf970c/698a3bc922fb854f96e2e8dd/Olaf-Scholz-time100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269861/olaf-scholz-2023/","name":"Olaf Scholz"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 | The 100 Most Influential People of 2023","description":"See all the people on Time's 2023 Time 100 list","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/P6RIsapV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-04-13T10:30:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/P6RIsapV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269861/olaf-scholz-2023/","duration":"PT1M53S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269861/olaf-scholz-2023/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```