Germanic Excellence

There are those people who work hard, reach a certain level of accomplishment and maintain their position. Then there are those that reach a certain level of accomplishment, lose everything they have, then work their way up again. The German's are the quintessential example of just that.

In the 17th century, Germany was a mix of smaller states often engaged in dispute. The Thirty Years War which eventually restructured the power balance in the area, turned Germany into nothing more than a French client state. However, shortly after the Peace of Westphalia, two German kingdoms in particular sought to build themselves up: Prussia and Austria. Although constantly at odds with one another, the conflicts did not prevent some notable accomplishments major areas:

"...new universities were founded, some soon considered among Europe's best. An increasingly literate public made possible a jump in the number of journals and newspapers. At the end of the seventeenth century, most books printed in Germany were in Latin. By the end of the next century, all but 5 percent were in German. The eighteenth century also saw a refinement of the German language and a flowering of German literature with the appearance of such figures as Gotthold Lessing, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Friedrich Schiller. German music also reached great heights with the Bach family, George Frederick Handel, Joseph Haydn, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart." (http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/history/bl_smaller_states.htm)

The French Revolution spearheaded another war which resulted in the defeat of Prussia. However, in true German fashion Prussia sought heavy military and adminsitrative reforms which eventually resulted in the defeat of Napoleon in the battle of Waterloo. Prussia was the chief military powerhouse in Europe. Under Bismarck, the German's united under the banner of German nationalism to defeat the French in the Franco-Prussian War and declared Wilhelm I as the emperor of the German Empire.

Fast forward to WWI where Germany was unfairly targeted at the Paris Peace conference as the chief perpretrator that caused the war. Still, Germany rose from the ashes and gave rise to Adolf Hitler (who was democratically elected and could have done much more for Germany if not for his ridiculous ideology). Again, Germany was defeated but they rose again slowly building themselves up to a position of power after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Today, is Germany is the largest economy in Europe and third largest in the world in real terms, placed behind the United States, and Japan. According to the World Trade Organization, Germany is also the world's top exporter, ahead of the United States and China. (Wikipedia)

Perhaps this excerpt from a paper by Pakistani Nobel Laureate Dr. Abdus Salam explains why the German's have been so successful despite the obstacles they've had to endure. It is definitely a lesson for us all:

In 1947 I was a student at Cambridge University, Germany had lost the war and the entire German nation was feeling the distressing effects of this crushing defeat. The American control commission invited students from Cambridge and other European universities to visit Germany and see the plight of the German nation. Around 500 students from all over Europe arrived in Munich. Not a single building structure was left intact in the city and it seemed that the inhabitants of Munich were living in pigeon holes.

We were to stay in huge tents in a city park. I had learnt from someone that a German scholar was looking for me. One day I met this scholar who was just a human skeleton. He was employed in a German war camp where there were some Punjabi prisoners as well. He learnt from these Punjabi soldiers that I had arrived in the city. He was learning the Punjabi language from these soldiers as he was compiling a German-Punjabi dictionary in 1947. The books he had in his possession were Meer Warith Shah and an old copy of ***** Bhatti published from Lahore. As he was experiencing difficulty in understanding some verses from these books he decided to meet me so that I could explain to him some of the different passages. Unfortunately those passages were rather difficult for me as well and consequently I could not be of much help to him.

Now think about this incident for a moment. I don't know whether that dictionary was ever published and if it was then how many people made use of it but this is a story of knowledge loving people. A nation whose total G.N.P. is but knowledge of science, technology and languages. The people of such a great country know that compiling a German/Punjabi dictionary may be fruitless but they will not waste time in playing cards or going on strikes or watching useless movies. They consider their time during university years to be extremely valuable, they learn and teach others, perhaps there is a great lesson for us.

Knowledge for the sake of knowledge, is there anything more inspiring?

copyright Aurangzeb Qureshi 2006