“We have learned that it was not ‘Germany first’ that made our country strong and prosperous. Rather, it was only ‘European and international responsibility first’ that gave us Germans peace and prosperity.”
-- German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel at the UN and responding to President Trump's speech
It was a fairly decent speech by the German foreign minister, and he hyped the theme against President Trump. I sat and pondered over the words a bit that were emphasized by most of the news media.
Among days remembered for something by the bulk of German society....oddly, 8 May 1945 (the end of WW II for Germany) is not tossed around or mentioned much. Oddly as well....6 and 9 August are often noted in the German news media as the days when the US dropped nukes over Japan. You can count on a dozen-odd references every year around this first week of August and discussing the unfortunate use of nuclear weapons by the US on a defenseless Japan.
What made Germany strong and prosperous? I tend to have a different view from Sigmar Gabriel.
There are three basic ingredients to the period between 8 May 1945 and today:
1. The Marshall Plan. It is true....the plan was not finalized and implemented until the spring of 1948....roughly three years after the war. In today's value....$132 billion was pumped into Europe (not just Germany). Over a four-year period, it was one of most bold maneuvers by the US in the past two-hundred years. They literally shoveled money into the European economy....to reboot it after the war.
Trade barriers? Removed. Stagnant industry? They got charged up and active...hiring people. In fact, German industry by the mid-1950s was so short-manned....that they had to go and bring in thousands from around Europe (particularly Turkey) to reach their goals. Bombed-out cities (not just in Germany) got a chance to get funding, and start thousands of construction projects....on housing, roads, bridges and infrastructure.
In the US view....trade mattered. A stagnant Europe, and in particular...a stagnant Germany....weren't really trade-partners, unless they were back at full-strength.
2. Determined Germans who were left over from the era prior to 1945. When you go and look at determination....they were pretty well maxed out. Engineers and architects laid out the plans.....and millions of Germans picked up shovels and hammers. You can go and look at photos of the war damage, and how things still looked around by 1948....then gaze at the images from the mid-1970s....thirty years later, and get shocked over the amount of effort accomplished. These are folks who worked six days a week....often ten hours a day...and were proud of their accomplishments.
No one stood around and said "Germany first", but they weren't working for some moral cause, European unification, or some EU goal. They were there....heart and soul....for rebuilding Germany.
3. Finally, not to openly criticize Gabriel....but if you walked around Germany and noted the amount of poverty and stagnant wages among the working-class Germans....there might be some argument over a prosperous Germany.
A week ago, I noted some government report that was published and noted that roughly 2-million German kids are in some poverty environment....some more than others. It's nothing to brag about and people have been aware of these statistics for at least a decade.
If you go ask these particular Germans about European and international responsibility....they will give you a few choice words that they are still waiting on their 'golden-ticket' from the EU to arrive.
There's a board landscape here in Germany. When you go and drive around....there's a lot of effort to make things appear as they are. Craftsmanship, determination, engineering skills, and enthusiasm made this all possible. Yeah, maybe no one wants to utter the phrase....but silently....it was 'Germany first' in their minds.
1 comment:
Well said
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