Germany is the country that lost the battle but won the war. I am not saying Germany is not full of hard working and smart people but consider this.
Germany wreaked havoc on its neighbors effectively killing huge % of their populations,destroying trillions of $ worth of infrastructure and industries and much more. Yet they only paid dimes to these countries because someone smart people decided they must be the balancing force against the Soviets.
Also consider this. Germany is effectively dominating the markets of its neighbors solely because of weak euro, its industrial scale, "open" (anti-protectionist) laws and ...corruption. There are many many other factors of course.
You seem to have been taught a rather selective history.
- Germany was forced to cede a quarter of its territory after WW2, to exactly the allied neighbouring countries in addition to the ones already ceded in WW1. In the east, Germans were ethnically cleansed from those areas. (The western parts were later given back to Germany because France and Netherlands found ethnic cleansing unpalatable.)
- The Soviet Occupation Zone - the later GDR - was denuded of any and all industrial machinery and other items of value, which were all carted off to the Soviet Union.
- The western allies took "intellectual reparations" and stripped German companies and individuals of their rights to IP - patents, copyrights, trademarks worth billions. (In violation of the Hague Convention which they all signed, but hey, vae victis.)
- and of course cash reparations too, for countries who did not participate in all of the above (Greece, Israel, Yugoslavia).
> Germany was forced to cede a quarter of its territory after WW2, to exactly the allied neighbouring countries in addition to the ones already ceded in WW1. In the east, Germans were ethnically cleansed from those areas. (The western parts were later given back to Germany because France and Netherlands found ethnic cleansing unpalatable.)
Then again, if you compare it with displaced Polish people and ethical cleansing both there and in Russia, both cleansing of Jews and non-Jewish citizens of those territories, the harm done to Germany is "just dimes to these countries" as parent puts it. Also, as bad as occupation of French was, Easter occupation was even more gloves off - as both Polish and others were ranked lower then French in racial hierarchy.
Of course displaced or killed Germans were often innocent. And of course future development of formerly occupied countries was harmed by Russia a lot. But, if you compare harm being done on that place, Germans did not paid former victims all that much. That might have been right decision, but it being right does not make it untrue.
They also set up and funded VW which counters most of your arguments and also having to start from scratch meant that instead of using old machine tools the marshal plan helped retool germany
Victors tried making Germany pay for causing destruction to other neighbors, after WWI. And that contributed significantly to the rise of Hitler and WW2. The Marshall Plan was created because of lesson learned from end of WWI.
And yes, with the rise of Soviets, Germany was the only 'reliable' force to reply on to counter Soviets. No one after WW2 would've thought of relying on the French to counter the Soviets. Nothing against the French, and you should also note France effectively left NATO over disagreements with other NATO allies. AFAIK, no NATO member left NATO except for France.
I know. I am not that salty about this though I hate it when Germany is presented as a role model because in many things it is not and its success cannot be replicated.
It is what it is.
Their apprenticeship model could be replicated though. A lot of service economy or other non-outsourcable/exportable jobs could implement it. Even IT. The old StackOverflow was somewhat like apprenticeship actually. Learning from the masters, although not working together.
The allies tried to learn from WWI, where they took different decisions and it did not work too well. You are right, that Germany's export-oriented model would not be possible, if nobody traded with them.
I don't think your points are very strong, though: Germany was well off before the Euro. I am also not seeing that Germany is more corrupt than other countries. Saying "solely" and mentioning other factors in the next sentence, does not really make sense.
I am not trying to make a point here I am just stating that Germany took advantage of the EURO currency. Germany was not that well off. The trade before the EU and Eurozone was much more balanced in my opinion though this is hard to compare and measure.
What I tried to say is that Germany among other rich and developed countries is the cause of the corruption in less developed countries.
Germany wreaked havoc on its neighbors effectively killing huge % of their populations,destroying trillions of $ worth of infrastructure and industries and much more. Yet they only paid dimes to these countries because someone smart people decided they must be the balancing force against the Soviets.
Also consider this. Germany is effectively dominating the markets of its neighbors solely because of weak euro, its industrial scale, "open" (anti-protectionist) laws and ...corruption. There are many many other factors of course.