Learning through history by gentle persuasion

Part 1: Learning from History

Recently, I went on a solo trip through Frankfurt, Cologne, and Strasbourg to experience traveling on my own and also to learn from the history of these cities. One of the lessons that stood out to me in particular was that social progress comes with challenging hurdles. 

This lesson was especially apparent in a Frankfurt house of worship,  the St. Paul’s Church or Sankt Paulskirche. For those of you who do not know, the St. Paul’s Church was the site of the first parliament in Germany during the 1848 Revolutions. This was the first time in German history that any sort of parliament had ever convened, and it was about time too. France, England, and the Netherlands had already established parliaments, personal freedoms, and constitutions. Germany was lagging behind its neighbors and needed to catch up in what we now consider to be fundamental human rights.

Shortly after their first meeting, the Germans soon learned that democracy was far from easy to maintain. The parliament was plagued with endless debates, constantly shifting political parties, and confusing bureaucracy. Despite all of the barriers and obstacles the delegates faced, they were ultimately able to accomplish one of their greatest goals: a German constitution that guaranteed inalienable rights of all German citizens and outlined a new comprehensive German government, with the Prussian king as emperor of a constitutional monarchy.

Unfortunately, the two most powerful empires in the German speaking regions, Austria and Prussia, refused to recognize the constitution and the Prussian king refused the crown, fearing the constitutional monarchy of a large empire would result in less personal power than what he had as an autocratic king of a smaller kingdom. Democratic constraints are an anathema to autocratic rulers, as we are learning in contemporary American politics. Without the approval of either Austria or Prussia the first German parliament collapsed within only two years of its inception, and Germany remained a collage of loosely affiliated autocratic kingdoms. In fact, some argue that the rulers became even more reactionary and regressive perhaps as a reaction to the progressive spirit that had nearly unseated their autocratic rule.

However, the parliament at the St. Paulskirche was not all in vain. The German constitution that was drafted in 1849 became the foundation for the current German constitution that was written 100 years later. Although everything must have seemed hopeless to those champions of democracy in 1849, the work that they did would have a profound effect on the course of German history.

Within Islamic history, this theme of hope and salvation during times of hardship is also very common.  We see examples of despair in human society such as the persecution of the Israelites by the Egyptians followed by the revelations received by Prophet Musa - peace be upon him , and perhaps most memorable within the Islamic tradition, the time of ignorance and oppression in Mecca until the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). It is easy to imagine a sense of hopelessness perhaps similar to how the Germans felt in 1850, when their dreams of self-determination were crushed.

However, it is important to remember that in many of these cases, people were able to rise above societal setbacks by learning from the attempts of their forefathers. The Quran seems to suggest that learning from history can perhaps remind us of not only the glory of Allah(Subhanahu wa ta'ala), but also the ups and downs in human society.

Quran: “It is not a guidance for them (to know) how many a generation We destroyed before them, amid whose dwellings they walk? Lo therein verily are signs for men of thought” 20:18

History is a valuable lesson for us and God reminds us to embrace the knowledge of history in order to become better individuals and better societies. I definitely learned a lot of history on my trip and I feel that these lessons of history make me a more grateful person because they help me realize the blessings we enjoy and how people before us struggled to provide them for us today.

Part II: Gentle Persuasion

The last city I visited on my trip was the now French city of Strasbourg, the location of the European Union Parliament. While it was most certainly a beautiful city with a rich culture, it also became a grim reminder of the dangers of aggressive assimilation. Before we delve into that though, let me give you some context for my arrival into Strasbourg.

As an occasionally over-confident German American who can get by on both English and German, I thought I would have no trouble navigating Strasbourg, a center of European politics and formerly German city. Therefore, I felt no need to try to pick up any French phrases or expressions prior to my arrival. I thought I knew my history of the city and I truthfully believed that my German could perhaps get me by if my English failed. This was far from the truth.

When I first arrived in Strasbourg, the first thing I noticed in the train stations was that they gave all information in French, English, and then German. I thought this was a bit strange because as I soon found out, at least half of the tourists were from Germany, and they were travelling via train. When I later checked into the hotel, I first tried German and was met with blank stares by the concierge. Soon, I discovered that all street signs, menus, and news channels in the city were in French. German wasn’t even the secondary language of the city; that honor was given to English, the official language of the European Union.

I thought perhaps by learning more about the city’s history, I could solve this peculiar conundrum, and figure out why Strasbourg was seemed to be striped bare of its German roots. At first though, I ended up getting even more confused.

Strasbourg, as I learned, was a Free Imperial city under German rule from roughly the 1400s to the late 1600’s. This was very significant because it allowed the city to levy their own taxes, mint their own coins, and determine the official religion of the city. These were privileges that only German cities of the time could have access, making Strasbourg the quintessential German city.

The paradigms shifted in the late 1600’s when Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, captured Strasbourg, and claimed it for France. Even though Strasbourg was now under French rule, the French monarchy never tried to overtly impose French authority upon city. This changed with the French Revolution. By the 1790’s France, not Germany, was championing the ideals of self-determination and freedom. As a result, the city’s residents soon began to favor France and embrace the French nationality. The lesson here is that ideals - not political or military power - shape the culture of a people.

Yet just 80 years later, Strasbourg would once again return to Germany and the Germans decided to infuse Strasbourg with “Germanness” if you will. They rapidly constructed entire new quarters, taught German in school curriculums, and invited Germans from all over the country to move to Strasbourg. It seemed as if Strasbourg would once again become a German city, again won over by the ideals of education and modernity.

The hope was ultimately fruitless after World War I when the city was once again in the hands of the French. Soon though, I came to realize why the city seemed to be so barren of its German ancestry: the Nazis.

When the Nazis defeated France in 1940, they aggressively sought to make Strasbourg German. Speaking French in public from 1940 to 1945 was a crime. French was completely stricken from all education curriculum, and all French youth clubs were replaced with the Hitler Youth. Even whistling the French national anthem could be enough for a jail sentence. 

Through all of this hyper aggressive assimilation, the Nazis ultimately achieved what no group had done before: they had stripped away the German of Strasbourg. They failed in the most spectacular way simply by using aggression instead of persuasion and they violated the mot core belief of the people of Strasbourg: self-determination.

The prophet understood the value of gentle persuasion and negotiation, which is evident when he negotiated the truce of Hudaybiyyah, which lasted two years with the Meccans. According to Muhammad Asad, “As soon as perennial warfare came to an end and people of both sides could meet freely, new converts rallied around the Prophet, first in tens, then in hundreds, then in thousands. So much so that the Prophet could and did occupy Mecca almost without resistance.”

The lesson from the Prophet’s life and the history of Strasbourg is that ideals, education, dialogue ultimately win, whereas aggression and persecution is doomed to fail.