I have been recently speculating about how certain key German influences could have resulted in it possibly being the dominant world language. No, I'm not referring to Nazi domination, but to an earlier time in the 18th century.

The first instance comes from the ascension of George the first to the English throne. He was a German and subsequently had little interest in England so he gave most of his limited power up to the Parliament, specifically the newly created Prime Minister. His son, George the second, had a similar opinion of the situation.

The second instance is a little later at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. At the time the German language was spoken by a large amount of the population (Pennsylvania Dutch). When they were voting on a national language German was defeated by only one vote. I'm also told that the first draft of the Declaration of Independence (or was it the Constitution) was written in German.

So, what if the Georges had asserted their power and tried to force the German language on their subjects? What if King John had never signed the Magna Carta, thus never creating the Parliament and making it actually possible for a king to assert his power? What if one more person had decided to vote for German as the American language? Does this prove that one vote really does count? Would Australia and New Zealand followed a similar path? Would Germany have embraced democratic principles as a result? Would Germany still have tried to expand their empire in Europe? Would Archduke Ferdinand still have been shot? Would the Holocaust have ever happened? Would the Berlin Wall have never been an issue? Would communism have never spread?

And more importantly, would we all be getting "Ein Wort der Tage" (E.W.D.T.)?