Most powerful form of Germany?

[JasonDebenah89]

Which period in Germany was it at its most powerful (relative to the rest of the world) overall?

[dead0man]

same answer as to when asked what's the best Star Wars film



Empire

[WritOfCertiorari]

The German Empire was probably the 2nd or 3rd strongest country in the world, after the UK and maybe the US. It was clearly more powerful than France, and had just defeated them.

Nazi Germany was more like 4th. It was still weaker overall than the UK and had clearly fallen behind the US, but now the Soviet Union has industrialized as well.

West Germany actually was at one point the 3rd largest economy in the world, but eventually Japan started to pass it by the late 70s and 80s. It boasted a strong yet constrained military and didn’t have huge reparations to pay off.

[Meclazine for Israel]

All of the above.

Germany is not powerful because of an era.

Germany is powerful because of its people.

They are mega-easy to deal with as business people. They are honest and pay their bills.

The quality of their work is second to none.

I have always been impressed with German people.

If i meet a German tourist in Western Australia, i go out of my way to make their holiday special if they need help.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

What about the Holy Roman Empire?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

What about the Holy Roman Empire?

Depends on the time period.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

What about the Holy Roman Empire?

As Voltaire said, the HRE was "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire".

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The German Empire was probably the 2nd or 3rd strongest country in the world, after the UK and maybe the US. It was clearly more powerful than France, and had just defeated them.

I would say the Germans were about equal with Britain by 1914. Their economy was larger, but Britain had a larger navy and overseas empire.

The German Empire had its biggest weakness in the field of diplomacy post Bismarck. And its diplomatic blunders is what destroyed them more than anything else, because it determined the nature of the war, the ability for the war to even start frankly. Germany let Russia settle into an alliance with France, scared Britain into mending fences and then getting into bed with the Russians, who were the enemy of their Pacific ally Japan and who they are nearly gone to war with several times over Central Asia and over navy altercations.

At the same time, there was a substantial German population in the US and the US had long had good relations going back to the Prussian days. And Britain had frequently allied with Prussia, and other German states against France.

We take for granted that US+Britain+France+Russia v. Germany because we had two world wars that played out that way. Which as an aside is why you get sensational conspiratorial videos about the British royals being "OMG GERMANS!!!". It seems outrageous to us since we associate Hitler with Germany and Germany with the enemy, but for hundreds of years, the Germans were Britain's natural allies.

Germany made a lot of mistakes to turn all these people into enemies. Some of them were blatantly a matter of choice, like with Russia.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

What about the Holy Roman Empire?

As Voltaire said, the HRE was "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire".

Depends on the time period.

[President Johnson]

Modern Germany due to political influence within the EU and the very strong economy. And still for being a very stable democracy in the world.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

What about the Holy Roman Empire?

As Voltaire said, the HRE was "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire".

Depends on the time. It also depends on what you mean by "empire". The HRE never was an empire in the sense of being an autocratic unitary state.

[Lechasseur]

The German Empire was probably the 2nd or 3rd strongest country in the world, after the UK and maybe the US. It was clearly more powerful than France, and had just defeated them.

I would say the Germans were about equal with Britain by 1914. Their economy was larger, but Britain had a larger navy and overseas empire.

The German Empire had its biggest weakness in the field of diplomacy post Bismarck. And its diplomatic blunders is what destroyed them more than anything else, because it determined the nature of the war, the ability for the war to even start frankly. Germany let Russia settle into an alliance with France, scared Britain into mending fences and then getting into bed with the Russians, who were the enemy of their Pacific ally Japan and who they are nearly gone to war with several times over Central Asia and over navy altercations.

At the same time, there was a substantial German population in the US and the US had long had good relations going back to the Prussian days. And Britain had frequently allied with Prussia, and other German states against France.

We take for granted that US+Britain+France+Russia v. Germany because we had two world wars that played out that way. Which as an aside is why you get sensational conspiratorial videos about the British royals being "OMG GERMANS!!!". It seems outrageous to us since we associate Hitler with Germany and Germany with the enemy, but for hundreds of years, the Germans were Britain's natural allies.

Germany made a lot of mistakes to turn all these people into enemies. Some of them were blatantly a matter of choice, like with Russia.

Agreed

[Lechasseur]

And to answer the question, the German Empire of course

[Beet]

The German Empire was probably the 2nd or 3rd strongest country in the world, after the UK and maybe the US. It was clearly more powerful than France, and had just defeated them.

I would say the Germans were about equal with Britain by 1914. Their economy was larger, but Britain had a larger navy and overseas empire.

The German Empire had its biggest weakness in the field of diplomacy post Bismarck. And its diplomatic blunders is what destroyed them more than anything else, because it determined the nature of the war, the ability for the war to even start frankly. Germany let Russia settle into an alliance with France, scared Britain into mending fences and then getting into bed with the Russians, who were the enemy of their Pacific ally Japan and who they are nearly gone to war with several times over Central Asia and over navy altercations.

At the same time, there was a substantial German population in the US and the US had long had good relations going back to the Prussian days. And Britain had frequently allied with Prussia, and other German states against France.

We take for granted that US+Britain+France+Russia v. Germany because we had two world wars that played out that way. Which as an aside is why you get sensational conspiratorial videos about the British royals being "OMG GERMANS!!!". It seems outrageous to us since we associate Hitler with Germany and Germany with the enemy, but for hundreds of years, the Germans were Britain's natural allies.

Germany made a lot of mistakes to turn all these people into enemies. Some of them were blatantly a matter of choice, like with Russia.

Ironically all the money the Germans spent on their High Seas fleet backfired. Not only did the fleet turn out to be useless, but it helped scare Britain into an alliance against Germany. Undoubtedly a part of the blame goes to Alfred Mahan. He should have written a book about diplomacy, not weapons.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The German Empire was probably the 2nd or 3rd strongest country in the world, after the UK and maybe the US. It was clearly more powerful than France, and had just defeated them.

I would say the Germans were about equal with Britain by 1914. Their economy was larger, but Britain had a larger navy and overseas empire.

The German Empire had its biggest weakness in the field of diplomacy post Bismarck. And its diplomatic blunders is what destroyed them more than anything else, because it determined the nature of the war, the ability for the war to even start frankly. Germany let Russia settle into an alliance with France, scared Britain into mending fences and then getting into bed with the Russians, who were the enemy of their Pacific ally Japan and who they are nearly gone to war with several times over Central Asia and over navy altercations.

At the same time, there was a substantial German population in the US and the US had long had good relations going back to the Prussian days. And Britain had frequently allied with Prussia, and other German states against France.

We take for granted that US+Britain+France+Russia v. Germany because we had two world wars that played out that way. Which as an aside is why you get sensational conspiratorial videos about the British royals being "OMG GERMANS!!!". It seems outrageous to us since we associate Hitler with Germany and Germany with the enemy, but for hundreds of years, the Germans were Britain's natural allies.

Germany made a lot of mistakes to turn all these people into enemies. Some of them were blatantly a matter of choice, like with Russia.

Ironically all the money the Germans spent on their High Seas fleet backfired. Not only did the fleet turn out to be useless, but it helped scare Britain into an alliance against Germany. Undoubtedly a part of the blame goes to Alfred Mahan. He should have written a book about diplomacy, not weapons.

The German Empire had one major enemy that was unchangeable, The French Third Republic. The fact that the Germany allowed the most reactionary state on the continent to ally with the most liberal, is telling.

I don't think it would have much mattered what book Mahan wrote. The problem with Germany was Wilhelm II was an arrogant egotist. I think Europe and the world would have been much better off had the 1840's generation of Monarchs (Edward VII, Frederick William and Alexander III) lived longer. In Russia's case the Victorian Generation, Alexander II, who was pro-German.

[Kingpoleon]

The one that not only held off Russia, France, the British Empire, Italy, and Belgium essentially single handedly, but successfully went on the offensive against the same. The Empire struck at the peak of British power, and Russia and France were supposed to be near-equals to Germany, yet the three combined couldn’t hold it back. That would be like America fighting off China and Russia at the same time - not only fighting them off, but almost taking Beijing or Moscow.

[fluffypanther19]

same answer as to when asked what's the best Star Wars film



Empire

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Deutscheball is evolving!

[Senator-elect Spark]

German Empire and then Nazi Germany.

[dead0man]

an hours worth of explaining why the answer is German Empire (at least when compared to Nazi Germany)

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

an hours worth of explaining why the answer is German Empire (at least when compared to Nazi Germany)

Knew it would be Carlin!

[DPKdebator]

I'd rank it like this:

1. German Empire
2. Nazi Germany
3. Modern Germany
4. West Germany
5. Weimar Republic
6. East Germany