Which is why we should work towards a strong European army rather than strong national armies as the earlier comment said. A strong German army will not be at the center of it.
Also Germanies post WW2 military is riddled with wasting money, inefficiencies, ineptitude, subversion by far right extremists…
Germany has no basis to belief it would do military better than its neighbors. So any historical argument will have to deal with the fact that a strong German army historically was always about invading its neighbors. This also does not hold true for strong armies of countries like the Netherland that historically did not invade neighbors so much, but rather took control over trade routes and colonies. That isn’t better, but it is not a historic threat to other European countries. For Germany as a rule of thumb you can say that strong army = invading Poland soon.
With the ever stronger rise of the fascists in Germany and other European countries, often financed by Russia and with the goal to undermine unity inside the EU it is also something to consider. If the EU should fall apart for any reason a strong German army will be a threat to everyone around them, in particular Poland.
It is therefore crucial both as a lesson from history and in looking at the current political developments to build an EU army that is not just some national armies loosely put together.
Which is why we should work towards a strong European army rather than strong national armies as the earlier comment said. A strong German army will not be at the center of it.
Also Germanies post WW2 military is riddled with wasting money, inefficiencies, ineptitude, subversion by far right extremists…
Germany has no basis to belief it would do military better than its neighbors. So any historical argument will have to deal with the fact that a strong German army historically was always about invading its neighbors. This also does not hold true for strong armies of countries like the Netherland that historically did not invade neighbors so much, but rather took control over trade routes and colonies. That isn’t better, but it is not a historic threat to other European countries. For Germany as a rule of thumb you can say that strong army = invading Poland soon.
With the ever stronger rise of the fascists in Germany and other European countries, often financed by Russia and with the goal to undermine unity inside the EU it is also something to consider. If the EU should fall apart for any reason a strong German army will be a threat to everyone around them, in particular Poland.
It is therefore crucial both as a lesson from history and in looking at the current political developments to build an EU army that is not just some national armies loosely put together.