So you don't believe there's a tendency for nations to behave in a certain way? Not a

collective national identity? Tolstoy would have disagreed with you. So would Bertrand Russell.

These are not fixed for all time, & arose as a consequence of the unpredictable interplay of cause & effect we call history.
Germany didn't even exist in the 19th C. Much of modern German outlook was formed by the WW1 & its consequent humiliation which resulted in Hitler & the aftermath. No nationality (or does such a concept not exist) takes kindly to being humiliated - especially when they are as able as the Germans undoubtedly are.
We are where we are. And I'm still wary of the Germans - particularly when it comes to the EU.

Posted By: dennis moore, Jan 30, 20:43:49