German aggression dates back a long, long time and goes far
beyond the two World Wars. The origin of German aggression dates
back to ancient Roman times and the Battle of Teutoburg Forest (of
which, the Teutonic Knights of medieval times took their name). The
Germanic king of the Cherusci, Hermann (or Arminius in Latin)
routed three Roman legions sent to the area by Augustus Caesar. The
vast majority of what is now Germany was never subdued by the Roman
Empire, however, at this time in history Germany was not a united
State as it is now, it was a collection of warring tribes who would
sometimes unite to raid and pillage bordering Roman provinces.
Around the year 400, Attila and his Huns invaded the Roman Empire
through the Balkans and managed to drive a number of Eastern
Germanic tribes, like the Vandals and Goths, into the Roman Empire
while allying themselves with other Germanic tribes, like the
Gepids, Scirii, Rugians and Samartians. This Hunnic alliance
brought wide swaths of the Roman empire to it's knees and exacted
heavy tribute payments upon both the Eastern and Western emperors
thru intimidation and violence. It was then that the famous Western
Roman general, Flavius Aetius struck an alliance with king
Theodoric of the Visigoths and defeated the Hunnic alliance at the
Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. The following years saw the
decline of the Roman empire, which the Germanic tribes capitalized
on. Tribe after tribe flooded into the Western Empire and virtually
seized every single territory formally held by Rome. The Goths
sacked Rome and took Spain, the Vandals sacked Rome for a second
time and took North Africa, the Lombards invaded Northern Italy,
the Franks annexed Gaul and the Saxons and Angles subjugated the
British Isles. By 600 AD, the former Western Roman empire was
controlled by a conglomeration of Germanic tribes, hence the Dark
Ages. During these so called Dark Ages, one ruler's star shown
brightly. Charlemagne's (or Charles the Great's) Frankish empire
was fully realized, stretching from Eastern Spain to the Adriatic
Sea. A descendent of Clovis (the Frankish king who originally took
Gaul from Rome and adopted Christianity), is known as a wise and
benevolent ruler in today's modern history (which he was) but was
also a brutal and savage expansionist who took the majority of the
European continent by force, igniting conflict after conflict. He
ultimately imposed his will upon nearly the whole of the European
continent and took the title of "Holy Roman Emperor". After his
death, Charlemagne's German empire was split amongst his sons. At
the end of Charlemagne's reign, around 800 AD, a furious pagan
Germanic tribe (or collection of pagan Germanic tribes) descended
from the North. Viking marauders ravaged the Eurasian continent and
Charlemagne's once great empire, raiding from Constantinople to the
Volga River in Russia to London to Paris. A few historians even
believe raiding parties may have made it as far as India and the
Middle-East. The aggression of the Vikings was fierce and largely
plunged Europe back into the Dark Ages that Charlemagne had ended.
By the year 1000 AD, the Holy Roman Empire (or First Reich) had
reunited much of the lands that were split by Charlemagne. The Holy
Roman Empire saw many milestones, including the rise of the
Hapsburgs, the Reformation, the 30 Years' War and ultimately the
rule of Fredrick the Great in the 1700s. The Hapsburgs came to
power over the Holy Roman Empire in the 1200s and were proclaimed
the Kings of Austria and Spain in 1400-1500s. The House of Hapsburg
was responsible for some of the most costly wars in European
history (up to that point). The Spanish Hapsburgs were largely
responsible for the colonization of the new world and numerous wars
fought against their European neighbors. Philip II of Spain (a
Hapsburg) famously attacked England with the Spanish Armada, only
to be defeated by Queen Elizabeth I of England (or the weather,
depending on which way you look at it). In the 1600s, a religious
war, called the 30 Years' War, was primarily fought in Germany
between rival Catholic and Protestant powers. The war was basically
a continuation of hostilities between the German House of Hapsburg
and the French House of Bourbon. Many nations were drawn into the
conflict, including Sweden, Bohemia, Denmark-Norway, the Dutch
Republic, France, Saxony, Electoral Palatinate, England,
Transylvania and Hungarian Rebels fighting on the side of the
Bourbons and the Holy Roman Empire, the Catholic League, Austria,
Bavaria, the Kingdom of Hungary, Croatia and the Spanish Empire
fighting on the side of the Hapsburgs. About 20% of the German
population was wiped off of the map and the German state was
decentralized after the Peace of Westphalia. Fredrick the Great
came to power in 1740 and launched a series of wars against
Austria, France, Russia, Sweden and the Netherlands. His successes
led to the reunification of Germany in the 19th century.