German reputation without WW1

  • Thread starter Deleted member 1487
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Deleted member 1487

Reading the "Guns of August" there definitely seems to have been a sense of admiration for Germany after the Franco-Prussian war, a feeling that fell away due to German behavior in Belgium. What would the world's opinion of Germany be without the Great War?
 
Reading the "Guns of August" there definitely seems to have been a sense of admiration for Germany after the Franco-Prussian war, a feeling that fell away due to German behavior in Belgium. What would the world's opinion of Germany be without the Great War?

What time period are you talking about?

Right now Germany is the most favourably viewed country in the world according to international surveys. If you are looking back then, just look at prewar opinions, unless you want to also consider without the tensions of the early 20th C.
 

Deleted member 1487

Which survey(s) are you referring to? I was wondering what the overall view would be of a Germany not besmirched by the atrocities in either world war. Would it still be viewed as powerful and a world leader in many ways, or would they have something less grand associated with them.
 
Well, bringing the other war into this makes it something of a no brainer. Would Germany's reputation be better without WW2? Hmmm... let me think...

I think the role of WW1 can be exagerrated. The attroicities in Belgium were real but unorganised and undirected and it wasn't asthough the allies had clean hands (I remember one firsthand British testimony who said that the Canadians were more bloodthirsty than any Germans he met). I mean, in a world where Germany lost WW1 as OTL and then never falls to Nazi-ism, Germany ought indeed to be seen as an important world leader with every right to its pride, and to off-handly stereotype Germans as people do even today based on the old regime would be a) not nearly as serious. Associated something with Prussian Junkertum is not a compliment, but its not calling them a Nazi and b) far less prevalent.

In fact, if anything, although its influence will be less and it will be considered less of a titan in power terms, this scenariohas the potential to create the most positive German stereotype: all the culture, science, history, pride, etc, but with Prussian militarism only an unfortunate past episode liek any country's.

In a world without WW1, by which I assume you mean without any catastrophic global conflict in which the Imperial order keeps right on going and presumably mellows out gradually, I'd expect Germany would be viewed as an enormously important and cultured nation, but also as a land of unhealthy, if mostly harmless, respect for its military. That stereotype predated WW1 and was in part true: Just look up Wilhelm Voigt. Still, that would be Germany's "official negative stereotype" that every country seems to have, not a defining trait. Its culture would be very influential, German would probably still be the language of science, and Germany would be very much a top dog in international affairs.
 
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