Poland started WW2 after refusing to return West Preussen to the German people (90% of Danzig and West Prussia's population was ethnically German, by the international policies created by the allies after WW1 the land had to be part of the majority ethnicity's nation). Germany defeated Russia in WW1 and almost defeated France and Britain before the Americans got involved and they had to fight the world's 3 largest powers on the same front. All this while stomping out communist revolutions and attacks in Germany and to the east. In WW2 Germany defeated Poland in 35 days, France in 6 weeks, Yugoslavia in 11 days, Belgium in 18 days, Netherlands in 5 days, Denmark in 5 hours, got within 24 kilometers of the center of Moscow and had control over all of mainland Europe excluding Spain and Portugal despite having a massive influence over anything in the Iberian Peninsula anyway. Germany could have defeated any major power of similar size, France, Britain, USA, Russia or Italy with ease in either war, very likely 2 of the powers but over 3 was riskier, anyone's game and that is why the Schlieffen plan was formulated. Even Prussia had similar strategies dating back to the early 18th century after the 30 years war was chaos and showed the new Kingdom of Prussia that war from every front was possible. In 1940 France had a population of 41 million, Britain 41 million, USA 132 million, Soviet Union 186 million, Poland 35 million, and Germany's population was just 70 million! Just the Soviet's alone could field 5 times the manpower when the eastern front opened and it took mobilising everyone with arms and legs in the Soviet Union just to bring the war to a standstill in the east! Had America not been pumping the UK with money, food and weapons during either World War, or not joining either conflict, Germany would have defeated all and any of mainland Europe with ease. German culture was and deep down always is a militaristic, masculine, industrial and innovative one, brutally honest and ready to squash someone that unjustly doesn't want to be a friend. Go back 2000 years, still warring with foreign neighbours, defeating better equipped Romans that had 10 times the number of manpower along the Rhine and Danube for 500 years, defeating Napoleon, defeating and eradicating the French Empire in 1871, conquering all of Europe since the Celts in the Alps in 700 BCE! Don't lie about Germanic people or villainise before any harm done, don't be inhospitable hosts or guests, don't think that you can steal from us or manipulate us! Such a raw people are always going to snap back at unfair disrespect! Read deeply into the 3000 years of Germanic history across all of Europe, or all of Europe in general and start to connect dots and make deeper opinions.
