Poll: 'The Best Germany There Ever Was?

[Siebenbürgerin]

I'm voting for these 3:

Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (800 - 1806) - because it was the first big German "nation"
German Empire (1871-1918) - because it united Germany as a country, even if without Austria
Nazi Germany (1933-1945) - because it united Germany with Austria and some enclaves like Sudetenland

[Zauberspruch]

German Empire (1871-1918) for unification of the Reich
Nazi Germany (1933-1945) for its actualization of the Volksgemeinschaft
Tribal era (BC - early AD) for the birth of the Volk

[SwordOfTheVistula]

What about the Hanseatic League, roughly in the 1200s-1600s? I like this model of decentralized cooperation.

[Jäger]

What about the Hanseatic League, roughly in the 1200s-1600s? I like this model of decentralized cooperation.

The Hansa doesn't exactly qualify for "Germany", since it only encompassed a fraction of Germans, plus some few non-Germans.

[SaxonCeorl]

I voted for the current Bundesrepublik and its predecessor West Germany due to its 60 years of politcal and economic stability and it's leading role played in the unification of Europe. They showed great strength in forming the ECSC with France and Europe and the world is a better place because of it. Thanks to modern Germany's leadership, Europeans have unified to a degree that war between any of the major European states seems unthinkable now. In addition, West Germany, whether inadvertently or not, proved why capitalism works and communism fails when compared to its eastern neighbor state.

I believe modern Germany to be the best Germany yet: Not only cooperative, but a peaceful leader by example to Europe while still remaining a proud home of Germanic culture, history, and pride. Now if only the rest of the world would quit thinking "Nazis! Hitler!" when they think of Germany, which the Germans seem to tolerate with great humility, despite their having nothing to apologize for.

[SwordOfTheVistula]

Yeah, but now they're getting stuck with the bill as all the eastern/southern EU members go belly-up

[Blusnayl]

Voted for Nazi Germany. They had the most potential to change the world in incredible ways considering the age of mass technological advancement Nazi Germany existed in, and their willingness to breed a master race that would have pushed technological developmental progress to new frontiers that egalitarian societies with races of lesser intelligence and creativity could not have. Not to mention the sheer power they would have held would have enabled them to conquer the world making a one world nation where the entire world could be a single race, the master race. Then, and only then could an egalitarian utopia actually be more than an impractical ideology.

[Drömmarnas Stig]

Kaiserreich and Third Reich obviously.
I wanted to include Austria, but since the option was "from 1806 to present" it was impossible to vote for.
I would take the glorious Habsburg empire any day though.

[erfgooier]

I've voted the Holy Roman Empire, this was the best option seen from the Dutch perspective.

[Spjabork]

The 'Confederation of the Rhine (1806-1813) should not even have been allowed to the poll, because it was an utterly anti-Germanic puppet construct (not even a true 'state'), created by the short, impotent corsair.

But then, well, the 'Federal Republic of Germany' was just a 'Confederation of the Rhine reloaded'.

And as there is a poll option 'Austrian Realm (1806 till present)' included, there also should be a poll option 'Frankish Realm (486 till 880) offered, as the Frankish and the 'Austrian' realms do mirror each other. What the Franks tried to do in the first millenium A.D. in the west, and with which they failed, very much the same the 'Austrians' tried to do in the second millenium A.D. in the east, and they likewise failed.

The Frankish realm started in 486 A.D., when the last remainder of the Roman Empire was conquered by the Franks, and united with their own homeland. It lasted till 880 A.D., when the last partition (by the Treaty of Ribemont) ultimately split it into parts.

The 'Austrian Realm', as it is commonly understood, did not start in 1806, or 1804, but actually in 1526, when the remainder of the Hungarian Kingdom was occupied by the 'Austrians', and united with their own lands. It irrevocably and irretrievably went under in 1918, and it is misleading and distorting to claim its continued existence up to the present dray. The present 'Republic of Austria' has as much to do with the 'Austrian Realm' as have the present Benelux ('Low') countries with the Frankish Realm.

So, both German(ic) multi-cultural experimental realms existed for a timespan of about 400 years, which is longer than no time, yet both finally failed, and both for the same reason, namely the inability of the ruling Germans to impose, once and for all, their language and culture upon the conquered population. This failure in both cases was caused by the same two basic mistakes: first, an entirely wrong settlement policy. second, an entirely wrong language policy.