How was Germany able to do so well at the beginning of the world wars considering it was up against huge enemies?
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I think it’s important to understand 19th Century Europe. While the United States was tearing itself apart (and trying to put itself back together), the colonial powers of Europe, specifically Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia were playing chess all over the world, and they regularly switched alliances to foil one another.
I mean, as WWI approached in the very early 20th Century, the British King, the German Kaiser, and the Russian Tsar were all first cousins or some such.
What you need to understand about late 19th century Germany is that its culture, science, and arts began to outshine their colonial competitors. It had nothing to do with Nazis.
The National Socialists arose because of the living hell of WWI and the unwise demands placed upon Germany for war reparations. Combined with World Wide economic depression, the conditions were ripe for a nationalist fervor that could combat both colonialists (this is where Hitler inserted “Jewish bankers”) and Communists. The horror that resulted should never be forgotten.
By the way, when Teddy Roosevelt was plotting his pathway to becoming President, it was accepted as a given in the 1890s that the most likely country that the U.S. would face in the next war would be Great Britain, a country with 50 battleships to the 3 fielded by the U.S.
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