Were the germans the most powerful country in WW2?
One could make a strong argument that they were. Why? Hitler gave them a strong patriotic national pride. He caused the rebuilding of Germany following a period of severe depression and shame. Despite the warnings of the “hawks” that the military buildup in Germany was a threat to peace, European lawmakers not only failed to act against it, but gave him the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. It contained the best defenses of attack from Germany and defanged the best chance of stopping/slowing him in a conflict. (The Czechs had the 2nd largest Army in Europe.) Germans had an experienced warrior mentality (true up until the end of the cold war.) but they’re finally getting their feet wet again. The military and economic buildup was very successful in both parts which meant that Germany had a huge military and economic infrastructure. Their excellent engineering helped in the development of new weapon systems. Come to think of it, one could draw some parallels between Japan and Germany of pre
