Note: This
theory will make use of Freudian theory. While I recognize that Freud’s ideas
do not bear much contemporary relevance, that shouldn’t take away from the fact
that many of his concepts (e.g., erogenous zones, childhood memory repression,
catharsis) are nonetheless employed by Hima in the series. The purpose of this
post is to give some insight into the psychologies of the characters.

Terminology I’ll go over: Psychosexual stages,
causality, regression, fixation.

Yes, that’s right. Freud’s ideas are very much prevalent in the
series. A big area of his work was analyzing the impact of childhood on
personality development. Freud believed in causality, meaning that who you are as
an adult can be directly traced back to your childhood.

How you’re parented and
brought up is the most crucial factor. I don’t need to go into this in too much
detail, but basically, we go through five stages of development titled: Oral,
anal, phallic, latency, and genital.

For this specific post, we
only need to focus on the early stages of development, which focus on sensual
(sensory) pleasure and stimulation, often for the purposes of soothing and
experiencing relief.

Each stage has corresponding needs. If these needs are not met (under-gratification) or
if they are too easily met (over-gratification), then the person develops a
fixation.

A fixation essentially means that the person is
stuck at that level of development, which causes them to develop a problematic
and unhealthy personality type.

However, it’s only when that individual is met with
confrontation or a stressful situation that they regress back
to the stage in which they developed this fixation. The stress causes them to
revert back to the age where their needs weren’t met, and as such, they engage
in childish behaviours.

For example, if you get into an argument with someone and they
start behaving selfishly, like a toddler, then you have every right to poke fun
at them for having Daddy or Mommy issues. Or, there are those who bite their
nails and pick at their lips, something akin to the soothing acquired from
sucking one’s thumb as a child.

Where Germany fits into this: 

Germany is an explicit example of someone who’s fixated at the anal
stage, right down to an exact tee. It’s uncanny.

Anal Fixation:

Yes, laugh all you want.

Anyways, the anal stage focuses on potty training. This is a
crucial event in a child’s life and how their parents receive their successes or
accidents, in this framework, has a huge impact on the child’s personality in
adulthood.

If the child is met with encouragement and praise when they succeed
and patience when they have an accident, then they develop a healthy
personality type.

On the other hand, if the child is met with irritation,
ridicule, or shame–

 Ex: “You’re a big boy/ girl now! Everyone else your age already
knows how to use the toilet! Why can’t you?!”

– from the parent when they make an accident, hostility is
formed. This hostility then results in the child developing an unhealthy
personality type.

The toddler’s hostility in reciprocation to their parent’s
hostility can either manifest in them refusing to go potty (holding it in), or
going whenever they please.

In this case, the hostility, shame, and ridicule, that Germany experienced in
his childhood didn’t come from his brother, Prussia, but rather, other nations
whom he was immediately thrown into war against right from birth. Put another
way, Germany grew up in an unhealthy environment where ridicule and hostility
was the norm.

Germany has all the qualities of an anal-retentive personality type. These people are described as:

 “Stingy perfectionists
who may experience problems with constipation and are obstinate, neat, and
orderly.”

People with this personality-type also tend to withhold their
emotions – they’re regressing back to the stage in which they held their fecal
matter in. Remember much of Freud’s theories are symbolic and allegorical.

That said, let’s go over these qualities.

 As mentioned, Germany has trouble expressing his emotions.

 Ex: He has trouble smiling and can’t smile the same way Italy
can.

 Ex: He comes off as angry to others.

 Ex: In Buon San Valentino, a pan-in on Germany’s head reveals
that he experiences emotions like shame, happiness, and heartbeat for the first
time.

Germany’s a neurotically neat and orderly person. Everything
about him is structured and regimented.

 Ex: He folds his clothes a particular way.

 Ex: He has a love for manuals, guides, agendas. 

 Ex: He’s timely and punctual.

 Ex: He allots exact minutes for nations to give speeches at
world meetings.

He’s a perfectionist.

Ex: He watches Italy intently as the latter cooks, cleaning up
after every spill or splatter.

Ex: He has trouble accepting praise and will often find faults
in what he does.

 He’s incredibly stubborn.

 Ex: He’ll follow GPS directions, no matter where they lead him.

Ex: He reports to the police after Italy has his car and phone
stolen from him. Italy knows that his police are useless, which is likely why
he didn’t report the missing property himself. Meanwhile, Germany reports this
anyway.

In sum, from a Freudian standpoint, Germany’s emotional withdrawnness
stems in large from the hostile environment that he grew up in; he learned to view others with distrust and closed himself off. Not only that,
but much of his stubbornness and need for organization arises from the desire
to find order from what was previously chaos. It takes a resilient mindset to do that.