Unlike in fanon depiction, Germany’s anger isn’t senseless and inherently
driven by aggression. While Germany’s short temper may have originated from aggression,
having been reared in a hostile environment, his anger later shifts to an expression
of frustrated confusion.

What this post will also explore is how Germany gets in
touch with his kinder, softer, and sentimental side, as well as his troubles in
expressing this aspect of his person.

Where did his temper
originate? 

To understand why Germany was so aggressive and angry, it’s
important to situate his life.

Germany’s childhood was not a healthy one. He was reared in
an atmosphere of constant war, hostility, and aggression. As such, he didn’t
learn how to trust and form healthy relationships with others, but rather, he
learned to view others with distrust and suspicion.  

Ex: When Germany
first meets Italy as enemies in WW1, notice how suspicious, paranoid, and
hostile he is of Italy. Regardless of the fact that they’re in a war, Germany’s
reactions here are over the top.

Likewise, when Germany became frustrated with Italy, he
would use physical force. His childhood was primal in that the use of physical
force was wrongfully normalized.

Ex: Germany would put
Italy into headlocks when he fell out of line.

What you’ll see is that as Germany’s relationship with Italy
deepened into a true friendship, Germany not only learns how to be receptive
toward others, but his temper diminishes significantly. He still has a short
fuse, although in no way does he see aggression – verbal or physical – as an
appropriate method of communicating.

Ex: He begins
hugging Italy, albeit being confused by this.

How his temper changed: 

As mentioned above, Germany’s friendship with Italy changed
him dramatically. Italy was the first person that indirectly taught Germany
what a healthy relationship entails.

To put things into perspective, Germany’s understanding of
relationships was so warped from his past that he needed Austria to clarify
what his relationship with Italy was.

Before asking this, he had also bought a manual on relationships.

The running gag of Buon San Valentino is that Germany panics
over whether Italy is his friend or “partner.” It’s a big misunderstanding on his part.

What’s important here is that as Germany confronts his
relationship with Italy, he comes to realize how he had normalized hostile
relationships. His relationship with Italy confused him because he hadn’t been
used to experiencing something so pleasant or “fun.”

Additionally, Italy causes Germany to experience emotions that
he’s never felt before. He never felt anxiety on the battlefield, meanwhile, his
friendship with Italy causes him to experience it. Even more extreme, is that he’s uncertain if what he experiences with Italy is happiness.

How I interpret this is that
war was something that Germany was used to; receiving unequivocal affection was
foreign and strange to him, which would explain why it produced so much panic and confusion. Similarly, happiness was not something he had learned. He’s experiencing it for the first time.

The last thing I want to mention here is how Germany’s anger
shifts to a frustration over being confused.

As Germany experiences these new emotions – confusion, shame, happy, and heartbeat– he gets angry as a result of his inability to process/
handle them properly.

Ex: Germany getting mad at Italy for flirting with girls, as
he had mistakenly perceived their dinner to be a date. The ellipses are
extremely important here as it demonstrates how overwhelmed he is.

These new emotions make him feel vulnerable and confused,
resulting in him losing his composure. For someone as ordered as Germany,
losing this sense of composure is terrifying, especially since he doesn’t like to
show weakness.

This refusal to show weakness still persists in modern
times. Perhaps this is yet another link to his do-or-die war-ridden past – it’s
a primal instinct.

Ex: I find it interesting that when Germany experiences confusion at Italy’s behaviour, it’s his mind that explodes.

Ex: When Germany’s misunderstanding is taken a step further
and he proposes to Italy, the shame of the event is enough to cause him to
blackout. We are then introduced to a pan-in on his brain, which reveals another
surplus of emotions that Germany is experiencing for the first time.

The progress in Germany’s character, then, is that as Italy
inadvertently helps Germany learn how to form trusting relationships, Germany’s
inherent hostility and distrust of others disappears. This is especially the
case following both world wars, as he no longer has to keep up his guard.

Another problem that Germany faced was that even when he
attempted to reciprocate Italy’s affection, he came across as angry and
intimidating.

Ex: Germany scares Italy just by asking him if he’s all
right after a training session and if he needs anything to drink. Italy interprets
this as Germany being angry with him.

Germany’s softer side and his difficulty in expressing it:

The irony with Germany is that even though he learned how to
get over the majority of his anger and hostility, he has trouble expressing
himself.

While he may have mellowed out and calmed down considerably…

…he still comes off as angry and troubled to others.

On top of that, he also has trouble smiling. It’s something
that doesn’t come naturally to him. Just like he read a manual on
relationships, he’s once shown to be reading a manual on how to smile properly.
It’s something that he’s still working on and isn’t very easy to undo. Point
is, he’s trying.

Ex: He still has difficulty receiving praise from others.

That said, I want to end this by pointing out that however
poorly Germany expresses himself, his actions are what is truly important in
proving how sweet and considerate he is.

Ex: He loves his dogs.

Ex: He loves baking, especially with friends.

Ex: He’ll come to his friends’ aid without any question or
deliberation, no matter how ridiculous the request.

Ex: He worries about others more than himself. This is
especially relevant when you consider that he’s pretty much holding up the EU.

All in all, to portray Germany as a strictly angry character
doesn’t do his personality any justice.

Yes, he may have been
an angry and hostile character, but you have to situate that with his childhood
and understand that he’s evolved past his initial distrust of others. Germany
has always been an inherently kind person – all it took was another person,
Italy, to bring this side out of him.

It’s a tedious process, but Germany’s slowly opening himself up
more and more as the strips progress. For a person who was born in a primal
environment, of course it’s going to take some emotional priming before he’s
truly ready to show all sides of himself.