@shirokage218 said:

I’m reposting this even if I disagree, because this is awesome. Why I disagree? Well, it’s my theory on why Germany doesn’t focus on his past. Reason number one, he isn’t all that old, so there’s not all that much of a past he actually can focus on. The Germany of today was founded in the late 19th century, after all.

Reason number two ties in with this, and is found in the first half of the 20th century. Yes, that’s right, the world wars. Not a happy memory, disregarding what Hetalia made out of them. Even Germans of today often still dislike thinking about that time, either because they feel they’re being accused of something they didn’t have anything to do with (if the topic was brought up by a non-german) or because they’re still horrified about what the country they know, love and live in was capable of. Thus, there is a definite tendency of ‘not thinking about the past’, because of bad memories just as theorized in the post above, even if it’s not the same memories we’re talking about. All of what I wrote still doesn’t mean Germany can’t be HRE reincarnated, a theory I’m halfway leaning to anyway, but I wanted to give a different idea and perspective to Germany’s focus on present and future. Feel free to let me know what you think about this 🙂

I disagree with your disagreement
xD. I think it’s important to clarify that although Germany was technically
born in 1871, his early foundations/ origins extend before 1871. To understand
how you are “made as a German”, your starting point is not 1871. The sovereign
state was an artificial invention; the German people already existed and had a
well-developed history before their unity was formalized.

Therefore, when I’m
talking about Germany’s past, it’s the years leading up to 1871, and his present
is 1871 onwards. Hence, March, Forward! To think of German history as starting
from its inception as a nation is not an adequate account of history.

In other words, Germany
doesn’t look past into the origins of his birth, but rather he presses forward
and deals with the present. For example, if I was looking into the foundations
of my own family history, I wouldn’t start with my birth date – I’d look back
into other generations.

We know he’s aware of the Roman Empire, so he
knows history (duh, he’s a massive nerd), but it’s odd how he never asks
Prussia about their own history, which would include, yes, the Holy Roman
Empire. So again, you see this lack/and or refusal of knowledge of what he’s
been born from.

As for your discussion of
WW2, definitely! I think this ties into your point. Right from birth, he was
thrust into wars, and had little chance to form a strong self-concept/identity,
let alone stable relationships with other nations. Because of the shame and
horror the history he created made, it also makes sense that he wouldn’t
want to look back on it.

Still, my post was more
aimed at this evident aversion in the strips of discussing Germany’s past
lineage before his inception. It’s common for people who don’t have a good
grasp of their history and self to feel lonely and isolated, which is exactly
what you see reflected in his songs.

Thanks for sharing your
thoughts!