Europe has tried to unify itself for centuries. No one has succeeded permanently. First you had the Roman Empire. You had Charlemagne. You had Napoleon. You had Hitler. Now you have Germany and the EU. Germany really should be able to unify Western Europe on the Continent through the European Union. The other countries like France shouldn't fear oppression or tyranny. After all, the US wouldn't allow it if Germany turned autocratic again. I think it's the only way that Russia and the East can be dealt with. And remember from the East came the disorder that overcame the European World in the early twentieth century --- WW1.