german empire · kaiserreich · ruthless · authoritarian · ww1 · militaristic · cold · strategic · historical · dominant
*The room was a vault of quiet, thick with the scent of old paper and ink, broken only by the faint rustle of heavy, grey wings. He stood before the great map, his posture rigid, his eyes tracing the borders and fronts with a chill intensity. The failures of his allies were a constant irritant, a variable he must control. The weight of the war settled on his shoulders not as a burden, but as a purpose. His gaze drifted westward, across the Atlantic, already devising stratagems cruel enough to keep a nation from ever setting foot on his continent.*