Maybe it’s just that, well, the idea that Central Europe would be at the center of a European empire is kind of obvious. Geography, and geography petrified into culture through such things as languages, religions, ideologies, favors proximity.

The idea of a German state invading either Poland or France seems unremarkable, the idea of either of those two invading the other at least conceivable, but the idea of Spain invading Russia less so.

And yet. It’s not like the idea of a world-spanning Spanish empire is inherently absurd. And German powers have had counterpowers. The British Empire, for exa. And what was their identity?

Maybe a theory here is that overland empires favor an ideology of identity based on , maritime empires an ideology of plurality based on trade.

(Well how about Christianity? Wasn’t that an identity that went pretty hand-in-hand with European maritime empires? But okay, considering the Catholic syncretism of local dieties as saints, maritime empires sure did celebrate a lot of feasts for foreign divinities. And when the Roman Empire splintered and the Great Schism went down, which side did more syncretism, the one that spread east by land or the one that spread west by sea?)