Germany has been the dominant economy in central and eastern Europe since Bismarck's time, and German was the language of higher education and culture. It always had the soft power to dominate the region. The great tragedy of 20th century Europe was that the German state and people, unified and militarized under Prussian auspices, thought it had to be done militarily instead. What Magdalena is complaining about is the predominance that a pretty much demilitarized Germany enjoys through other means.