Amid the gloom, the truth is dawning: the country faces hard political choices, and needs a more muscular approach to defence

Donald Trump and his lieutenants have done Germans an enormous favour. Perilously late in the day, the US president and special envoy to the Kremlin has alerted Germany and the rest of Europe that there is one fault line, and one alone, between democracy and autocracy. All other political issues facing the country pale into insignificance.

It seems that Friedrich Merz gets it, even if many in his country still don’t. Since winning Sunday’s election, the Christian Democrat (CDU) chancellor-elect has used every opportunity to warn of the dangers of the Trumpian new world order. He has not sought to provide reassurance, something that Germans tend to crave from their politicians.