Yeh, the desire for national greatness sure served those Germans well - they got WWI and II out of it. They would have been better off without Bismarck. The centralized state and national greatness ideas didn't serve Italy so well either.
While I agree with the concept of a strong defense it is too tempting for have around as an establishment - like Madaline Albright said "what's the use of having the world's most powerful army if you don't use it?" The founding father's understood this temptation. After serving two terms as errand boy, er I mean president Eisenhower warned us on his way out about the military - indutrial complex, though in the original draft of his speech the evil axis included congress but that part was pulled before delivery.
But you reject my point , that far from a desire for national greatness , the historically provincial germans were forced very late to accept nationalism, and militarism in defense of their culture. The genie thereby unleashed proved so threatening to the established states that preemptive wars were assured.