It was a “public diplomacy disaster,” thinks Thorsten Benner, director of the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi), a Berlin think-tank. “Germany is seen as the harsh, heartless hegemon of the euro zone, ready to bully small countries into submission.”

Germany is now perceived to have won by humiliating its opponent. There have been calls to boycott the country’s goods, and Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman agreed with the take of #ThisIsACoup. Talk of a “Fourth Reich” is back as well in full force. Germany has come out as the winner in only the most basic sense.