In a post-war world, the Germans have turned out to be much like the Americans - something American troops remarked on even immediately after the Nazis surrendered. I'm just glad that we didn't turn all of Germany into farmland like some folks wanted to.
Agreed, Nazi Germany was an aberration. An evil one, of course. By helping them (and Japan) after WWII with massive economic aid, we moved them swiftly to the democracies of the world.
The seeds of the Second World War were planted at the end of the First World War.
You can thank Britain and France for that, with Wilson as an accomplice. Saddle the Germans with unbearable debt, and humiliate them. Yes, that will work. The beatings will continue until morale improves.
Patton's vision regarding the dangers of the Russians immediately after the defeat of the Third Reich turned out to be well-founded.
Russia, OTOH, hasn't had anything even remotely resembling democracy. Maybe you could argue those brief years after the fall of the USSR, but again that's more of an aberration. Otherwise, one totalitarian regime after another.
BTW, we have a Great Courses Plus subscription. it's a service that lets you stream lectures by professors over a range of topics. I tend towards history, and while I am certainly not a military buff, there's a series of lectures by Gregory S. Aldrete from the University of Wisconsin which I found interesting:
https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/professors/gregory-s-aldrete