The way I see it, the German strategy wasn't to dominate Europe at all. They were simply a bit more cautious and less willing to rush headlong into an 'efficiency at all costs' economic model. The end result of this is that when everyone was overtaken by events beyond anyone's control the Germans were left standing and able to take advantage while the rest of us were knocked to the floor.
I don't think their desire to manipulate the economies of weaker countries is malicious, althought it does seem somewhat misguided, rather that they are smart enough to undedrstand that what happened before will happen again unless the game itself is changed on a fundamental level. Global capitalism needs to be, for want of a better word, regulated, or harnessed, rather than being left to run riot.
Whether they are in a position to effect these changes is debateable. The sort of naive power plays we're seeing at the moment are going to fall well short.
