The Ukraine War—Germany’s and Merkel’s Fault?

Was former German Chancellor Angela Merkel the main cause for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, as the Wall Street Journal claims, listing numerous facts for that allegation. Is the politic of appeasement continuing under Germany’s new Chancellor, Olaf Scholz? Will Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s ill-advised recent praise for Scholz backfire, and is Zelenskyy in danger of losing all sympathy in Germany?