They only really started sucking post Napoleon. Napoleon and before they were constantly fighting, and winning a good bit, against Britain for control over Europe and whoever else wanted dominance after Rome fell and Holy Roman Empire became irrelevant. After Napoleon? They’ve pretty much been a joke. Heck, Prussia used Napoleon’s tactics against Napoleon III to secure dominance over Europe and created modern day Germany. Which is to say, they used a crapton of artillery. The most advanced artillery in the world at that. That and they used what was more or less Beta Blitzkrieg, which was evolved from Napoleon’s tactics, which evolved into Alpha Blitzkrieg used in WWI, then Blitzkrieg in WWII, and eventually it turned into American Shock And Awe.

Yes, I have thought about this extensively when bored at work. Lol