BERLIN — Four days after Russian forces rolled into Ukraine, Olaf Scholz, the new German chancellor whose robotic style had earned him the nickname “Scholz-o-mat,” did something out of character: He surprised people.
In a Feb. 27 speech, Scholz proclaimed a “Zeitenwende,” or turning point, and announced German plans to play a more ambitious role in military defense in response to the first land invasion of Europe since World War II.