He had the votes, he had a new coalition sealed in writing and ratified by party members, so it seemed like a formality. But Friedrich Merz's lifelong dream of finally becoming German chancellor had to be deferred by a few hours, with the 69-year-old Conservative falling at the first hurdle as backbenchers sent a signal.

A hastily organised second round cancelled out what history may decide to be just a blip. But still, why did Merz fall six seats short in the first secret ballot? Who rebelled inside what now seems like a fragile coalition between Conservatives and Social Democrats?

Germany's Trump and Putin-backed far-right co-leader was quick to call for snap elections. Alice Weidel was savouring her revenge after German domestic intelligence last week qualified her Nazi-rooted party as an extremist group, a status that could in theory lead to a ban for an AfD that polled second on 20 percent in February's elections. 

The moment of wavering in Berlin is also rattling the script in Brussels and Paris, both of which bank on the return of Germany as a strong and steady driver of reform; a nation that just scrapped its fiscal purity rules to level up after decades of chronic underfunding of infrastructure and defence.

Now, with the new coalition in Berlin looking over its shoulder, with far-right challenges in upcoming Romanian and Polish elections, all of Europe is asking: will the centre hold?