In his first speech as German chancellor on May 14, Friedrich Merz declared that strengthening the German Bundeswehr would be the government’s “top priority.” Even before taking office, Merz pushed through a reform to exempt military spending above 1 percent from the national debt limits. His speech confirms the government’s new ambitions.

In future, the federal government will provide all the financial resources the Bundeswehr needs to become the strongest conventional army in Europe. This is more than appropriate for Europe’s most populous and economically strongest country. Our friends and partners expect this from us, and even demand it.
—Friedrich Merz

Regarding the speech, Bild wrote: “It is probably the most important sentence in German defense policy for decades, if not since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany. … The partly ailing, long underfunded German armed forces, which are still in urgent need of personnel, are to become the ‘strongest in Europe.’ Stronger than the French, British and Polish. A challenging task!”

In principle, German parliamentarians have already agreed to prioritize defense spending. But Merz is pursuing this with greater urgency, more clarity and additional resources. “We know that we urgently need to improve the operational readiness and personnel growth of our Bundeswehr,” he said.

Top German military commander Gen. Carsten Breuer recently put a number to this statement. He told an audience at the German Council on Foreign Relations in April that Germany needs 100,000 additional troops “immediately—and as quickly as possible.” Along with the hundreds of billions in additional funds and the promise to deregulate procurement, this would give the Bundeswehr a massive boost.

On Thursday, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul confirmed that Germany is aiming to increase its military spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product, as demanded by United States President Donald Trump. This means spending around $250 billion in defense.

This represents a stark shift from the previous government led by Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, who also placed greater emphasis on military affairs. But for some, it still falls short. Given that the Social Democratic Party (spd) remains part of the government and has shown a tendency to appease Russian President Vladimir Putin, there are doubts whether Merz will be able to realize his ambitions in a coalition that includes them. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote:

When it comes to Russia, old reflexes are still evident in the ranks of the spd. Merz has no illusions about Putin’s nature and intentions. Unlike Scholz, Merz therefore also wants to accept Macron’s recently repeated offer to discuss the extension of the French nuclear umbrella to Germany. If the Bundeswehr is to become the strongest conventional army in Europe, then it would also have been necessary to reactivate compulsory military service. It would not only increase the defense capability, but would also make it clearer to young Germans than many other things: The state, that’s all of us.

While Germany hasn’t yet overcome all hurdles to militarize, it is astonishing that virtually everyone believes that the more it does so, the better.

Most Europeans have long demanded that Germany step it up militarily in order to increase Europe’s deterrence. While Germany was once seen as a wolf among sheep, it has since come to be perceived as a protective German shepherd.

As Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry noted in our latest Trumpet issue, virtually no one appears concerned:

In March, Germany passed a historic constitutional change that allows it to borrow money and spend hundreds of billions on infrastructure and weaponry. Americans and others whose grandfathers fought and died from German weaponry are now cheering this development. They are oblivious to the feelings of revenge simmering deep down in many Germans.

[Winston] Churchill saw German car manufacturers and other industries shift toward arms production. We are now seeing the same thing. The country’s autobahn is more than a symbol of speed—it is part of its strategic military mobilization plans. Investments are made to turn the whole German landscape into a field ready for battle.

Germany is repeating the actions of the 1930s, yet no one is alarmed!

The Trumpet has warned for decades about every move toward German militarization. But we have never seen a chancellor willing to make German militarization a top priority—until now.

Even as the world’s superpowers, at the end of World War ii, vowed to never let Germany rise again, Herbert W. Armstrong warned that it would rise again. He echoed this same warning until the end of his life. In the April 1980 Plain Truth magazine, he wrote:

You may be sure the West European leaders are conferring hurriedly and secretly about how and how soon they may unite and provide a united European military force so they can defend themselves! And so they will no longer have to give in meekly to Russia! And who will they blame for their humiliation and their necessity now to have a united Europe, with a united government, a common currency and a common military force as great or greater than either the ussr or the U.S.A.? They will blame the United States!

The Trumpet today continues to sound the same alarm, not only because of Germany’s history but because of Bible prophecy. The book of Revelation warns of the repeated rise of a military empire that will bring our world close to utter destruction. When this military power is strong, people will ask: “Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?” (Revelation 13:4).

The time is coming when German military might at the helm of a European empire will once again strike fear in people. This empire caused the horrors of World War ii. Even as the world saw the destruction of this same empire, Mr. Armstrong saw the earliest stages of its revival. Today, that military empire is almost completely rehabilitated. To understand why we continue to proclaim Mr. Armstrong’s warning, read Mr. Flurry’s article “Germany’s Astonishing Military Rise.”