Two meetings in London in July changed the course of European militarization.

For about a lifetime now, America has underwritten Europe’s security. After stopping Germany from conquering Europe for the second time, the Allies stated that it was their “inflexible purpose to destroy German militarism and Nazism and to ensure that Germany will never again be able to disturb the peace of the world.” Four years later, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established, as its first secretary general summarized, in order to “keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”

Since then, the United States has provided most of nato’s diplomatic and literal firepower and an estimated two thirds of its budget. The other 30 members, combined, have contributed about a third.

Today, the Soviets are gone, no one wants the Germans down, and everyone wants America out.

But the Europeans still need the protection of a powerful military. So now they are building their own.

This brings us back to London.

The French Connection

Britain rolled out the red carpet for French President Emmanuel Macron from July 8 to 10, in the first official state visit by a European leader since Britain left the European Union in 2020. He rode with royalty in a golden carriage, waving at the crowd; ate dinner with the King and celebrities; and lectured Parliament on the follies of Brexit.

The real significance of the visit was a new agreement on nuclear weapons. Britain and France possess nuclear arsenals and, importantly, ballistic missile submarines. These weapons platforms are considered the ultimate guarantor of national security. No matter how completely you might destroy a nation, if it has just one submarine in operation somewhere out there in 300 million cubic miles of ocean, it can rain nuclear fire back down on you.

For the first time ever, Britain and France pledged to work together on their nuclear defense. The Northwood Declaration, named after the British global operations command center where it was signed, states that “any adversary threatening the vital interests of Britain or France could be confronted by the strength of the nuclear forces of both nations.”

But this isn’t really about France or Britain. The man who brought up the topic of nuclear sharing was Friedrich Merz, chancellor of Germany.

A nuclear defense agreement between the French and the British is a step toward spreading their nuclear umbrella over Germany.

On February 22, shortly before the German elections, Merz said, “We need to have discussions with both the British and the French, the two European nuclear powers, about whether nuclear sharing, or at least nuclear security from the [United Kingdom] and France, could also apply to us.” In his election victory speech, Merz continued with this theme: “My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the U.S.A.”

The day after he reached a coalition agreement to create his government, Merz said, “Sharing nuclear weapons is an issue that we need to talk about.”

Pulling away from the U.S. and obtaining the services of a new nuclear arsenal is a priority for the Germans, and they have managed to make it a priority for Britain and France. “Responding to the historic call of the future German chancellor,” Macron said on March 5, “I have decided to open the strategic debate on the protection of our allies on the European Continent through our deterrence.”

France and Britain have been nuclear powers for over 65 years. But only after the German chancellor emphasized nuclear sharing did they sign a declaration on sharing nuclear weapons.

Lukasz Kulesa of the Royal United Services Institute said, “It’s certainly a signal toward Russia, and other potential adversaries, that the UK and France can consider nuclear retaliation in the event of an attack, but not just on either of those two countries—there’s a European dimension to this as well.”

William Alberque of the Pacific Forum called this declaration “the clearest and firmest statement we have ever heard” from France “about their willingness to provide nuclear deterrence for the rest of Europe.”

Coordinating nuclear weapons with France is just a step toward Europeanizing British and French nuclear weapons—exactly as Merz has called for. Germany has always wanted such an arrangement.

In his 1965 book The Grand Design, Germany’s second defense minister after World War ii, Franz Josef Strauss, called for “a European Nuclear Council to which the defense ministers of the individual countries belong. … Beyond that, a European nuclear arsenal should be created on French territory and, if Great Britain takes part, on British territory as well.”

“The European nato countries are justified in reading into the text of the Atlantic treaty an obligation to seek ways and means in the future of making their defense possible from within Europe itself, just as America is able to defend herself,” Strauss wrote. “An unsuitably and inadequately armed Europe is of no benefit to America.”

Germany is actively using Britain’s remaining military might not out of an altruistic concern to be of “benefit to America” but to assume greater power and independence from America—and, ultimately, from Britain.

Germany Marches In

On July 17, a week after Macron’s visit, Merz made his first official visit to the UK since taking office. Germany and Britain signed their first treaty on friendship and bilateral cooperation since World War ii. The Kensington Treaty establishes cooperation on cultural and education exchanges, migration and border security, and trade and economic cooperation, but its heavy emphasis is on military cooperation.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer noted that the agreement is “the first of its kind” and evidence of “the closeness of our relationship.”

“The agreement is intended to somehow replace what the Germans and British have lost as a result of Brexit, which Merz continues to deeply regret to this day,” wrote Germany’s Bild. “The mission, therefore, is to bring the island closer to us again, not only in terms of security and economic policy, but above all in cultural terms.”

The Associated Press noted that the treaty comes “as European nations try to protect Ukraine, and themselves, from an aggressive Russia in the face of wavering support from President Donald Trump’s U.S.-focused administration.”

But the most remarkable parts of it focus on defense. The treaty includes a pledge to “assist one another, including by military means, in case of an armed attack on the other.”

Many wonder why this clause was included, given that both nations are members of nato, which already includes such an obligation. But that might well be the reason it was included: nato might fail, and if it does, Germany and the UK will still be treaty-bound, and Germany will remain under Britain’s nuclear umbrella. Strauss, Merz and like-minded Germans have what they want, at least on paper: Anyone who attacks Germany now risks a potential nuclear strike from Britain.

Replacement for NATO

Merz said that the quick succession of French and German visits to Britain is “no coincidence.” The friendship treaty with Germany specifically states that both parties “shall seek to intensify the trilateral cooperation with the French Republic.”

Along with France and Germany’s 2019 Aachen Treaty, the British, French and Germans are now bound by a triangle of treaties outside nato.

“The blueprint for the future of European defense is buried in Britain’s new ‘friendship treaty’ with Germany,” wrote the Telegraph. “… It’s a future set to be dominated by the ‘triangle’ of London, Berlin and Paris—a partnership of Europe’s two nuclear powers with its richest nation, which has plans to build its strongest army.”

That is the deal: France and Britain provide the nuclear umbrella; Germany provides the industrial might. Freed from the obligation of an expensive nuclear program, Germany can further build its world-class military industry, influence other nations through its weapons exports, and build for itself Europe’s most powerful conventional military. Or at least that is the way it is seen in London.

Germany already plays this role. The Dutch have submitted their entire Army to German command. The Czech Republic is integrating one of its two combat brigades. Romania is signing over a mechanized brigade. Germany is creating a European army under its own command.

Germans are also embedding themselves into Britain’s defense industry.

The Kensington Treaty builds on last year’s Trinity House Defense Agreement and specifies that the British and Germans will work together on “national biosecurity strategies,” a precision-strike weapons system with a 1,200-mile range, unmanned aerial systems, land systems and undersea countermeasures, as well as training German crews on British P-8A aircraft. It also states that Britain and Germany “will together develop cutting-edge critical technologies—such as quantum, AI and digital, semiconductors, space capabilities, advanced connectivity, fusion and sustainable energy solutions including battery technologies ….”

These agreements are producing real-world results. The Trinity House Defense Agreement paved the way for a new Rheinmetall artillery gun barrel factory in the UK. Under the same agreement, the German military start-up Helsing is opening the UK’s first Resilience factory this year to enhance the two militaries’ AI capabilities and produce hundreds of mini-submarine drones.

Britain is now intertwined with and increasingly dependent on German military firms.

Sudden Rise

Replacing nato, especially its American nuclear defense element, must be done carefully. Around the same time as these meetings, the German Council on Foreign Relations noted in Internationalepolitik that Britain and France, even at their most generous, cannot do everything the U.S. does.

For example, Britain and France possess high-yield nuclear weapons but lack small ones. This is a problem because smaller bombs are more “usable.” Detonating a city-destroying strategic nuclear weapon on your enemy could invite the wrath of the whole world. Using a smaller tactical warhead on part of your enemy’s army would be more diplomatically defensible.

European leaders believe they need smaller nuclear weapons to deter or respond to Russia’s low-yield nukes. Currently they would have to respond with either conventional weapons or a much larger nuclear bomb that could trigger nuclear war. France’s Air-Sol Moyenne Portée-Ameliore missiles are designed to be more of a warning shot, but they are still more than 300 times more powerful than the U.S. B-61 nuclear bombs stationed in Europe at their lowest setting. France and Britain would also struggle to provide the sheer quantity of nuclear bombs and the early warning network the U.S. has.

So Europe still needs American bombs—for now. “France cannot and does not currently seek to replace the U.S.A. with its arsenal—however, the Europeans could one day find themselves in a situation in which the U.S.A. completely gives up its protective function. Therefore, the biggest challenge is to shape the changes without Europe falling into a ‘deterrent gap’ and being exposed to Russian aggression without protection. The dilemma is to keep the U.S. in Europe’s deterrent while developing alternatives—without giving Washington the impression that it is no longer needed” (Internationalepolitik).

Germany must, quietly, build its own weapons systems to fully replace America’s nato contribution. Only when this is complete can it unveil it to the world. Revealing it too soon would risk driving off its American protectors before its defenses are complete.

A Nuclear Mistake

Britain is trusting other countries for its survival. It already struggles to keep at least one of its aging nuclear submarines at sea at all times. Could it “solve” the problem by tag-teaming with France? Then France, and by extension Germany, would know exactly how vulnerable Britain is and when it is most vulnerable.

The U.S. has gone even further. It has stationed nuclear bombs in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Turkey. In theory, the U.S. would have to approve their use, but these weapons have been stored at foreign bases for years. The U.S. military is currently spending billions more dollars to upgrade them, and it has sold Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy its latest-generation stealth fighter to deliver these bombs: the F-35, some components of which are produced by Rheinmetall. Britain could follow America’s example of placing increasing trust in Germany.

These weapons could start a world- ending war. “America is giving Germany access to its most advanced and deadliest weapons,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry warned in 2022. “The crucial question is, does the United States really have control over those bombs?” (“America Trusts Germany With Stealth Nuclear Fighters”).

Throughout history, nations have routinely betrayed and stabbed each other in the back. Today we have more modern technology than those before us, but we are not better people. We have the same human nature with the same flaws. The big difference is that the destructive power of modern technology means that one act of betrayal could annihilate an entire nation.

These new agreements also break with more than 600 years of British foreign policy, which is to keep Europe divided. If any one power or alliance dominates, Britain has automatically regarded it as a threat and partnered with lesser powers to weaken it. Now Britain is subordinating itself to a new European alliance led by Germany.

Starmer and other British leaders are also directly rejecting the warning Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin Roosevelt sounded near the end of the most destructive war in world history. Far from preventing German militarism, Britain is empowering it. These new treaties were so uncontroversial they barely made the news. Almost the whole world has moved on from World War ii.

Yet the Bible thunders an even more specific warning. And based on these prophecies, the late Herbert W. Armstrong and now Gerald Flurry have warned Britain and America that Germany will launch World War iii. So many details of their Bible-based warnings match what Britain is doing now.

Most churches ignore Bible prophecy. Yet Jesus Christ was a prophet. His disciples asked Him what would happen at “the end of the world,” and He answered in great detail (Matthew 24 and 25).

Christians mostly ignore Christ’s prophecies. They can’t understand it because they lack the master key. “That key is knowledge of the astonishing identity of the American and British peoples—as well as the German—in biblical prophecies,” wrote Mr. Armstrong. “This very eye-opening, astounding identity is the strongest proof of the inspiration and authority of the Holy Bible! It is, at the same time, the strongest proof of the very active existence of the living God!” (The United States and Britain in Prophecy).

The Great Betrayal

As Mr. Armstrong proved in that book, those two nations descended from ancient Israel. The Bible is full of specific prophecies that were never fulfilled by the Jews. That has caused some to reject the Bible. But the Jews are descended from just one tribe of Israel: Judah. Many prophecies are fulfilled through the tribe of Joseph, which today is principally the United Kingdom and the United States. God promised great material wealth to the descendants of Abraham alongside His even more valuable promises of spiritual salvation. Those promises are the reason Britain and America became wealthy and powerful.

Yet instead of pointing the world to God, those nations rejected Him. So God is allowing the Holy Roman Empire to again arise in Europe. This power will punish and attack Britain and America. Revelation 17 describes this power in detail. Adolf Hitler led one of these resurrections. So did Charlemagne, who ruled what is now Germany and France from his capital in Aachen. France and Germany deliberately revived that history when they signed their treaty of cooperation in that city.

Instead of looking to God, Britain is looking to this new rising power for protection. Mr. Armstrong explained that in doing so, we are violating the first and great commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37).

“We violate that as a nation,” he said in a television broadcast in the 1980s. “I think we sincerely think—we’ve just kidded ourselves into thinking—we’ve been deceived into believing that we are really relying on God. But then you know, we think that God is sort of a myth, and He’s far off. … We must depend on something that we can see. And so now we are so afraid of Russia that the United States government feels that it must take what we call a ‘calculated risk,’ … and try to build up Germany and Central Europe against Russia.”

America has enabled Germany to rise through its defense umbrella. Britain is now helping it shake America off and become independent.

“How naive America is to entrust this immense firepower to nations that so recently—and throughout history—have proved to be enemies of the free world!” Mr. Flurry wrote about America’s decision to share nuclear weapons with Germany. “The trust America is placing in Germany is absolutely condemned by the Bible. Why? Because it is trusting other nations rather than trusting God.”

The Bible prophesied of this exact sin. The book of Ezekiel gives one of the most detailed of these prophecies. It discusses “Aholah” and “Aholibah,” types of two modern nations of Israel, America and Britain. It states that Aholah “played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers … the Assyrians” (Ezekiel 23:5). Assyria, as we have long shown, is modern Germany!

Ezekiel’s prophecy warns that Aholibah “doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men” (verse 12). They look to the German military for protection.

“America and Britain have convinced themselves that they have a wonderful friendship with the Germans,” wrote Mr. Flurry in “Germany Is Betraying Britain—Again.” “But is it true? If you see what just happened to Britain, you know it is not true! Verse 9 reveals the terrifying outcome of this immoral relationship: ‘Wherefore I have delivered her [Aholah, representing America and Britain] into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians [Germany], upon whom she doted.’ In a small way, this has already happened to Britain. But you watch as this prophecy is fulfilled completely: It is about to get far, far worse.”

Hosea 5:13 gives additional insight: “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.”

“Hosea prophesies that wounded Judah and sick Ephraim will go to Germany for help. Why?” Mr. Flurry asks in his booklet on Hosea. “Because America is even sicker than both of them and can be of no help at that point! The deadly weakness of these three nations leads to their destruction by Germany—at the same time.”

As a result, Britain is looking to its World War ii enemy for help—in defiance of God’s warnings and promises.

Hosea 8:5-6 provide another fascinating dimension. In this prophecy, God condemns the “calf of Samaria,” an idol made by its skilled craftsmen.

“It is well known that England excels in technical ability,” writes Mr. Flurry. “One of its greatest achievements has been the development of nuclear energy for domestic and military purposes. Could this be Britain’s calf? Could Britain think its nuclear power will get it through another war? … England relies on its ‘craftsmen’ for protection rather than God. They worship their technical ability—they ‘kiss the calves’” (ibid).

Whether it’s our own nuclear devices or foreign lovers, we look to anything but God for protection. Trusting Him is unthinkable today.

Hosea 10:6 states: “It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.” “The word ‘it’ refers to Britain’s idols,” writes Mr. Flurry. “Could this be referring to Britain’s great technical ability being carried off to Germany?” Could it even refer to those nuclear weapons being gifted to and then used by Germany?

We are making catastrophic, nation-destroying mistakes. Yet as God also says, “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help” (Hosea 13:9). God is allowing this because it will lead to the time when “Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? …” (Hosea 14:8). Britain will learn a painful lesson not to trust anything except God. At that point, God can finally instruct the nation and the world in the way of life that brings joy, abundance and blessings.