Germany’s Prophesied Militarization Is Happening
Does Germany’s militarization concern you? The British Telegraph believes it shouldn’t. “For some, the rapid military buildup will evoke the fearsome war machine once built by the Nazis,” the paper wrote yesterday. “But today’s rearmament is far removed from the 1930s ….”
But is it?
For decades, the Trumpet and its predecessor, the Plain Truth, have forecast that Germany would once again build a “fearsome war machine.” Now that it is happening, people dismiss its significance on shallow reasoning.
The Telegraph quoted Nicholas Drummond, a British defense consultant who works with German military companies:
Of course, when you talk about this, some people ask whether we should be worried about Germany having an army like it had in 1939. But things are now very, very different. It’s not at all a militaristic culture.
The Germany that emerged from reunification was very much a pacifist country. They are not naturally supportive of rearmament—they see it as a necessary act.
One thing is sure: The British mindset concerning Germany hasn’t changed.
“During the 1930s, the British people thought there would never be another world war,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in 2008. “The 1940s shattered those illusions! … That is why I keep saying we must learn from the horrendous mistakes we made before and during World War ii—or we will wake up too late.”
Mr. Flurry drew this parallel even as Germany’s defense budget compared to its overall economy shrank. Yet he warned against complacency. “Today, Britain and America are drifting toward a far more hideous catastrophe!” he wrote. “That is why the World War ii lesson is so vital!”
Seventeen years later, the nation he warned about is rapidly militarizing—yet no one seems concerned. What will it take for the world to wake up?
Germany’s Rapid Militarization
The Telegraph points out that Germany’s budget plans include a target of spending 3.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2029—“six years earlier than Britain’s equivalent pledge.” Germany has the largest economy in Europe; it is now spending more of its gdp on its military than Britain and France.
Even if other European nations tried to follow suit, most couldn’t. The Telegraph stated, “Germany currently boasts a debt-to-gdp ratio of just 62 percent, compared to the rates of around 100 percent that the UK and France are grappling with, giving it far more scope to borrow.”
The article adds that bond traders consider German bonds to be more reliable. For 10-year bonds, Germany pays 2.6 percent interest while France and Britain pay 3.4 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively.
This allows Germany to drastically increase its budget: It spent €53 billion (us$61.1 billion) in 2021. This year, it will spend €86 billion. By 2026, it is projected to spend €108.2 billion; by 2029, €162 billion.
But even these numbers obscure the reality of Germany’s drastic militarization. Something very unique and frightening is happening in Germany.
Rather than funding military procurement through the normal budget, Germany has allowed its government to use tomorrow’s funds to accelerate today’s militarization.
In February 2022, Germany announced it would allocate an additional €100 billion to its defense budget. The special fund was intended to top up its military budget for years to come. But Berlin spent much of the sum right away, purchasing F-35 fighter jets and the like.
In March, parliament agreed to exempt all defense spending above 1 percent from its debt brake. Last month, Politico revealed Berlin’s €377 billion ($434 billion) military wish list.
According to Politico, the internal government document gives an “overview of arms purchases that will be spelled out in the German military’s 2026 budget, but many are longer-term purchases for which there is no clear time frame.” Germany also “sustained multiyear spending beyond the nearly exhausted €100 billion special fund set up under former Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s tenure.”
The United States spent roughly $150 billion on weapons systems in the fiscal year 2024. Now Germany is planning military projects worth almost triple that amount, albeit allocated over multiple years.
Allocating orders early allows defense contractors to deliver faster. If Germany decides that more is needed, additional purchases can be made.
It’s also noteworthy that Germany intends to spend most of the additional hundreds of billions of euros domestically, thus strengthening its own military industry. A major exception is its order of F-35 fighter jets to enable its continued nuclear-sharing agreement with the U.S. Some, however, noted that Germany should focus on building its own next-generation fighter jet with France instead of relying on the U.S.
Proven Military Hardware
Germany has another advantage in the armaments race. While other militaries spend billions in storing, maintaining and upgrading old equipment, Germany is purchasing the newest versions for its arsenal.
The Telegraph gives a stunning example: “The Leopard 2 is the Bundeswehr’s main battle tank. It’s also the world’s favorite.” In fact, the world has been purchasing far more German tanks than the German military. The article states:
Designed in the 1970s by Bavaria’s Krauss-Maffei (now known as knds), the fearsome fighting machine is used by more than 20 countries and has become the most iconic German defense export.
But despite shipping thousands overseas to willing buyers, the Germans bought no new Leopards themselves after the Cold War until 2023—and even those were only to replace 18 that had been sent to Ukraine.
Now things are changing. Last year, Berlin placed an order for 105 more in a deal that will take the total fleet to more than 400. By comparison, the [United Kingdom] has 213 main battle tanks.
Think about this. Germany has been building and exporting thousands of battle tanks, maintaining only a small number at home. Meanwhile, other militaries have been buying and testing German battle tanks on and off the battlefield. They are largely paid for the production of the tank, for storing, testing and upgrading it. Now Germany is buying the latest, greatest models.
In the meantime, Germany has surrounded itself with allied nations that are using the same battle tank and are thus ready for cooperation on the battlefield.
While some have scoffed Germany’s military preparedness in the past, its strategy is paying off.
Notice what the Telegraph wrote:
And the new Leopards are only a small fraction of the mountain of equipment the Germans are buying in their race to face down the Russian war machine.
In 2024 alone, Berlin ordered 123 Boxer armored transport vehicles, 265 protected trucks, 19 “Skyranger” mobile air defense turrets, six frigates and two submarines, among many other things, in a €58 billion spending spree, according to data compiled by the Kiel Institute.
An order of up to 1,000 American-made Patriot missiles was also announced.
Overall, Germany’s purchases last year added up to more than three times the combined amount spent by Britain, France and Poland in the same period.
If the trend continues, Berlin is on course to spend hundreds of billions of euros.
The Telegraph takes for granted that Germany is spending these hundreds of billions of euros “to face down the Russian war machine.” Many would say that since Russia is struggling to conquer Ukraine, it would be foolish to think it could take on a militarized Germany that spends hundreds of billions on the latest technology, has American nuclear weapons, and is surrounded by allies. Yet some believe Germany still isn’t doing enough. One of the most vocal advocates for more urgent militarization is former German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.
In his October 14 podcast, he interviewed Lt. Gen. Jürgen-Joachim von Sandrart and noted that Germany has committed to spending 5 percent of its gdp on its military and that removing the debt brake allows it to spend €500 billion or more. He then said: “You might think that in a relatively short space of time we would at least be on a par with the threat situation from the other side. But we don’t actually have that time.”
According to Guttenberg, Germany has more money to spend than time to spend it—hence, it has to spend it as fast as it can. It’s not about being ready to face Russia in a potential 2029 conflict; it’s about being ready if the war escalates tomorrow.
That’s also why Guttenberg advocates for an immediate return to conscription rather than waiting to see if enough volunteers will show up with increased incentives. The public, which previously opposed such measures, is increasingly in favor of them.
In an interview with Gabor Steingart, Guttenberg said: “I believe we are already living in a state of war.”
Many in Britain admire Germany’s new military focus. The Telegraph piece concluded:
Yet for most allies, the return of the Germans to full strength is a hugely welcome development.
“The idea that there’s going to be peace in our time is a bit of a fallacy, and so we have to deter,” says Drummond.
“That’s why I think the Germans are so right to do this.”
Prophecy Come True
From the very end of World War ii, Mr. Armstrong prophesied Germany’s military comeback. He also specifically foretold how Germany and other European nations would justify their military rise. In the April 1980 Plain Truth, 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!
This, in large, is happening now.
Mr. Armstrong firmly believed that once Germany militarized, it would seek to finish what it started in World War ii.
Many at the time scoffed at the idea that Germany would militarize. They continue to scoff that Germany will revert to its old evil past. But can we afford to be wrong?
There is only one way to know what is about to happen. We must look to the same source that Mr. Armstrong based his forecast on: the Holy Bible.
“The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (Revelation 17:8).
The very same empire that brought the perils of World War ii is prophesied to rise again (request Germany and the Holy Roman Empire for proof). This is very much the same warning that Mr. Armstrong made after Germany surrendered in 1945:
The war is over, in Europe—or is it? We need to wake up and realize that right now is the most dangerous moment in United States’ national history, instead of assuming we now have peace! … We don’t understand German thoroughness. From the very start of World War ii, they have considered the possibility of losing this second round, as they did the first—and they have carefully, methodically planned, in such eventuality, the third round—World War iii!
The Bible reveals that Germany’s warlike mentality has never died. However, it will take a leader with a military mindset to lead the nation to war—and the rise of such a leader is also prophesied.
“And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many” (Daniel 8:23-25).
This man will take Germany’s military spirit much further than its military leaders demand today. He will deceive the world into believing that Germany’s warfare is for the good of everyone. But instead of peace, he will bring destruction.
Mr. Flurry discussed these and other prophecies in his article “Germany Is Arming for World War III.”
Are we willing to face the fulfillment of Bible prophecy right before us?