Guess which EU nation wasn’t downgraded?

France became the latest victim of the European debt crisis when Standard & Poor’s stripped the country of its aaa credit rating Friday.

“The action, announced after U.S. markets closed Friday, was somewhat expected since S&P warned in December that it might slash the ratings,” the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday.

“Although French government ministers have been preparing the ground for an eventual loss of the coveted rating for weeks, the timing of S&P’s announcement still took many analysts by surprise,” the Times continued. “A week ago, France received some good news after Fitch Ratings Service announced it did not foresee downgrading France in 2012. Word of S&P’s downgrade started spreading early Friday, and French ministers attempted to calm the markets.”

France, the largest economy in Europe after Germany, was downgraded to AA+, the same rating the U.S. now holds with S&P. Eight other European countries also suffered downgrades, including Italy, Spain, Austria, Cyprus, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia, while Portugal was reduced to junk status.

“Today’s rating actions are primarily driven by our assessment that the policy initiatives that have been taken by European policymakers in recent weeks may be insufficient to fully address ongoing systemic stresses in the eurozone,” S&P stated.

“Mark Williams, a former Federal Reserve Bank examiner who teaches at the Boston University School of Management, said that larger actions are needed,” said the Times.

“‘The credit downgrades point to a weakening banking system and an increased need of big European bank rescues,’ he said. ‘In 2012, Europe will experience the equivalent market turmoil that shook American financial firms in 2008.’”

The only major EU nation to avoid the latest downgrade was—surprise, surprise—Germany. In fact, only four eurozone countries remain with an aaa rating.

Because of this, “pressure is likely to increase on Germany, the country long viewed as a model during the crisis, but also the one that holds much of the money that is needed to solve it,” Spiegel Online reported Saturday.

Following the downgrade announcement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday, “We are now challenged to implement the fiscal compact even quicker … and to do it resolutely, not to try to soften it.”

Herbert W. Armstrong long prophesied that a global financial crisis would rock the world, creating a catalyst for European unification. As the European financial crisis continues, watch for Europe to increasingly look to Germany to pick up the pieces.