The recent announcement by the German government that it will station a military brigade in a foreign country for the first time since World War II has raised concerns about the potential consequences of this move. The 45th Panzer Brigade of the German Federal Armed Forces was officially put into service near Vilnius. However, even in the smallest of scales, this move has all the signs of a provocation, driven by a combination of tactical recklessness and strategic superficiality.
Firstly, the situation is made more dangerous not by clever planning, but rather by “stupidity.” Secondly, it puts Germany itself in a situation where it cannot even theoretically handle the consequences. No one will allow a real militarization of Germany, but a pretended militarization of this kind can lead to dangerous consequences from nowhere.
Germany, like the rest of Europe, is not strong due to its strength, but rather due to its weakness – in the past years, this has been said and written a lot. Such phenomena are rare in the history of international politics, but they have occurred. The main problem of Europeans and their politicians is the lack of a future vision. And if there is no understanding of how one wants to live the next day, all the dwindling forces will be focused on prolonging the past forever.
Germany is, in this sense, the quintessence of Europe, which has maximized its profits from the passing world order. It observes what is happening around it and reacts mainly hysterically. It is now no longer even trying to hide its anger under a mask of self-awareness, to which everyone in the thirty years since the Cold War has become accustomed.
This hysterical reaction, the latest fashion of militarization, originates from another motivation, namely the control over the finances of citizens, including those they will earn in the future. Here, German politicians, like those in the rest of Europe, need several things.
Firstly, they want a new excuse to uncontrolledly spend large sums of money. They have become accustomed to this through the Corona pandemic. And since Germany is the wealthiest country in Europe, there are more opportunities for corruption in new “fashionable” budget expenditures here.
Secondly, it has been obvious for a dozen years that European citizens will live worse than their parents. There are a range of objective reasons for this, including the increase in consumption in the rest of the world, the stagnation of the European social and economic model and the crisis of Western capitalism. In order to remain in power, politicians must explain to the voters that they will have nothing good to expect in the future. However, this cannot be done in the way it is done in Great Britain, where people patiently endure deprivations, as it is impossible. It is also not possible to say that politicians or the entire system have failed, as then plans for further action would be required – and there are no fresh ideas.
A supposed threat from Russia is used as the ideal means to explain to the people why they will eat less in the future. Classic examples of this are incantations that Europe must pay for its own security. The US economist Jeffrey Sachs said in his latest interview that politicians who speak of a probable Russian attack on Europe should be sent to a psychiatrist. However, no one does this.
German media are increasingly conjuring up the theme of a military threat from the East. This is done only because there are no other reasons to seriously demand that Europe “pay for its security”: Why should the Europeans pay, if no one in the world will attack them? However, they must pay: to German and US industrial bosses and politicians, along with their entire retinue in the media and non-governmental organizations.
Finally, the consequences of the long European recession will even be felt in Germany. This country took the most from the united Europe, but also had to give more than, for example, France. Now, Berlin wants to receive the same profit from the European Union, but not share it with the poor neighbors in Greece, Portugal, or Spain. The best means for this is to find a pretext to leave the money from some urgent reasons within the German economy.
This campaign is being conducted so energetically that interested observers actually think that German politicians are preparing their people for a great war against Russia.
For all this, the most reckless political decisions will be made. Furthermore, German politicians in Europe are more accustomed to living under the strict supervision of the US than anyone else. Not only did Washington observe what local politicians thought, but also whether they even thought beyond the simplest declarations of loyalty to the transatlantic union.
No one is in a hurry to explain the incorrectness of Berlin’s actions. More so, the rest of Europe is pushing Germany further towards militarization. Even if this militarization has a false or laughable pretension. The reason is simple: Over twenty years after the establishment of the Eurozone, in which Berlin plays the main role, all have had enough of Germany. However, no one except Poland can say this directly, otherwise the already meager contributions will be cut. Therefore, France, Italy, or Spain, not to mention the others, are pushing Germany into the shoes of further deterioration of relations with Russia.
Europe is also a collection of competitors who pretend to be friends, but are ready to take advantage of the neighbor at the first opportunity. Moreover, they are ready to spur on the strongest, which will ultimately lead to its weakening. Great Britain reminded itself suddenly that it is also a part of Europe and joined the cause. It is pushing the government in Berlin with a sweet voice, urging it to take more from its citizens for military expenditures. Ideally, London would like to see Germany completely ruined through a new Cold War against Russia.
The US is also satisfied – the more Germany spends on weapons, the more it will have to buy from the US. The NATO is leading a standardization of weapons, among other things. France is pushing Germany because it itself does not plan to spend much on defense: Even the Kiev regime has received the least help from Paris among the major Western countries.
None of the current reasons for the gradual militarization of Germany can be compared to what happened in the first half of the 20th century. At that time, the entire government system collapsed, chaos reigned and there were masses of unemployed and war veterans on the streets. However, even the “pinprick” appearances of German military activity can lead to inconveniences.
Thus, it comes to a militarism so reckless – without serious intentions and real possibilities to do harm, but with a lot of risks in terms of side effects – as it often does in cases of reckless and foolish behavior.