Germans want Europe to replace America as global leader

US President Donald Trump has threatened tariffs on many things, including specifically on automobiles from Europe. He has also pressured the Europeans, and specifically the Germans, to spend more on military weaponry.

A reader sent me a link to an article in Italian (https://www.renovatio21.com/la-volkswagen-produrra-armi-la-ue-riporta-lindustria-ai-tempi-dei-nazisti/) which I machine-translated into English. Here are excerpts:

Volkswagen to Make Weapons. EU Takes Industry Back to Nazi Times

13 March 2025

Struggling German carmaker Volkswagen is open to producing weapons and military equipment, CEO Oliver Blume has said.

Blume made the comments in response to a recent EU announcement of a plan to spend up to €840 billion on its defense sector. …

Speaking to German state broadcaster NDR on Tuesday, Blume said the automaker was carefully examining the needs of the defense industry.

All options are on the table, he said, including repurposing some factories from civilian to military production. “We are fundamentally open to such arguments,” Blume said.

The idea has been backed by Germany’s largest arms manufacturer Rheinmetall. Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said Wednesday that VW’s Osnabrück facility would be suitable for a conversion.

For VW, for Germany, for Europe, this is actually a return to the past. During the Second World War, VW had already produced military vehicles for the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany, including the Kübelwagen light transporter and the Schwimmwagen four-wheel drive amphibious vehicle.

A VW plant was involved in the production of components for the V-1 flying bomb, a type of cruise missile used to devastating effect by the Nazis.

The EU has stepped up its efforts to militarize the Union after US President Donald Trump repeatedly criticized European NATO members for failing to meet their defense spending commitments.

In response, Brussels announced a major militarization initiative proposed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Called ReArm Europe, the plan could channel more than €800 billion into the defense sector over the next four years.

Another reader sent me a link to the following from German-Foreign-Policy.com:

‘We’re a global power’

Calls for the EU to become a major global force independent of the US are gaining traction. An unprecedented military build-up is planned – where possible without buying American weapons. …

10 Mar 2025

BERLIN (own report) – In view of the Trump administration’s power play, calls are getting louder in Germany for the European Union to become an independent force on the global stage. As a statement from the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) put it, “Europe must mobilise its ample resources to replace America as a global leader.” Berlin and Brussels are setting out unprecedented spending plans, in the high three-digit billion range, for arming Germany and the EU. Proponents of rapid militarisation want to procure European weaponry rather than American. This view is now being adopted even by traditionally transatlantic-aligned media. As the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung puts it, “A country that, overnight, stops military aid for a partner at war can no longer be trusted.” A concerted arms build-up will be accompanied by moves to give all of Berlin’s activities abroad a sharper focus on national interests. To this end, there are calls for Germany’s international development ministry to be incorporated into the Federal Foreign Office – creating a kind of “Ministry for German Interests”. …

‘Replacing America’

Just a few hours after the polls closed on 23 February, the presumed future German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared that it was now his “absolute priority … to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible” so that it would achieve “independence” from the United States in every respect.[1] Since then, calls for far-reaching independence from the American superpower have quickly become louder. … EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas declared that “the free world now needs a new leader; it is up to us Europeans to take up this challenge.”[2] …The advice has become: “Europe must mobilise its ample resources to replace America as a global leader.” Poland’s Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, was already calling in January for Europe to position itself independently of the US, saying, “We are a global power.”[4] His only caveat: “But we must believe in it.”

Record arms drive

Demands to become independent of the United States are now echoed in an unprecedented wave of militarisation in the EU and the UK. “Europe,” a DGAP experts writes, “holds all the cards that it needs.” Militarily, its armed forces are “among the world’s strongest, most experienced, and most innovative.”[5] …

Buy European

There are now voices increasingly calling for EU members to “avoid arms purchases in the US … wherever possible”, as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a paper traditionally transatlantic-aligned, put it at the weekend. Referring to the Trump administration’s position on Ukraine, it argues, “A country that, overnight, stops military aid for a partner at war can no longer be trusted.”[7]

‘Ministry for German Interests’

The plans for an unprecedented militarisation of Europe along with far-reaching independence from the United States go hand in hand with calls to focus all of the German government’s activities abroad even more strongly on pursuing and enforcing German interests. …

‘More courage to assume global power’

By embarking on a policy of compulsory militarisation in Europe and moving towards an exclusive focus on national interests for all German activities abroad, Berlin is reviving a longstanding goal of the German elites: … . Back in 1966, the then CSU leader and former Defence Minister (1956 to 1962) Franz Josef Strauß spoke out in favour of “a united Europe” rising to “the position of an independent power between the United States and the [then] Soviet Union”.[11] In 2003, Werner Weidenfeld, then an advisor to German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, wrote in an article in the Springer-owned newspaper Die Welt that the EU already had potential strengths that can “define the status of a global power”. Indeed, he saw the EU as superior to the US in some key areas. “The integrated Europe,” he wrote, “is a world power in the making.”[12] Ideas for giving Germany a much stronger role on the world stage have been discussed many times. In 2020, for example, a piece entitled “More courage to assume global power” in the weekly Die Zeit reflected this trend by urging EU leadership in world affairs.[13] The title of an article in the Welt am Sonntag in 2020, co-authored by former International Development Minister Gerd Müller ran “Europe has the makings of a world power.”[14] https://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/news/detail/9903

Yes, Europe wants to buy European weapons and be the global power. Furthermore, Germany wants to be the force of that power.

This is not a new idea, of course. Adolf Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, is filled with ideas about nationalism, expansion, and the role of Germany in Europe and the world. Here are a few quotes:

“The German nation must be brought back to the position of a European Great Power, and in the final analysis, to the position of the world power to which it is entitled.” (Vol. 1, Chapter 2)

“It is the duty of the German nation to become the dominant power in Europe, for this is its natural right and destiny.” (Vol. 1, Chapter 2)

“The expansion of the German nation is not a matter of ‘aggression,’ but the only possibility of securing the future of the German people.” (Vol. 1, Chapter 3)

“The struggle for land and space is not a struggle for the existence of a single people, but for the existence of the whole of humanity.” (Vol. 2, Chapter 14)

Adolf Hitler wanted Germany to be the dominant power in Europe and for Europe to expand.

This has happened since his death.

But now, Germany and the rest of Europe is entering a new phase–a phase where it is more active in its military interests in order to push aside the United States.

There is a shift going on in Europe. Notice also:

Germans no longer see US as trustworthy partner

7 March 2025

US no longer reliable

Trump has been back in office for only six weeks and has already been calling into question core policies, which is having a massive impact on how Germans view Trump and the United States.

One in two respondents to the infratest poll say their opinion of Trump has worsened since he took office. Just one in seven expresses a favorable opinion of the US president. The United States’ reputation is plummeting to new lows.

This month only one in six voters described the US as a partner who Germany can trust. Three quarters believe that NATO members cannot currently rely on the United States for protection.

The Germans polled are not skeptical of NATO itself: 84% said that the North Atlantic defense alliance is important for securing peace in Europe. Nevertheless, there is growing support for greater European independence. One in two said they favor establishing a European military alliance. https://www.dw.com/en/germans-no-longer-see-us-as-trustworthy-partner/a-71858094

After various crises, the Bible shows that Europe will reorganize and support a leader that the Bible called ‘the beast”:

12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. (Revelation 17:12-13)

Notice that the Beast will come up from that ‘unity.’

As far as European unity goes, you may wish to watch the following:

17:33

European Unity to be like Hitler?

Boris Johnson, the former Mayor of London, stated that the European Union wanted to be what Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte tried to create. Duncan Smith agreed. But European Council President Donald Tusk called Johnson’s comments absurd and then stated that the EU was the answer to the problems facing Europe. But what does the Bible teach about the future of Europe? Is European unity the answer or will it usher in something worse than Adolph Hitler? Dr. Thiel quotes Jesus and others in the Bible for those who truly want to know what will happen in a unified Europe.

Here is a link to our video: European Unity to be like Hitler?

One aspect of European unity is moving towards the prophesied “great army” that Europe will get per Daniel 11:25.

Notice something that was claimed by the German Press after Donald Trump’s first election victory:

For 100 years, the United States was the leader of the free world. With the election of Donald Trump, America has now abdicated that role. It is time for Europe … to step into the void. …

America was long the benchmark for the West. But if Trump governs as he promised he would during the campaign, the land of the free will abdicate its role as leader of the free world. Then, it will be Europe’s turn. (^{Kurbjuweit D. America Has Abdicated Its Leadership of the West. Spiegel Online, November 16, 2016})

Europe wants to rise up. Consider also the following report from 2016:

No European politician will say so publicly, but to some on the Continent, Trump presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for emancipation from American influence.

To varying degrees, America-bashing has been a mainstay on both the Right and Left of European politics for decades. From GMOs to Guantanamo, from the drone war to the death penalty, European politicians have rarely had difficulty finding reasons to rail against the U.S. (^{Karnitschnig M.} ^{Why Europe secretly roots for Donald Trump. Strategic-Culture.org. September 22, 2016})

Since then, more European leaders as well as the European public favor a powerful military and becoming independent of the USA.

While Europeans want that, for now at least, they recognize a need for USA military protection, so they remain in NATO.

But how trustworthy will that alliance be?

It has long been my view that Europe will likely attack the USA and/or the UK under the guise of a NATO (or some other defense treaty) military exercise and that is consistent with the following prophecy about the coming European King of the North Beast:

23 And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people. 24 He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers: he shall disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches; and he shall devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time. (Daniel 11:23-24, NKJV)

Notice that he, the European King of the North, pretends peace then devises a plan against the strongholds. This looks to be a reference to the nation with the strongest military, the “strongest fortresses,” that Daniel 11:39 shows he will conquer–that is the USA and its British-descended allies (see also USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses). Notice those verses say he will do what his fathers and forefathers failed to do. Well, in WWI and WWII Germany failed to defeat the USA or even have major invasions of the USA.

Notice something about Germany’s history published decades ago by the old Worldwide Church of God:

In 1933 Adolf Hitler, using Germany’s growing economic crisis as a stepping-stone to power, gained control of Germany, inaugurating the Third Reich of German history.

It quickly became clear that Hitler’s geopolitical aims far transcended his own country’s borders. Hitler held an unshakable conviction that his German Reich would one day rule all of Europe — and from there seize the leadership of the world! He dreamed of a “new world order” that would remake the political face of the earth, with himself at its helm.

In 1939 Hitler began in earnest his struggle for the mastery of the world. (Stump K. Coming Soon – A New World Order. Good News, 1985)

Adolf Hitler used an economic crisis to rise up and form his so-called third reich.

Could there be some type of a ‘fourth reich’ this century to follow the ‘third reich’ of last century?

The old Radio Church of God thought so, even decades earlier:

The “German Problem” is not dead. Germans are thinking more than ever of an undivided Reich – and of an undivided Europe! … On the 17th of June, Germans celebrated a national holiday a day dedicated to AN UNDIVIDED GERMANY. Stores closed. No one worked. The striking thing is that this day signifies something that has not happened yet! Most holidays commemorate an event – something that has already taken place. Not this one – it looks forward to an event which all Germans hope for and even pray for – AN UNDIVIDED GERMANY! (Kelly R. The March for an Undivided Germany. Plain Truth, September 1964)

Well, since that came out, East and West Germany united, the European Union formed, and a European currency has been implemented.

So, is a ‘fourth reich’ in the process of forming? Some in Germany and elsewhere seem to think so.

Now this does not mean that everyone in Germany wants it to militarily dominate the world, but Bible prophecy shows that deep down, those there do want to dominate.

Notice the following prophecy:

5 “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hand is My indignation.
6 I will send him against an ungodly nation,
And against the people of My wrath
I will give him charge,
To seize the spoil, to take the prey,
And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 Yet he does not mean so,
Nor does his heart think so;
But it is in his heart to destroy,
And cut off not a few nations.
8 For he says,
‘Are not my princes altogether kings? (Isaiah 10:6-8)

Notice that the leader of the final empire will not think that he wants to destroy nations, but he really does, and really will.

Notice that Isaiah tells of a time when the end time Assyrian power will be sent against an ungodly nation (NKJV), translated as “an hypocritical nation” in the KJV. The Hebrew word used signifies being “soiled” or impious, and certainly that is now the case for the nation known as the United States.

Biblically, the final European King of the North will lead a revived ‘Holy Roman Empire.’ This will be the empire of the Beast power of Revelation 13. This new world order, which will have German dominance, will in a sense be its fourth militaristic reich (reich means reign).

The Bible prophesies that Europe will have a “great army” (Daniel 11:25), various weapons, and “many ships” (Daniel 11:40).

Furthermore, technology will, in my view, be key in the establishment of a militaristic beast power consistent with scriptures such as Revelation 13:4.

A Beast power is prophesied to arise from Europe after various crises (cf. Revelation 6:1-8; 13:1-4).

A few days ago, we uploaded the following video:

14:48

Should Europe Still Consider Itself a US Ally?

The United States has paused aid to Ukraine. Europe is nervous and wonders about the United States’ commitment to European security is unclear. Some leaders in Europe “agree they must strengthen their defense capabilities”. Europe is dedicating huge amounts of money to weapons. And Europe’s military technology is advancing. Revelation 13 tell us of a militaristic “beast with a mortal head wound” – this is Europe. The Bible asks –“who can make war with the beast?” Is WWIII on the horizon? What nation is Lamentations 1:1-2 referring to who will be betrayed by her “friends”–and who are her “friends” that become her “enemies”? Dr. Thiel helps shine the light of Biblical prophecy on the answers to these questions. Answers from the verses of the Bible that bring prophecy to life.