Germany’s military, the Bundeswehr, recently got the all-clear for a massive increase in investment after parliament voted to exempt defence spending from strict rules on debt.

The country’s top general has told the BBC the cash boost is urgently needed because he believes Russian aggression won’t stop at Ukraine.

“We are threatened by Russia. We are threatened by Putin. We have to do whatever is needed to deter that,” Gen Carsten Breuer says. He warns that Nato should be braced for a possible attack in as little as four years.

“It’s not about how much time I need, it’s much more about how much time Putin gives us to be prepared,” the defence chief says bluntly. “And the sooner we are prepared the better.”

  • Gammelfisch@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    What choice do we have? I would focus on improving everything for the regulars and copy the Finnish reserve system.

  • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    I foresee a non-zero chance that this could backfire and their new ever-expanding military budget gets used on smaller weaker nations and then as an excuse to divert funding away from services that people actually rely on.

  • TylerBourbon@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    I don’t see this as Germany leaving history in the past, but being smart to protect their future so the that the lessons of the past mean something.

    • IndustryStandard@lemmy.world
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      Germans are on track to elect the AfD. Do you think them having a 500 Billion dollar army is a good plan?

  • baggachipz@sh.itjust.works
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    7 days ago

    Germany, Italy, and Japan go to war against Russia and the US. Only this time the former group is the Good Guys.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      Go back to WW1 and you’ll have a hard time pointing to good guys. Even WW2 was heavily sketch. The US was halfway in bed with the Nazis under Hoover and only at odds with Japan because it was encroaching on the British opium trade through Hong Kong and Shanghai.

      These wars were, at their hearts, the end consequences of a century of industrial imperialism. The good guys were in Latin America and North Africa and the South Pacific, fighting for their independence and sovereignty.

      • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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        6 days ago

        Lieutenant George: The war started because of the vile Hun and his villainous empire-building.

        Captain Blackadder: George, the British Empire at present covers a quarter of the globe, while the German Empire consists of a small sausage factory in Tanganiki. I hardly think that we can be entirely absolved of blame on the imperialistic front.

    • 3laws@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      Italy has a grotesque far right wave RN, they are not the good guys still. Japan is not progressive enough compared to Germany, but I can believe Germany is far removed from being as much as a bad guy compared to the USA & Russia today.

      • MisterFrog@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        Japan has never really reckoned with its past. They were just pacified.

        I judge the country as a whole for this, since they keep electing politicians who continue to do very little to reckon with their past.

        I feel a lot could be gained by apologising to the people and nations for the past, and nothing lost, other than nationalistic pride, bring forced into self reflection, and being genuinely sorry on behalf of the country.

        People who think they shouldn’t apologise because it wasn’t them personally are stupid, frankly, and standing in the way of reducing tensions.

        Will it fix everything in the region? No. Will it take some of the steam out of the war machine? Probably.

        • Gammelfisch@lemmy.world
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          Is that why Japan is the only WW II participant who has not fired a shot in anger since August 1945? Japan learned, the rest of you fucks failed miserably and continue to do so.

          • MisterFrog@lemmy.world
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            6 days ago

            Oh don’t get me wrong. The strong adherence to pacifism is laudable. But they have not reckoned with their atrocities committed during and prior world war II. They practically deny them ever happening.

            Your whataboutism is not appreciated.

  • archonet@lemy.lol
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    8 days ago

    for the first time, Germany possibly gets to be the “good guys” in a world war! Quite a turnaround.

    • nuko147@lemm.ee
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      World war normally has not good guys. It is that Germany has gone so evil in WW2 that made all others appear the good guys. But in the end they all are evil (countries not people living in them, and no it’s not the same).

    • 🦄🦄🦄@feddit.org
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      8 days ago

      With the Putin-loving, fascist AfD as the second strongest party in the country? We will see, but I do not have high hopes.

      • archonet@lemy.lol
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        I’d like to believe they’ll kick the Nazis out of the bar before they reach the levers of true power, but I’m American and you see how well having that naive hope went for us.

        Having said that, I imagine the Germans are at least slightly more cognizant of the risks involved than we are. Difference between “It can’t happen here!” and “It has already happened here and it was bad.

        • 🦄🦄🦄@feddit.org
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          Having said that, I imagine the Germans are at least slightly more cognizant of the risks involved than we are.

          Yeah one would think so, huh? But nope, right now nothing points to that. The last government declined to start the banning process against the AfD even tho the chances of success would have been really high. And that was a coalition of basically the labor party (as far as they think of themselves at least), the greens and some neo-lib shitheads. With the conservative government of right now? Lmao fat chance.

      • Djehngo@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        So my understanding is that they are the second strongest, but still at around 20% the other German parties formed a coalition that froze Afd out of power. So they are still a threat in future elections, but they have limited impact on policy for now.

        Is that correct or have I got the wrong idea?

    • Boxscape@lemmy.sdf.org
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      8 days ago

      for the first time, Germany possibly gets to be the “good guys” in a world war! Quite a turnaround.

    • index@sh.itjust.works
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      “good guys” vs “bad guys” logic isn’t much wise. In the cold war USA and germany recycled nazi and ss members to war with russia. World governments are all corrupted and have blood on their hands, none of them is really the good guys.

    • seeigel@feddit.org
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      7 days ago

      Because Germany is on your side?

      Careful that you don’t draw the wrong conclusion.

      • archonet@lemy.lol
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        7 days ago

        who says I think Germany would be on our side?

        at this rate, the US is looking more and more like it’ll jump into bed with Russia than the rest of NATO.

  • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
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    8 days ago

    Good article.

    I appreciate that this was the photo the bbc chose to express German concern over US Russian relations;

    • rippersnapper@lemm.ee
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      7 days ago

      Yeah I’m a bit tired of bought out politicians dismantling a country from the inside.

      Probably the biggest loophole that HAS to be fixed!

      • madcaesar@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        The biggest problem with democracy is that voting isn’t mandatory, and 25% of any population is dumb as bricks.

        • waxy@lemmy.ca
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          7 days ago

          I would estimate the number is higher than 25% (and growing all the time)

  • Lord Wiggle@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    It feels a bit weird being on the German side for once, also their track record of succeeding isn’t that great, but I love our neighbors and I fully support them.

    I’m just, sad the world is falling into another world war while we also just could be more kind and forgiving towards each other. It would save a lot of lives and leads of pain and agony.

    • Gammelfisch@lemmy.world
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      We are not the same Germany, with exception to the Prussian military discipline that is buried deep within us. Thanks to morons in DC and Moscow, they are forcing to break the pacifistic dam that we were force to build post WW II.

      • Lord Wiggle@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        Not just republicans. Democrats in the US are right wing too. The entire country is fucked up, the reps just speed up the process exponentially. But don’t forget the most immigrants who have been thrown out was during Obama and Biden. Biden supported Israel too, with loads of weapons.

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          7 days ago

          I call them the Republicrats and get attacked as being a centrist. That is the perversion of this situation is that I don’t think either part of our one party system give two shits about me. The only thing about the democrat faction is they are not trying to put people in real cages. Just trap them in wage slavery.

          • Lord Wiggle@lemmy.world
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            7 days ago

            Right… As if incarceration didn’t increase during dems terms. As if there weren’t crimes against humanity in prisons and detention centers thanks to dems.

            • MehBlah@lemmy.world
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              Its been increasing no matter who has been in office as long as I have been alive. Its never gone down. So your point to me is meaningless.

              • Lord Wiggle@lemmy.world
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                6 days ago

                It actually went down during Trumps first term. That fucking idiot even failed in the thing he wanted most.

    • LittleBorat3@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      So yes forgiving and all that. Here are the steps: 1 Putin removes his troops from the occupied territories 2 he apologizes 3 maybe someone forgives him.

      • Lord Wiggle@lemmy.world
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        Well yeah, but what I wished was that he wouldn’t have invaded in the first place, no totalitarian rulers, no people declaring wars as a dick measuring contest. No Putin in the first place. Putin will never give up and apologize, but hopefully he dies and his replacement would retreat, apologize and help Ukraine fix their country. But the chance of that happening is little to none, the next in line is probably just as bad as Putler.

    • realitista@lemm.ee
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      7 days ago

      Their success rate would have been a lot higher if they had known when to stop ;-). I think if the stated goal of defending Europe from Russia doesn’t change that they have a very good chance of success given the numbers they are talking about.

      • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        I also wonder how much farther their war efforts would have gone had they not wasted time, men, and resources on ineffective warfare like that massive train driven cannon. Its a lot of effort and resources to set up double track rails just to miss most of your shots.

          • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
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            7 days ago

            Generally incompetent leaders who promoted people to positions of power based on their loyalty rather than merit also.

            Just the whole general way they did everything, I’d say.

          • Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org
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            7 days ago

            The opposite is probably true. The blitzkrieg strategy relied on soldiers being able to fight effectively for days on end without sleep. It definitely isn’t a sustainable way to treat your troops but it was very effective and not possible without Pervitin.

            • tacobellhop@midwest.social
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              7 days ago

              That part worked. The resultant addictions didn’t really help. Like the decisions got worse over time, even when it was a pipe dream in the first place.

              • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
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                7 days ago

                You’d almost need to take your front line troops after a few days/week of methed up raids and then put them into rehab backline labor positions. Rinse and repeat until you win the war or the troops hold a methed up mutiny.

    • njm1314@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      I mean the track record is pretty good as long as you don’t just stop at the 20th century.

      • Lord Wiggle@lemmy.world
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        There were no world wars pre 20th century. But yeah, Germany, Prussia and the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation were pretty successful pre 20th century.

      • Lord Wiggle@lemmy.world
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        That doesn’t feel weird, it feels totally fucked up. The Dutch government is the same, maybe not as bad as Germany but still. There’s a ban on supplying them with weapons, but the Dutch government is finding loopholes to do it anyway. I’m totally disgusted by it. Fuck Israel, bunch of fucking nazis. Out of everyone on this planet, especially them should know better.

  • PumpkinSkink@lemmy.world
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    Great powers rearming will not be good for anyone no matter what the context is around it. After Napoleon, European leaders were so afraid of war between great powers that they avoided it for 100 years. The moment they let their guard up we got WW1. The weapons do not make us safer. Don’t think for a moment it can’t happen again.

    • ynthrepic@lemmy.world
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      Neither does passivism though. If everyone around you is losing your mind, you either give up your freedom and very possibly your life, or you fight.

      The only reason no other great power has needed a fully prepared military is because of US leadership. That can’t be trusted now, so here we are.

    • zaphod@sopuli.xyz
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      After Napoleon, European leaders were so afraid of war between great powers that they avoided it for 100 years.

      What kind of bullshit is this? The napoleonic wars were over in 1815. In 1866 there war the austro-prussian war, in 1870 the franco-german war. That’s barely 50 years, and those wars are just those I remember from history class. I’m sure there were more in between. Or are we talking Napoleon III who was deposed in the franco-german war in 1870? Well I’m pretty sure in the 100 years since then Napoleon there were some even bigger wars.

  • ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    I feel like this is a good idea but I also saw what Germany did to Brazil in that World Cup and there needs to be a plan for them going too far and hurting people just for living.

    • Hudell@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      And they did hold back that day, after the first 4 goals +/-, just to avoid embarrassing the host that much further.

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    What the hell is with the Germans and austerity? They’ve been holding their own country back for over 15 years

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      Germany abdicated their monetary sovereignty to the EU, thus impoverishing themselves in service to international capital.

      But their punishment and exploitation is nothing compared to Greece, etc.