Angela Merkel retired as chancellor of Germany in December. Just before finishing her 16 years in power, she made some statements that ought to shake the nations! But most people don’t understand German history, and these statements mean almost nothing to them.

Donald Tusk, former president of the European Council and former prime minister of Poland, said he had a private conversation with Merkel about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Much of Europe and the United States (especially under Donald Trump) have criticized this project, which benefits Russia and Germany but endangers Eastern Europe and could lead to a major war. Tusk called Merkel’s public support of the pipeline her “biggest mistake.” But the most revealing thing he said was that she privately admitted to him that she was “helpless” to do otherwise because of pressure from German businesses.

“Ms. Merkel has consistently defended the controversial gas pipeline in the face of intense opposition from the U.S. and Germany’s EU allies,” the Telegraph reported. “But Mr. Tusk claimed she had told him privately that she had no choice because of the pressure she was under from German business leaders” (Nov. 29, 2021; emphasis mine throughout).

On this issue, German business leaders had enough power to overrule the chancellor! The people may vote for one thing, but if business leaders want something else, they win.

What does this mean, and why is it so important? If you know German history and Bible prophecy, few statements from a German leader could be more revealing—and frightening!

Plans Laid in Defeat

In any wealthy country, big business has a lot of power. Just look at the role Facebook and social media have in America’s news coverage and even the U.S. election. A key reason America doesn’t do more to stand up to China is because so many American businessmen are getting rich through deals with China.

When big business has this level of influence, it is concerning, no matter which country it’s in. But in Germany, there is an additional, critical cause for concern.

Toward the end of World War ii, in August 1944, representatives of massive German companies like Krupp, Messerschmitt, Volkswagenwerk and Rheinmetall met with senior Nazis at the so-called Red House meeting. A U.S. intelligence document, declassified in 1996, says that these business leaders were told they must “prepare themselves to finance the Nazi Party, which would be forced to go underground ….”

By 1944, these leaders knew they would lose World War ii. So they were already planning for the next round! This document says, “Existing financial reserves in foreign countries must be placed at the disposal of the party so that a strong German empire can be created after the defeat.”

Those at that meeting understood that the most prominent members of the Nazi Party would be condemned as war criminals. “However,” the document maintains, “in cooperation with the industrialists, it is arranging to place its less conspicuous but most important members in positions with various German factories as technical experts or members of its research and designing offices.”

As stunning as this revelation was, the media didn’t report much on it, so people eventually forgot. The Trumpet reported extensively on it, and we have not forgotten! You can read this entire declassified document, and learn how the first shot of World War iii has already been fired, by requesting a free copy of my booklet Germany’s Conquest of the Balkans.

In that booklet, I wrote, “How alarming! Why was so little written about this in 1996? Why did it take so long for it to be declassified? America and Britain have fallen asleep—our people don’t understand what is happening behind the scenes! That is why we feel compelled to return to these issues again and again. Hardly anyone else will!

“Historians have long debated whether or not a secret Nazi plan was made for a postwar, international network. Now that it has been confirmed, as Elan Steinberg of the World Jewish Congress said, ‘the central question is whether it has been carried out.’

“The obvious answer is, it has!”

This deliberate plan to safeguard the long-term well-being of the German empire and prepare for its future resurrection is explosive truth. And it is proved by other evidence from that time period.

In 1944, German Gen. Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel said the German war machine would rise again and that America was its top target. “One day we shall come back,” he said on Nazi radio, Sept. 1, 1944. “Until then, à bientôt,” meaning, “Goodbye for now.”

Senior German leaders knew the war was lost and made plans to escape so they could help Germany rise again. Plans had already been laid for senior Nazis to flee to Latin America. Many junior operatives would simply fade into the background. There are now mounds of concrete, indisputable evidence that German business leaders, intelligence operatives, soldiers, politicians and civil servants all went underground after World War ii.

A Warning Unheeded

In Germany’s Conquest of the Balkans, I cite proof from Brian Connell’s 1957 book A Watcher on the Rhine of the Nazis carrying out their postwar plan. As he wrote, in 1947, just two years after the war, Allied authorities foolishly turned the job of denazification to the Germans! What a farce!

In the state of Bavaria, for example, Connell wrote, “The Bavarian administration is largely in the hands of those who controlled it under Hitler …. Almost all of the 1,000 teachers who were removed for political reasons have been reappointed, representing roughly 60 percent of the teaching staff employed by the Ministry of Education. Sixty percent of the 15,000 employees in the Finance Ministry are former Nazis, and 81 percent of the 924 judges, magistrates and prosecutors in the Ministry of Justice.”

Although the Allies tried to install new teachers in German education, “many of the former Nazi teachers have found their way back,” Connell wrote. On top of that, “In western Germany, the newly prosperous Ruhr industrialists, the still impenitent core of former Nazis … represent a challenge to the democratic order.”

Given this shameful history, should it surprise us that right-wing extremism is still popular in Germany today—even in high political and military circles?

My booklet also cites another important report that received little press. It was given by Herbert W. Armstrong on May 9, 1945, just nine months after the secret meeting between German industrialists. In it, Mr. Armstrong said, “The war is over, in Europe—or is it?”

“We don’t understand German thoroughness,” he said. “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! Hitler has lost. This round of war, in Europe, is over. And the Nazis have now gone underground.”

As I wrote in that booklet, many scoffed at Mr. Armstrong’s warning message in 1945. Yet look at how closely his report mirrors what was said in the secret document that was not made public until 50 years later! Only God’s messenger could have given such a prophetic message over 60 years ago!

A Business-Driven Empire

For centuries, German industry and the German empire have worked hand in glove. The contributions Germany’s trade and industry have made to German power are so critical that when the Second Reich was established in 1871, the flag of the new German empire paid tribute to it. This flag—still seen at far-right rallies today—combined the flag of the German state of Prussia with that of the Hanseatic League, a trading network centered on Germany that began in 1241 and held its last meeting in 1669. This network of trading cities spread German influence and power deep into Russian territory, throughout the Baltic, into Scandinavia and even across the North Sea. It even went to war with its enemies to secure its interests.

The idea that the German empire and German business prosperity go hand in glove became deeply rooted in the German people. It found its most public expression in 1891, when leading German industrialists founded the Pan-German League. Its slogan was “Deutschland über alles”—“Germany over all.” And as the 1965 edition of the Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course states, “They utilized the trademark ‘Made in Germany’ as proof of German superiority. Behind their commercial and business methods was a central, permanent strategy—with the goal of conquering the world! It was they who were largely responsible for inducing the kaiser to enter World War i.”

The success of German business became “a powerful source of national pride that inspired a patriotic unity in many Germans,” writes Katja Hoyer in her book Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire. Germany developed “a powerful economic backbone that drove the clamor for expansion.” These businessmen believed they could help Germany dominate the world, and that this domination would bring them great profit. Even more, the league believed that Germans were a “superior race” and wanted to stop them from mixing with inferior people, especially Jews.

Germany lost World War i, but these beliefs were not defeated. These business leaders went on to back and finance the Nazi Party.

Hoffmann/Getty Images

Some business leaders backed Adolf Hitler very early. One of Germany’s richest men, Ernst Borsig, met Hitler in 1921 and began fundraising for him. Gen. Erich Ludendorff was a member of the Nazi Party who backed Hitler. Industrialist Fritz Thyssen met Hitler in 1923 and also began supporting him.

The support for Hitler was effectively a continuation of the policies of the Pan-German League. Emil Kirdorf, the “Chimney Baron” whose company operated Europe’s largest coal-mining operation, was an early member of the Pan-German League who went on to support Hitler. He joined the Nazi Party in 1927 and invited Hitler to give a lecture to other industry leaders at his house. He introduced Hitler to other senior business leaders, and he bailed Hitler out when he ran into personal financial trouble.

In the critical 1932 election, Lufthansa lent Hitler an airplane free of charge, enabling the aspiring politician to travel far more easily than any other candidate.

Support for Hitler’s ambitions went far beyond those executives who formally joined the Nazi Party. University of Edinburgh historian Stephan Malinowski said, “There’s a gray zone between Nazi and non-Nazi, and if you look at the conservative elites, you will find that around 90 percent of them share close to all the negative aims of the Nazis. What the Nazis shared most with the power elites—be they military, industry, land owners, judges, university professors—is a language of fear, of hatred, of disdain for democracy, for the republic, Communists, Jews, trade unions, modern art” (Sept. 9, 2019).

By late 1932, though the Nazi Party was close to power, it was also close to bankruptcy. Joseph Goebbels worried that “the entire party may collapse.” In Berlin, “the financial situation … is hopeless,” he wrote. But Hermann Göring invited 25 top German industrialists to a secret meeting in Berlin on Feb. 20, 1933, where Adolf Hitler encouraged them to support the party. Robert Jackson, America’s top prosecutor at Nuremberg, wrote, “[T]he industrialists … became so enthusiastic that they set about to raise 3 million Reichsmarks [worth about $30 million today] to strengthen and confirm the Nazi Party in power.”

At first, their investment seemed a spectacular success. The industrialists received windfall after windfall as the new Nazi government spent huge amounts of money on rearmament, flooded the Reich with newly conquered wealth, and gave these businessmen access to slave labor to work in their factories. Businesses and other assets were stripped from Jews and handed to Hitler’s industrial backers.

“It is often forgotten that the army, industry, universities and engineering were not necessarily directed and run by ‘Nazis,’” said Malinowski. “They were run by power elites. There was a power compromise between industrialists, landowners, civil servants, academics, judges and the Third Reich, and for a long time it seemed to be going very well” (op cit).

These industrialists knew that if they lost the war, they could just blame Hitler—and remain free to prepare for a third round.

In their 1945 book The Plot Against the Peace: A Warning to the Nation!, journalists Michael Sayers and Albert E. Kahn warned: “During the past 40 years Germany has had three entirely different political regimes. Until 1918, Germany was a monarchy under Kaiser Wilhelm ii. Until 1933, Germany was a republic under Social Democratic ministers. From 1933 on, Germany was a fascist dictatorship under Adolf Hitler. Yet under each regime, the same men ruled in Germany. Behind each political facade, the reins of power were held by a small group of not more than a few thousand military leaders, industrialists, Junkers and scientific experts who constitute the German General Staff. This General Staff is the real permanent government of Germany, not only controlling Germany’s military affairs, but also German economy, technology, schools, universities and politics.”

This is why Ms. Merkel’s disclosure should shake the world: The real power in Germany lies with the same people who pushed Germany to world war twice before!

An Economic Miracle

You can prove through history that Germany has repeatedly demonstrated a deep-seated desire to conquer the world.

After the war, the stained legacy of the Nazis meant that for a time Germany could not publicly glory in its army or its military conquests. But German business bounced back quickly—and once again, business success became a source of national pride. By the 1950s Germans were reveling in the Wirtschaftswunder—the economic miracle—their country had produced after World War ii. During that decade, Germany’s economy grew 8 percent a year, faster than anywhere else in Europe. By the early 1960s Germany was once again the largest, most dominant economy in Europe. Though they could no longer be proud of their army, Germans could celebrate the achievements of Volkswagen, Siemens, Krupp and basf.

Today, Germany is the world’s third-largest exporter, competing with the U.S. and China. The economic power built by German business has made it the dominant power in Europe. And because businessmen pay the bills, they also call the shots.

Businesses have helped bind Eastern Europe’s economies tightly to Germany. Roughly 15 percent of German machinery exports are sold in Eastern Europe, and German automaker Volkswagen is the biggest employer in Slovakia. German industrial giants like Audi, Bosch and Siemens have far-reaching business ties in Hungary, and 2 million Poles are actually learning to speak German to make business transaction easier. These countries cannot undermine or diverge significantly from German business interests or they will do great damage to themselves.

Right now Germany is an economic power. It has a smaller but growing military power. German leaders know their global clout rests on the shoulders of their businessmen. This gives those businessmen tremendous influence. And just as in the lead-up to World War i, it is German industry that is making the case for Germany’s expanded global role.

In 2010, German President Horst Köhler said publicly that the reason Germany was fighting in Afghanistan was to “protect our interests, for example, free-trade routes, or to prevent regional instability, which might certainly have a negative effect on our trade, jobs and income.” It was a jarring contrast to how Western leaders try to frame all military activity in entirely altruistic terms, talking about things like freedom and democracy. In fact, Köhler was forced to resign for these comments! Since then, however, these sentiments have become common in Germany.

But this history is not the only reason to take Ms. Merkel’s statement about having to cave to German business seriously.

A Rising Beast

The book of Revelation has this important prophecy about an end-time European power: “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). “Bottomless pit” is not the best translation here. It is referring to a pit that goes on and on, as if no one can ever deal with the problem in that pit.

This is referring to Germany, which will form the heart of a coming European superstate. After World War ii, the elites who had caused that war went underground. Their underground activity continues to this day. This prophecy describes this German-led power as a beast that “was, and is not, and yet is.” It appears to be gone—but it is just underground!

Verse 10 continues: “And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.” This prophecy is specifically dated to the time of the sixth of seven resurrections of this European empire. As we prove in our book The Holy Roman Empire in Prophecy (request a free copy), that sixth resurrection was Hitler’s Third Reich. This prophecy dates to that time because God’s servant Herbert W. Armstrong was on the scene declaring this prophecy at the time of Adolf Hitler—the “one [who] is.” Now, a seventh is coming—the one that “is not yet come.”

Here is how this prophecy describes this coming European power: “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings [10 European leaders], which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast” (verses 12-13). We can expect 10 strong leaders to arise in Europe—surely some of them are already in power—and come together to strengthen a European superpower led by Germany.

The next chapter reveals that businessmen and industrialists, referred to in prophecy as “the merchants of the earth,” will throw their weight behind this political-religious power. And once again, their investment will appear to pay off in a spectacular way. Revelation 18:3 foretells that these merchants “are waxed rich” thanks to this new Babylonish empire. Verses 12-13 chillingly list many commodities that will be sold throughout this kingdom. Just as in World War ii, much of this business empire will be built on the back of “slaves, and souls of men.”

Is it absurd to think of German businesses profiting again from slave labor?

Siemens’s own website notes that during World War ii, the company’s “activities … included the use of forced labor.” Yet the company leaders say they’ve learned from their history and changed. “Siemens has taken a clear position on this matter—repeatedly, responsibly and clearly,” its website states. Yet right now, Siemens is lobbying hard to be allowed to continue using products made by Chinese slaves in the Xinjiang province. Shamefully, many American companies also work with slave labor in Xinjiang. But has Siemens really learned its lesson? Can you be sure it would never repeat its World War ii history?

Ezekiel 27 gives an even more detailed prophecy of merchants, or businessmen, exploiting wealth from around the globe. Tyre is symbolism for modern-day Germany. The next chapter states that “by your wisdom and your understanding you have gotten wealth for yourself, and have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; by your great wisdom in trade you have increased your wealth …” (Ezekiel 28:4-5; Revised Standard Version). The Bible continually emphasizes the connection between this empire and business.

Revelation 17:17 describes the merchants who will enrich themselves off this beast power: “For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.” Note that! God says that this business-fueled German-led empire will fulfill His will. Other prophecies show that it will wreak unspeakable destruction on America and Britain and other English-speaking nations. How could such atrocities possibly be the will of God?

The Bible explains that the reason for this is that God will actually use this terrifying beast to correct the modern-day nations of Israel for their grievous sins. In Isaiah 10:5, God calls this power “the rod of mine anger”! He is going to use this power to punish and correct His people.

After that, however, God will correct this empire. He also wants to reach those people and give them the opportunity to get to know Him!

Ezekiel 28 makes clear that this is a modern prophecy by telling us what comes next: God Himself promises to intervene to bring this power down! He will then bring about a time of great peace. God says He will gather the modern nations of Israel—those the Holy Roman Empire has persecuted and enslaved—in their own land. “And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God” (verse 26; rsv). But more than that, God says He will “manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations” (verse 25; rsv). God will use Israel to teach all the world, including Germany, about Him and His holiness.

Once all the wars have ended and Jesus Christ has established His government on Earth, the whole world will finally listen to God. The conclusion of the prophecy in Ezekiel 27 and 28 paints a beautiful picture of a world where the evil spirit being that has repeatedly motivated this Holy Roman Empire has been put away.

Revelation 17:14 also describes this inspiring outcome: “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”

Yes, Jesus Christ Himself will prevail over this European empire. But right now, it is rapidly rising to frightening political-economic-military superpower status! “They that are with him”—God’s faithful people—are today proclaiming His warning message to the world: The Holy Roman Empire is rising one final time!

Germany is about to repeat its dark history. In fact, the Bible tells us it will be much worse than what happened during World War ii! (Matthew 24:21-22). But it is leading to the permanent end of this power and to the establishment of the wonderful World Tomorrow!