German militarism had initiated two world wars causing multiple millions of deaths, and the world had had enough. Thus, in February 1945, in a signed document outlining American-British-Soviet policy on Germany, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill declared: “It is our inflexible purpose to destroy German militarism and Nazism and to ensure that Germany will never again be able to disturb the peace of the world. We are determined to disarm and disband all German armed forces, break up for all time the German General Staff that has repeatedly contrived the resurgence of German militarism; remove or destroy all German military equipment; eliminate or control all German industry that could be used for military production …. It is not our purpose to destroy the people of Germany, but only when Nazism and militarism have been extirpated will there be hope for a decent life for Germans and a place for them in the comity of nations.”

Now, Germany’s military is in a state that 60 years ago many would have never thought possible. At that time, whatever Germany’s future role in the world community was to be, it would have been preposterous to think it would involve sending troops all over the world. But that is exactly what has happened. In fact, several nations have welcomed Germany’s military within their borders.

One step at a time, Germany has expanded its military’s role to the point where it now has more than 7,700 troops deployed in over a dozen missions around the world. German soldiers are involved in peacekeeping missions in countries including the Congo, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Afghanistan and Kosovo. This state of affairs, points out the Economist, “is a far cry from the pacifism of Germany up to the 1990s.” Since that time, Germany’s military has progressively established its credibility as a peacekeeping force.

In late 1998, in what was then Yugoslavia, the Germans crossed a significant threshold by sending troops into armed combat. “If there is a historic achievement of the Schröder government, it was overcoming this taboo,” commented Constanze Stelzenmüller of the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund (ibid.).

Since then, the world has grown comfortable with German troops marching into foreign cities—so much so that Germany is starting to take lead positions in UN-sanctioned peacekeeping missions.

Take the Congo, for example. Last month, a European Union force was sent in to provide security for the July 30 elections after the United Nations requested reinforcements. The majority of this EU force is German. And which nation has led the military planning of the mission? You guessed it: Germany.

In conducting this Congo mission, another important taboo for the German military has been overcome, albeit not as visible as sending armed troops into a foreign nation. For the first time since World War ii, in a base formerly occupied by the likes of the Luftwaffe and the Bundeswehr, a German commander has taken charge of a European mission’s command center. The Henning-von-Tresckow barracks near Potsdam, close to Berlin, is the EU’s operational headquarters for its assignment in Kinshasa, capital of the Congo. “[T]he focus of interest is Germany,” reports the Economist, “which is providing not only the bulk of the EU contingent, but also its commander, Karlheinz Viereck—a first since the war” (ibid.).

For the most part, the German government is no longer bashful about its past or hesitant to send its troops into foreign lands. “For the first time,” said the Economist, “the debate was not about moral imperatives, but plain national interest: the threat of Congo becoming another failed state” (ibid.). There have been no large protests held by the German people over the move either, even considering the fact that earlier peacekeeping missions have claimed German troops’ lives. So Angela Merkel had no problem answering French demands to take the lead. The world has changed its opinion of Germany so much that a nation crushed by Germany three times in three wars in less than 150 years is asking Germany to lead a peacekeeping mission!

There are, of course, many implications for Germany’s gradually increasing military involvement in world affairs.

It certainly increases the influence of Germany in the specific nations it helps, allowing it more access to resource-rich areas such as the Congo and oil-filled Sudan. It also increases the heft behind Germany’s bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council as German troops continue to fulfill the Council’s resolutions. Also, increased peacekeeping missions and wider international interests give Germany the perfect reason to increase its military budget to train more troops and research more advanced weapons.

As Germany puts more missions under its belt, it won’t be long before it becomes the expected nation to lead European military operations in peacekeeping missions.

Most recently, Germany has been called upon to get involved in the Lebanese peacekeeping mission. With the United States tied up in Iraq and Afghanistan, and reluctant to involve itself in another conflict, Israel has been forced to look to other options.

While Germany has not at this time pledged troops to help keep the peace in southern Lebanon, it has committed marine and border patrols. At the same time, as disagreements arise over the nature of the UN’s peacekeeping role in Lebanon, it appears that Germany, together with France, may be attempting to seize the initiative and take a political lead. The leaders and foreign ministers of both countries are meeting this Friday for talks on establishing a lasting peace in Lebanon. “The meeting between [Angela] Merkel and [Jacques] Chirac will be part of regular informal consultations between the German and French governments held every six to eight weeks” (Agence France Presse, August 21).

Israel apparently has no qualms over an EU-led international military force helping secure its border with Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has specifically stated Israel has “absolutely no problem” with Germany’s involvement.

Who in 1945 could have ever foreseen the prime minister of a Jewish state taking Olmert’s position? Yes, according to the world, time heals all wounds. Germany has shed its bloody past and now can help the very people its Nazi regime planned to annihilate some 60 years ago. After all, doesn’t the world need another nation willing to help keep the peace? With the U.S. tied down elsewhere, doesn’t it need and want help in other international crises such as the Israel-Hezbollah conflict?

The Bible, in fact, tells us that Germany’s military involvement in peacekeeping missions will lead to the worst suffering ever! Germany may not lead the Lebanese peacekeeping mission, but the Bible says one day it will lead a critical mission in Israel. Hosea 5:13 shows there will come a time when Israel will seek Germany’s help in its security, but Israel will be betrayed in a bloody double-cross!

God says that this wound will not be healed by time, and in fact Germany will finally accomplish what it could not do in the two world wars.

Continue to watch Germany’s increased military involvement around the world. Germany’s peacekeeping missions will culminate in the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. For more information, read “Is This World War iii?”