Germany will permanently station 5,000 soldiers in Lithuania, according to a new deal signed on December 18 by the countries’ defense ministers. It’s the breaking of another major taboo for the German military, but we’ve become so used to taboos being broken that few are taking notice.

Geopolitical analyst Peter Zeihan is one who did. If you have five minutes, I’d encourage you to watch his video. He does a great job putting it into perspective.

And if you don’t, here are some highlights from the transcript:

Why is this important? Well, you’ve all heard of World War ii. The world has gone out of its way the last 75 years to make sure that the Germans do not have a deployment-capable military. …

Now, this has been a financial drain on the United States. … But the advantage of having Germany without a functional military, I cannot underline enough why that is important. …

So we’re in this one beneficial moment in time where the United States has forcibly rewritten the rules of European security, and that has helped keep Europe united and at peace now for 75 years, especially in the post-Cold War era. But underlining that is that the Germans have agreed to never have an opinion on security matters. That now seems to be going by the wayside. …

Five thousand troops in Lithuania is not the end of the world, but it does mean the rehabilitation of Germany as a more normal country that has military tactics and strategies as part of the toolkit. …

This reminds me of the last seven major wars that the Germans were in.

There was a period of disarmament if they lost, and then it ended and the Germans started using military tactics again and stuff got real really, really fast. So are the Germans our enemies? No, not today. Will the Germans start to see the world a little bit differently? Oh, yeah. And has that ever ended well? Oh, no.

The gradual process of removing restrictions on the German Army is nearly complete. Immediately after World War ii, Germany was forbidden from having a military. Then in 1955, it was allowed to have an army, but one designed only to defend itself against the Soviets—not something nimble that could deploy abroad. In 1995, German troops deployed to Croatia in their first international deployment since World war ii. Another taboo was broken—but Germany was only allowed to deploy as part of coalitions, not by itself.

We have seen more German military missions since then, with Germany taking on more and more significant roles.

Now Germany is going alone—and going permanently. It will need to set up the logistics and supply chain necessary to sustain such a deployment. Germany will have to get better at supplying its troops abroad, making the military much more agile.

It is also a sign that within Europe, Germany is taking on the role America once had. A permanent military base was a “tripwire”: Attacking West Germany would mean attacking America because America had a base there. Lithuania is looking to Germany in the way Western Europe once looked to America.

Most in the West don’t care. They know Germany has a history of starting wars, but they see a different Germany since World War ii.

But even more concerning is the way Germany obtained the base. Directly between Germany and Lithuania is Poland. Setting up a German base in Lithuania would be incredibly difficult without Polish cooperation.

The previous Polish government was uncooperative. And it has now been swept aside. Germany played a major role in pushing the Law and Justice (PiS) party out of power. Its replacement was sworn in December 13, and the Lithuania deal was signed just five days later.

So Germany is aggressively playing power politics. At the same time, it’s developing a more “normal” military.

Herbert W. Armstrong warned for decades that Europe would become a major military power. In May 1953, he wrote that “10 powerful European nations will combine their forces.” In August 1978, he warned:

The Europeans are far more disturbed about their safety in relying on United States military power to protect them than Americans realize! …

Europeans want their own united military power! They know that a political union of Europe would produce a third major world power, as strong as either the U.S. or the ussr—possibly stronger!

And in that May 1953 article, he wrote:

Germany is the economic and military heart of Europe. Without Germany such a federation of nations is impossible. Yet the other nations of Europe will not trust Germany or a German leader. Still, in spite of this, it is probable that none but a German can provide the dynamic, inspired leadership required to organize such a political military federation.

The facts of geography and history warn us to beware the rise of a strong, militarized Germany at the heart of Europe. But Bible prophecy is at the foundation of Mr. Armstrong’s warnings. Specific scriptures warn that Britain and America would trust and help Germany, and that Germany would surprise them by turning its military against them.

This European military power has the potential to come together very quickly. To prove from your own Bible why Mr. Armstrong made these forecasts, read our Trends article “Why the Trumpet Watches Europe’s Push Toward a Unified Military.”