Representatives from 20 defense companies and start-ups met with German Economic Minister Robert Habeck on March 27 in Berlin for private discussions revolving around “issues of national and European security and defense,” according to Bild.

Germany’s world-class arms industry is being ordered to enable Europe’s dramatic military rise.

“We need to increase the production of goods that contribute to national security capabilities in Germany as well as in Europe,” Habeck stated. “The global threat situation has changed. Not to talk about it would be naive, and naivety is out of the question.” The weapons industry is not “like any other,” he added. “But we have to realize that we need this industry.”

As Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote on March 27, “Europe Is Undertaking a Massive Arming Spree.” The European Union member states have increased their military spending from around $259 billion in 2022 to an estimated $378 billion this year. But to enable Europe’s military rise, Germany’s arms industry needs to be activated. Foreign Policy wrote last year:

One of the world’s largest and most technologically advanced, Germany’s defense sector would have the products, technology and manufacturing know-how to meet many of the Bundeswehr’s modernization demands over the coming decades. But to realize the modernization of the Bundeswehr through the German defense industry would require Berlin to have tenacious political will, a strong commitment to long-term financing plans, and a willingness to slash bureaucratic red tape in order to expedite and professionalize procurement processes.

Providing this “tenacious political will” will allow not only Germany to drastically militarize but all of Europe. Germany has a world-class arms industry—but the many arms manufacturers are under strict regulations in a fragmented, bureaucratized European conglomerate.

Consider the long list of companies represented at Habeck’s recent meeting, which included Rheinmetall, Quantum-Systems, Helsing, Airbus Defense and Space, Rohde & Schwarz, Airbus Helicopters, Diehl, ohb, Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems, Hensoldt, Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann, Hensoldt AG, Renk AG, Naval Vessels Lürssen and mbda.

Each of these industry leaders are impressive in their own right. Many of them also work together to varying degrees within a larger European framework. But compared to their American counterparts, they often look small and unimpressive. But some “tenacious political will” could suddenly transform Europe’s fragmented military industry into an astonishing military powerhouse.

That is exactly what European leaders are demanding.

“We have to spend more, we have to spend better, and I think we have to spend in a more ‘European’ way to consolidate our defense industrial base,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Euronews in February. To that effect, von der Leyen proposed an EU defense commissioner—a request Habeck echoed.

While the road toward a common defense policy, military budget, united industry and military forces seems long and filled with obstacles, all the needed components are there. Few, however, realize that Germany’s fragmented arms industry is not a weakness. It has been designed to disguise strength. Documented evidence shows German arms manufacturers are working out a plan that demands such secrecy.

Look again at the list of arms companies that met with the German government on March 27. Many of them evolved from companies with a history that goes back over a century and a half. They have experience contributing to many wars, including two world wars. Their former representatives met with German leaders of the past, plotting sinister plans. The notes from one of these meetings was publicized in 1996—but ignored by most in the world.

The notes from that meeting read:

From now on also German industry must realize that the war cannot be won and that it must take steps in preparation for a postwar commercial campaign. Each industrialist must make contacts and alliances with foreign firms, but this must be done individually and without attracting any suspicion. Moreover, the ground would have to be laid on the financial level for borrowing considerable sums from foreign countries after the war.

The war in question is World War ii. On Aug. 10, 1944, government and SS representatives met with leading industrialists. Representatives from car manufacturer Volkswagen, steel manufacturer Krupp, aircraft manufacture Messerschmitt and armaments company Rheinmetall were there, along with several others. Compare the list with those who met with Habeck, and you will see the same names.

Messerschmitt after the war morphed into Airbus—a French-German-Spanish conglomerate. Airbus today is known as the chief competitor of Boeing, but it also has a large military branch that was represented at the meeting with Germany’s Economic Ministry. You could say that Messerschmitt perfectly fulfilled its commission.

All these companies want to be seen as a disunited bunch, but they have been working on a united goal. The world ought to pay attention. Europe’s facade of military weakness is by design, and so will be its sudden military rise.

Though few realize it, the Bible has prophesied Germany’s renewed rise to power (request a free copy of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire). Revelation 17 compares the heart of Europe’s military might to a “beast” that went underground then rises again (verse 8). This is exactly what we are seeing today.