Germany sank into recession last week after government figures showed its economy had shrunk for two consecutive quarters.

The gross domestic product dropped by 0.5 percent in the third quarter, following a 0.4 percent drop in the previous quarter. These results were worse than experts expected. The statistical office blamed falling exports and a large increase in imports for the fall in gdp.

Economists are predicting the third-quarter slump to be only the beginning. The German government’s independent panel of economic advisers predicts no growth for 2009. Other economic forecasts portray an even grimmer situation, with the German economy dropping 0.6 percent next quarter and in early 2009. Gilles Moec, European economist at Bank of America, warned that the “worst is yet to come.”

And the worst is certainly yet to come if history is any guide for German reaction to economic crises. German ministers have invoked Nazi history to warn what could happen in the event the economic woes continue to snowball. German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said last month, “We learned from the worldwide economic crisis of the 1920s (1930s) that an economic crisis can result in an incredible threat for all society.”

This statement was echoed last week by German Finance Minister Peer Steinbruck, who suggested a scenario in which voters would lose faith in the economic system and turn to political extremism for answers.

Commenting on the banking crisis in Europe, Trumpet columnist Robert Morley explained last month, “The global depression of the 1930s was not just an economic crisis; it was a political and social one too. That disaster sowed the seeds for the rise of radical nationalistic and totalitarian movements around the world. … In Germany, it was the Nazis.”

This recession is but one part of the greater economic crisis sweeping the world, causing history to repeat itself. Daily events are demonstrating that this present history is being written on a much vaster scale than the crash of 1929. Germany’s challenge, given its very unique history, is most worthy of careful watching.

The recent warning these German ministers gave is the same message the Trumpet has been delivering for years—a warning that comes straight out of the pages of your Bible. Read Germany and the Holy Roman Empire to learn more details about where economic crisis will lead Germany and the rest of the world.