Britain’s military establishment has a shockingly shallow grasp of history. British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said Germany must recognize “that it can’t continue to be the dominant economy in Europe without also significantly increasing its military capability,” after talks with his German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere in Germany, May 2.

Hammond chastised Germany for its “historic reluctance to deploy and operate overseas” and called on it to deliver “more usable firepower” to nato.

This view goes beyond the defense minister. On May 4, the House of Lords European Union Committee published a report on European defense, where it drew the same conclusions. For the EU to have “an effective security and defense policy,” Germany must play a bigger role, it said.

It sees America pulling its military out of Europe, making cuts and focusing on the Pacific. “Europe really does have to start to get its act together, and the only player that’s really missing in that is Germany, Europe’s powerhouse,” the chairmen of the committee, Lord Teverson, told bbc Radio 4’s Today program.

Even America takes the same view. Former U.S. representative to nato Nicolas Burns testified before the Lords committee. “The U.S. was, however, concerned about the diminishing budgets of most of its European allies, especially Germany, Italy and Spain,” the committee’s report states. “Ambassador Burns was particularly critical of Germany’s low level of spending on defense. Germany should make a greater commitment to collective defense and the modernization of its own military, and be more willing to deploy in difficult areas.”

U.S. President Barack Obama made similar statements last year, when he told German Chancellor Angela Merkel: “The world today does not fear a strong Germany. It is, rather, disappointed when Germany is too reserved.”

The committee also encouraged Britain to support more cooperation on defense within the EU. Their report states that Britain should drop its longstanding opposition to an EU operational headquarters.

Lord Teverson dismissed any concerns about Germany’s history by saying the war was over 60 years ago, and that even today, Eastern Europe is more worried about Russia.

How shallow. In a deeper view of history, 60 years is not that long.

The famous document agreed by Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference read: “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” (emphasis added).

The document goes on to use phrases like “break up for all time.” These men were thinking in longer terms than just 60 years.

Winston Churchill repeatedly warned about the rise of Germany, prior to World War ii. These warnings, based on Germany’s history, were ignored.

Commenting on the buildup of World War i, he said both politicians and the public thought a great European war was “too foolish, too fantastic” to happen. “Civilization has climbed above such perils,” they told themselves. “The interdependence of nations in trade and traffic, the sense of public law, the Hague Convention, liberal principles, the Labor Party, high finance, Christian charity, common sense have rendered such nightmares impossible,” he wrote. “Are you quite sure? It would be a pity to be wrong. Such a mistake could only be made once—once for all.”

Churchill’s warning could have been written today.

The Trumpet has long warned about this threat from Germany. The Bible prophesies that Britain will go to Germany to help in defense. This is exactly what is beginning to happen right now. Britain’s special relationship with America is breaking down, so it is building a new special relationship with a German-led Europe.

But it doesn’t take an understanding of Bible prophecy to see the danger here. It just requires a deep understanding of history. Unfortunately, our leaders don’t even have that.

It was Churchill’s understanding of history that enabled him to see Germany was a threat while everyone else thought they were safe. He knew people had lulled themselves into a false sense of security throughout man’s past. Today is no different—even the arguments saying it is have been used before.

This history carries a powerful warning for us today. For more on this warning from history, read our free booklet Winston S. Churchill—The Watchman.