Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev published an article in Russia Today on May 7^th, 2026, entitled “Germany’s new militarization: Revival of the spirit or blatant revanchism?” This sparked our interest. In this 10,000-word article, Medvedev complained of the German return to aggressive military spending, stating:

Germany’s aggregate military spending in 2024 reached $88.5 billion (+28% compared with 2023), making it the largest in Europe… In the country’s approved 2026 budget amounting to €524.54 billion, the German authorities intend to spend over €82 billion on defense (namely, preparations for war), which represents an increase of €20 billion compared to 2025…. Germany has moved from sixth to fourth in the ranking of the largest arms exporters.

Medvedev is warning that Germany is returning to the pre-World War II behaviour, ramping up its military. “Revanchism,” the word he used in the title, is the desire to regain territory, power, status, or influence that a country or group believes was unfairly lost. The article detailed the return of German industry to war production, stating:

Having rejected pacifism as a societal value, to which preceding generations arrived only through immense tragedy, the heirs of Krupp, Thyssen and Bosch are once again eagerly undertaking government contracts for the production of military goods, without hesitating to build their enterprises upon blood.

Medvedev paints Germany’s current political course as laced with ambition for future European expansionism. He states:

One should not forget that Germany is the only European state to have fully annexed neighboring countries twice since World War I, stripping them of any semblance of independence and sovereignty. This pertains to the annexation of Austria by the Third Reich in 1938 (Anschluss) and the non forceful integration of the German Democratic Republic into the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990. Under the guise of reunifying the German nation, East Germany was effectively merged into West Germany… there was no referendum to reflect citizens’ will on this crucial issue….

His next statement paves the way to justify a future Russian move into Europe, (as prophesied by the Bible in Ezekiel 38):

 The very foundation of German statehood is very questionable…. today’s Federal Republic of Germany does not even have a proper legal basis for its very existence, not to mention its absolute dependency from the outset and its horrible vassal submission to the United States.

Medvedev insists the movement of NATO’s Command Task Force Baltic is NATO expansionism, the very reason given for invading Ukraine. He states:

…the very deployment of this command center on the territory of the former GDR constitutes a flagrant violation of the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (Two Plus Four Treaty) of September 12, 1990, concluded between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic with the participation of the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and France…. Paragraph 3 of Article 5 of the aforementioned document explicitly states that foreign armed forces and nuclear weapons or their carriers will not be stationed in that (eastern) part of Germany or deployed there. The withdrawal of Soviet troops from the territory of the GDR was conditioned upon the inviolable obligation to respect such legally enshrined guarantees….

He continues to reflect:

…this gives grounds to reflection on the fate of this document as a whole. A violation of the principle of [treaties are binding] pacta sunt servanda in such a case may lead to the invalidation of the international treaty itself. This, in turn, calls into question the legal personality of the modern German state. It is even frightening to imagine what that would mean for Germany!

Medvedev’s conclusion is:

The main task for our country is to prevent the repetition of the tragedy of 1941, which means ensuring that our armed forces are kept in a state of permanent combat readiness, especially on the western borders….

It is no secret that an attempt is being made to impose on us the doctrine of ‘peace through strength’. Our response, then, can only be ‘the security of Russia through the animal fear of Europe’. Talks, good intentions, goodwill, and unilateral steps to build trust must not be our tools to prevent a massacre. The sole guarantee lies in forcing Germany and the ‘united Europe’ backing it to grasp the inescapable certainty of incurring unacceptable losses if they ever set in motion ‘Operation Barbarossa 2.0’.

Barbarossa was the Nazi German invasion of Russia in 1941.

This whole article is very interesting and reveals the legal justification for Russia’s future invasion of Europe.

1.      United Germany is an illegal entity formed without consent of the people
2.      NATO has violated its treaty with Russia, and therefore voided the agreement for Russian troops to vacate Eastern Germany.
3.      Germany is preparing for a second “Barbarossa” (the military campaign by Hitler against Russia in WWII), and Russia will strike before it is subjected to these losses again.

The Bible is clear that Russia will gain control of Europe as Ezekiel 38 reports Gog is sovereign over the land of Magog:

“‘Son of man, set thy face unto Gog, of the land of Magog, (the lands between the River Don and Danube, comprising Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Hugary, all the way through to Germany) prince of Rosh (Russia), Meshech (the Moscow region), and Tubal (the Tobolks region), and prophesy concerning him,” (Ezekiel 38:2 YLT)

Allied with him is the rest of Europe:

“Gomer and all its bands, The house of Togarmah of the sides of the north, And all its bands, many peoples with thee, Be prepared, yea, prepare for thee, Thou and all thine assemblies who are assembled unto thee, And thou hast been to them for a guard.” (Ezekiel 38:6–7)

Togarmah is the area of the Caucasus, while Gomer “and his band” migrated through Europe from Modern Turkey, settling in Germany and France.

Based on these scriptures, John Thomas wrote a booklet, 159 years ago, called Anatolia, subtitled “Russia Triumphant, Europe Chained” that discussed Russia’s future endeavours.  He stated:

Their [Europe’s] leaders are wrong in supposing that “the age of conquest is past for ever,” and that they will succeed in establishing the freedom and independence of Europe.

There has never been such an age of conquest as that which will soon open upon the world; and as to the establishment of European freedom and independence, the war to be initiated is the setting in of an overwhelming inundation that will submerge them under one of the most terrible and scorching despotisms that ever wrung the heart of nations. 

We live on the edge of that precipice. The signs of the Times are certainly indicating the way things are going.

Medvedev’s article brought to light the rising trend in Germany, which is the result of multiple factors.

Tariffs

The first factor is tariffs. Trump’s tariffs on European vehicles have slowed European car exports. The Driving Mobility for Europe website (ACEA) reported a 21.9% drop in car exports from Europe to the USA in 2025. Trump again threatened to raise tariffs to 25% last week as the EU has not honoured previous agreements.

Germany’s international public broadcaster DW reported in 2025 that the German car industry had shed 51,500 jobs in one year, representing 7% of its total auto workforce. It reported that 112,000 car making jobs were lost since 2019, but almost half in the last six months of 2024 and the first six months of 2025.

The tech magazine Fast Company reported in March:

Volkswagen plans to slash 50,000 jobs in Germany by 2030 after reporting a sharp drop in annual operating profit for 2025.

“We are facing trade policy barriers, completely changed markets, different regulatory systems,” Blume said on a media call, as Bloomberg reported. “The business model that has supported us for decades in the Volkswagen Group is not tenable anymore.”

Car manufacturers Audi, Porche, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Ford have all announced massive layoffs.

Similar cuts are being reported by Germany’s automotive suppliers Thyssenkrupp, ZF, Bosch, Schaeffler, Aumovio and Continental. This massive downturn has forced automotive companies to look for other markets. The war in Ukraine has produced just such a market.

NATO decline

The second factor is the threat of America ‘s withdrawal from NATO. The withdrawal of US funds and troops from NATO countries in Europe is causing them to have to shift gears. No longer can they rely on America to be the military “sugar daddy” who is going to fund defence or supply troops and munitions. Trump’s pressure for European nations to “pay their own way” militarily and commit 2% of GDP to military spending, has created an opportunity for the defence industry.

PBS News reported this week the White House’s response to Europe’s lack of participation in action against Iran:

 The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but Trump told reporters on Saturday that "we're going to cut way down. And we're cutting a lot further than 5,000."

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte played down the move, saying that "there has been at this point disappointment on the U.S. side" about European support for the war on Iran.

Notably, France, Spain and the U.K. have declined to give U.S. forces free rein to use bases on their territory to attack Iran. Spain has denied them the use of its airspace and bases for the war.

These combined factors have resulted in a shift in manufacturing away from ‘peacetime economies’ towards ‘wartime economies’. This is to be expected, as the scriptures clearly call for this in prophecy of Joel.

The context of the prophecy is post-1967, when Israel is again in possession of Judea and Samaria, called “the Westbank” by the western media, and when Armageddon is about to take place:

“For, behold, in those days, and in that time, When I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, And will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, And will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” (Joel 3:1–2)

The call to the nations is clear:

“Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, And your pruninghooks into spears: Let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, And gather yourselves together round about….” (Joel 3:9–11)

That is what the scripture calls for — a change from peace-time economies to wartime economies. The retooling of “plowshares into swords” and “pruninghooks into spears.”

In light of this prophecy, it is fascinating to see the switch that is rippling through Europe. The World Socialist Web Site reported:

While thousands of jobs are being destroyed in Germany every month in civilian industry, the arms business is generating fantastic profits.

The share price of Rheinmetall, Germany’s largest arms manufacturer, for example, has risen by almost 2000 percent since the beginning of the Ukraine war.

Rheinmetall is expanding broadly both in Germany and internationally. The arms firm no longer only produces tanks, cannons and other weapons of war in preparation for conflicts but is now manufacturing ammunition on a large scale for waging war.

In Germany, Rheinmetall is currently converting two of its civilian factories to military production. A Berlin plant that previously produced components for the automotive industry has been manufacturing armaments since July 1. Conversion of its plant in Neuss is under preparation.

Several German companies in the automotive and supplier industries have announced shifts from civilian to arms production. Volkswagen, for instance, is in talks with Rheinmetall about converting its Osnabrück plant to tank production.

Alstom recently sold the Bombardier plant in Görlitz to the arms company KNDS. The 170-year-old production of railway wagons and vehicles is being terminated, with military equipment for the Ukraine war soon to be manufactured there instead.

ZF Friedrichshafen is also offering its sites for arms production and is converting capacities, for example for military drive systems.

These developments leave no doubt that Germany and Europe are once again moving towards a war economy.

Interestingly, Rheinmetall and its successors have been in operation since 1899, being Germany’s largest arms supplier during WWI. During WWII it was Hitler’s second-largest arms manufacturer.

The article continued:

The Unterlüß (OON-ter-looss) plant was massively expanded. With the outbreak of World War II, it again became a central production site for artillery ammunition.

In Unterlüß, (OON-ter-looss) Rheinmetall made use of forced labourers from early on in the war, especially prisoners of war and abducted civilians from Poland, the Soviet Union and France, later also from Italy. As German workers were increasingly drafted to the front, forced labourers, including women and young people, took over production. By 1943, several thousand forced labourers were already working at Unterlüß. (OON-ter-looss)

Working and living conditions were brutal. Twelve-hour shifts, often seven days a week, malnutrition, rampant disease and constant abuse by guards led to the deaths of countless workers.

Adolf Hitler speaks at the opening ceremony of a Volkswagen car factory in Fallersleben, Lower Saxony, 1938.

United24 Media reported in March in an article under the headline “Volkswagen to Shift From Cars to Missile Defense” that it’s Osnabruek plant would be saved from closing due to the shift in production. The article stated:

Volkswagen is in talks with the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems for a deal that would change production at one of the German group’s factories from cars to missile defense.

Тhe two companies intend to convert a plant in Osnabrueck that is currently at risk of closing. The facility would produce components for the Iron Dome air defense system owned by the Israeli state group, according to Financial Times on March 24.

Volkswagen already manufactures military trucks through a joint venture between its subsidiary MAN and the German arms company Rheinmetall.

This partnership would be a major example of the shift in the German automotive industry. Profits in the sector have dropped due to competition from China and difficulties in moving toward electric vehicles.

As a result, the industry is looking for partnerships in the growing defense sector. The two companies want to save all 2300 jobs at the plant in Lower Saxony. They also hope to sell these defense systems to European governments.

In 2025, Defence News reported on a “memorandum of understanding” between auto parts giant Continental and arms behemoth Rheinmetall:

The agreement outlined various means for Rheinmetall, itself an automotive company, to recruit trained workers, including holding events at automotive plants and offering employment at defense factories near locations that were shutting down or downsizing.

Last month, the defense giant announced it would repurpose two factories in Berlin and Neuss that previously made car parts to produce primarily military goods instead.

Other defense players are getting involved, too, with sensor specialist Hensoldt reportedly in talks to hire 200 workers from auto parts suppliers Continental and Bosch, according to Reuters.

In February of this year it was reported by WSWS.org

Arms companies like Rheinmetall are hiring personnel, buying up plants in ailing sectors and transforming them into weapons and ammunition factories.

For example, employees of a Continental brake plant in Gifhorn are to move to a new Rheinmetall ammunition factory in the Lüneburg Heath, while tank builder KNDS is taking over a railway plant in Görlitz, which will in future produce Leopard 2 main battle tanks instead of trams and double-decker railway cars. In Berlin, this development is gripping the technology and start-up sector: dozens of companies, originally active in the civilian applications of AI, robotics, optics or medical technology, are reorienting themselves towards “dual use” and military contracts.

The article continued:

The most radical expression of this conversion policy is the transformation of Pierburg GmbH, a traditional automotive supplier in Berlin-Wedding, into Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH. At the Scheringstrasse 2 site, production of components for the automotive industry has been gradually phased out since mid-2025 and replaced by the mechanical processing of shell casings for artillery ammunition. The transition is to be completed by mid-2026.

And German-French joint venture KNDS recently acquired a historic rail car plant in Görlitz from French train maker Alstom. The factory will be retooled to produce components for military vehicles, including the Leopard 2 battle tank and Puma infantry fighting vehicle.

This switch is not limited to car manufacturers. The WSWS.ORG also reported theu following under the headline “Germany: Printing press manufacturer Heidelberg joins in war fever:”

Company CEO Jürgen Otto announced a long-term strategic partnership with Vincorion, already active in security technology. Vincorion… manufactures generators for the Eurofighter combat jet.

Over the next three years, the company expected to generate at least €100 million in the arms sector, he added.

“This gives Heidelberg access to a segment with growth potential and high margins, connected to Europe’s drive for greater defence autonomy,” wrote Comdirect, a subsidiary of Commerzbank. “Strategically, Heidelberger Druck is thus aligning more strongly with security-critical technologies, making its business more robust and valuable in the long term.”

The media outlet Automotive Manufacturing Solutions also reported in March:

A growing number of European firms – from Volkswagen and Renault to Schaeffler and Valmet – are pivoting redundant production lines towards defence contracts, as rising geopolitical tensions unlock a surprising new revenue stream.

Faced with having to retain the site and its workforce, Volkswagen has pushed the Osnabruck factory into developing military vehicle prototypes and showed these at a recent German defence industry trade fair in Nuremberg. Volkswagen showed the MV.1 (based on the Amarok pick-up) and the MV.2, based on the Crafter large van.

Meanwhile at Renault, its component factory at Le Mans is producing an initial batch of 600 drones under contract for the military supplier, Turgis Gaillard.

Schaeffler, a major German supplier which has seen its automotive business shrink in recent years, with thousands of jobs cut, is also moving into the defence sector. it has signed an agreement with Helsing, a new drone supplier, to supply electronics for the drones. Several other major German suppliers, including ZF, Mahle and Bosch have small defence businesses; suppliers such as Hirschvogel (which is a key supplier of forged aluminium and steel engine, powertrain and chassis parts) are also looking to defence to replace their declining automotive business.

To the north, in Finland with the threat of a Russian incursion or invasion ever present, Valmet – which also used to make Porsches when Porsche lacked capacity, and which has made Mercedes A-class hatchbacks and some AMG sports cars in recent years – is also moving into military activities as its automotive business seemingly comes to an end. Valmet will produce armoured vehicles in co-operation with Finnish defence group, Patria, in the second half to 2026. It is also working with Finnish truck company, Sisu, to produce around 300 military trucks a year.

In April, the Wall Street Journal ran a headline stating, “Germy is Reinventing itself as a Weapons Factory.” The German Chamber of Industry and Commerce published a report in April stating:

“One in six industrial companies in Germany is already integrated into the defence industry’s value chain, according to the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). The proportion is said to be particularly high in vehicle manufacturing, at 36 per cent.

Soon, 25 per cent of German companies could be directly or indirectly active in the defence sector. Looking ahead, the report says that, in addition to the current 17 per cent, a further 12.3 per cent of industrial companies are planning to become involved in the defence sector. DIHK expert Rainer Kambeck told the newspaper that “the survey reflects the strong prospects in the defence industry as a result of geopolitical conflicts”.

Unwittingly, the nations of Europe are preparing for their involvement in Armageddon. The Gogian confederacy is addressed in Ezekiel:

“Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.” (Ezekiel 38:7)

 What they are preparing for is war:

“And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:” (Ezekiel 38:4–5)

The re-militarization of Europe is necessary to fulfill Joel’s call to “wake up the mighty men,” “turning the plowshares into swords,” and “pruninghooks into spears.”  The prophet Daniel also describes the host assembled to the King of the North as being armed to the teeth:

“the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.” (Daniel 11:40)

The shift in Europe from a pacifist economy focused on domestic production to a wartime economy is being forced by global events beyond the control of local governments. While the world’s business and industry re-invent themselves for profit and to preserve jobs, the real reason is revealed when we draw back the prophetic curtain. Nations are unwittingly carrying out the prophetic decrees under the invisible ministration of angels.

We watch with great interest as all the pieces fall into place, as the Bible in the News heralds the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ. As the nations prepare unwittingly, we need to prepare ourselves consciously and with great purpose as we see that day approaching.

“Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.” (Luke 12:35–37)

For the Bible in the News, this has been Jonathan Bowen joining you.