This year, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged to build Europe’s strongest army – a tall order for a country whose military has undergone years of neglect.

The coalition government is hoping a new bill agreed upon last week will help make this a reality, bolstering Germany’s forces in the face of the perceived threat from Russia and a significant shift in US foreign policy.

The sweeping new reforms will see Germany attempt to boost its numbers to 260,000 soldiers, up from around 180,000 currently, in addition to an extra 200,000 reservists, by 2035.

  • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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    5 hours ago

    Germany. Here we go again.

    Maybe we should start writing down our history, so we won’t make the same mistakes again, for when the next generation zones out when their grandparents try to tell them how to avoid the bad old days from happening again. Of course, we’d have to teach people to read, and train up their Critical Thinking Skills. That sounds like a lot of work, but more importantly, it will cost too much money. Those Sociopathic Oligarchs’ yachts need a lot maintenance. Can’t be wasting that money on education for the poorest 98%.

    Fuck it, a world war every 50 to 100 years is necessary to control the population level.

    • Frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      4 hours ago

      Germany the nation isn’t the problem. Fascism is the problem. There is nothing special about Germany that makes it any more or less susceptible to fascism than anyone else. 1930s Germany happened to have especially fertile ground, but it could have been a lot of other places.

      Although AfD does need to be told to go the fuck away.

      • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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        4 hours ago

        You say that as the AfD, ANOTHER militant German political entity, is on the rise.

        This what they call “History repeating itself.”