Germany decides to leave history in the past and prepare for war (www.bbc.co.uk)
from MonsterMonster@lemmy.world to world@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 05:32
https://lemmy.world/post/27602242

Germany’s military, the Bundeswehr, recently got the all-clear for a massive increase in investment after parliament voted to exempt defence spending from strict rules on debt.

The country’s top general has told the BBC the cash boost is urgently needed because he believes Russian aggression won’t stop at Ukraine.

“We are threatened by Russia. We are threatened by Putin. We have to do whatever is needed to deter that,” Gen Carsten Breuer says. He warns that Nato should be braced for a possible attack in as little as four years.

“It’s not about how much time I need, it’s much more about how much time Putin gives us to be prepared,” the defence chief says bluntly. “And the sooner we are prepared the better.”

#world

threaded - newest

Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 05:36 next collapse

It took them four years to get the hint, but they got there in the end.

A_norny_mousse@feddit.org on 31 Mar 06:32 collapse

TBF they did get the hint but it took them a while to start doing something about it.

archonet@lemy.lol on 31 Mar 05:53 next collapse

for the first time, Germany possibly gets to be the “good guys” in a world war! Quite a turnaround.

Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.org on 31 Mar 05:55 next collapse

With the Putin-loving, fascist AfD as the second strongest party in the country? We will see, but I do not have high hopes.

archonet@lemy.lol on 31 Mar 06:07 next collapse

I’d like to believe they’ll kick the Nazis out of the bar before they reach the levers of true power, but I’m American and you see how well having that naive hope went for us.

Having said that, I imagine the Germans are at least slightly more cognizant of the risks involved than we are. Difference between “It can’t happen here!” and “It has already happened here and it was bad.

Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.org on 31 Mar 06:52 collapse

Having said that, I imagine the Germans are at least slightly more cognizant of the risks involved than we are.

Yeah one would think so, huh? But nope, right now nothing points to that. The last government declined to start the banning process against the AfD even tho the chances of success would have been really high. And that was a coalition of basically the labor party (as far as they think of themselves at least), the greens and some neo-lib shitheads. With the conservative government of right now? Lmao fat chance.

takeda@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 07:37 next collapse

Fuck trump, he made world less safe in so many ways and now in addition to threatening Canada and Greenland he appears to be planning to stay a war with Iran.

And get this, the excuse is because they don’t want to negotiate suspending their nuclear program after he broke previous agreement.

Djehngo@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 10:17 collapse

So my understanding is that they are the second strongest, but still at around 20% the other German parties formed a coalition that froze Afd out of power. So they are still a threat in future elections, but they have limited impact on policy for now.

Is that correct or have I got the wrong idea?

Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.org on 31 Mar 10:37 next collapse

Mostly correct yes. The main danger lies in future elections.

iLStrix@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 11:04 collapse

Yes and no. In general you are right, but there are municipalities in East Germany that had over 50% of the votes go to the AfD… which is still absolutely insane to me. I’m sure it’s the same in the USA, but cities tend to lean more left and rural regions tend to heavily favor the AfD (or slightly less/more right parties).

cm0002@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 06:38 next collapse

Germany on track for the greatest redemption arc of all time lmao

Boxscape@lemmy.sdf.org on 31 Mar 06:54 next collapse

for the first time, Germany possibly gets to be the “good guys” in a world war! Quite a turnaround.

<img alt="" src="https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/339/401/1ab.gif">

archonet@lemy.lol on 31 Mar 07:59 collapse

what is this from I must see this immediately

also, yoink. <img alt="" src="https://lemy.lol/api/v3/image_proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FMGWH1au.gif">

That is absolutely gonna be a relevant gif in the near future, I can just see it.

Boxscape@lemmy.sdf.org on 31 Mar 08:07 collapse

what is this from I must see this immediately

Danger 5

archonet@lemy.lol on 31 Mar 08:14 collapse

thaaaaank you, that’s goin’ in the seedbox

FatTony@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 08:16 next collapse

I mean, were they really The Bad Guys™ in WW1?

EddoWagt@feddit.nl on 31 Mar 08:23 next collapse

From what I understand about WW1, it was just a huge clusterfuck

wieson@feddit.org on 31 Mar 08:25 next collapse

From my point of view, everyone was the Bad Guys in ww1.

freebee@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 13:32 next collapse

No we weren’t! - Belgium.

myrrh@ttrpg.network on 31 Mar 13:48 collapse

THEN YOU ARE LOST, ANAKIN!

squishy@lemmy.zip on 31 Mar 08:30 next collapse

If they won they wouldn’t be.

NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io on 31 Mar 10:59 next collapse

The Austrians were the bad guys in WW1. Germany just played European Great Power politics like everyone else.

crushyerbones@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 13:04 collapse

Yes. There are actual letters and memos from german leadership about poking the Austrians into making the situation in Serbia worse in hopes a tiping point would give them an excuse to take swathes of Russia and France in the coming conflict.

Bonus points: methods for the handling of jews and other undesirables in the occupied lands were already being talked about

index@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 11:31 next collapse

“good guys” vs “bad guys” logic isn’t much wise. In the cold war USA and germany recycled nazi and ss members to war with russia. World governments are all corrupted and have blood on their hands, none of them is really the good guys.

seeigel@feddit.org on 31 Mar 11:52 next collapse

Because Germany is on your side?

Careful that you don’t draw the wrong conclusion.

archonet@lemy.lol on 31 Mar 12:06 collapse

who says I think Germany would be on our side?

at this rate, the US is looking more and more like it’ll jump into bed with Russia than the rest of NATO.

FenrirIII@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 15:27 next collapse
technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 31 Mar 16:14 next collapse

They’re literally supporting genocide.

archonet@lemy.lol on 31 Mar 21:41 collapse

you know that article is dated September 28th 2023, right?

now, I’m not saying Israel doesnt have a history of acting like bastards, but that’s just a wee bit before they started ethnically cleansing the Gaza strip.

gaael@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 18:35 next collapse

Remember the first persons to be harassed, assassinated, detained, sent to concentration camps were german citizen.
The first who tried to resist Hitler’s power, sabotage infrastructure, retrieve and send confidential informations to the allies were german citizen.
A lot of germans were the good guys in ww2 (and afterwards for that matter).
Whatever the conflict, let’s not forget that [country X leadership] is not the same as [country x as a whole].

nuko147@lemm.ee on 01 Apr 09:20 collapse

World war normally has not good guys. It is that Germany has gone so evil in WW2 that made all others appear the good guys. But in the end they all are evil (countries not people living in them, and no it’s not the same).

ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 05:57 next collapse

I feel like this is a good idea but I also saw what Germany did to Brazil in that World Cup and there needs to be a plan for them going too far and hurting people just for living.

[deleted] on 31 Mar 06:34 next collapse
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ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 06:40 collapse

I feel like I’m doing ok. I want the Fediverse to happen and I imagine I have way more likes than dislikes. (I don’t know how to check.)

Sometimes, jokes don’t hit. Life has upvotes and downvotes and I accept both with the zeal of a competitor.

qyron@sopuli.xyz on 31 Mar 06:50 next collapse

That’s the spirit.

But did Germany defeated Brasil in the cup?

ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 06:56 collapse

Yes. And they didn’t stop. …wikipedia.org/…/Brazil_v_Germany_(2014_FIFA_Worl…

It was mean spirited.

RamblingPanda@lemmynsfw.com on 31 Mar 07:39 next collapse

It was deserved as well. Brazil’s players were cocky as hell.

At least before the match.

qyron@sopuli.xyz on 31 Mar 08:01 next collapse

1 - 7

Bater a mortos…

idiomaddict@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 09:51 next collapse

Ehh, they scored more than half of those points within six minutes, and six out of seven within the first half hour. They stopped trying to score after halftime and dampened their post-goal celebrations. It seemed like they really weren’t trying to rub it in, but Brazil was just not being competitive.

barsoap@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 10:47 collapse

but Brazil was just not being competitive.

That’s quite the understatement: It was so bad Brazilian fans started to cheer for the German team. Which, under usual circumstances, only happens when we’re not playing against each other.

All in all it could’ve been worse for Brazil: It could have been Argentina. And it could have been better for Germany: It could have been the Dutch.

baduhai@sopuli.xyz on 31 Mar 14:29 collapse

What was mean spirited? Your joke, or Germany winning 7-1? Because I don’t think either were mean spirited, and I’m Brazilian.

ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 15:08 collapse

Germany winning 7-1. I was a neutral but kind of rooting for Brazil just to see a fun match and home fans celebrating. It’s always more fun when a team wins at home. And then minutes later. I thought “Oh no. Namar is out and Germany is the country least likely to hold back.” Brazil players looked dejected. Anyone with empathy felt for them.

[deleted] on 31 Mar 06:58 next collapse
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ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 07:07 collapse

Maybe I’m a bit contrarian, which grows old but I try to balance it with sincerity and light jokes. I don’t have any particular agenda when posting on Internet forums, to be honest.

You do you as well. I would nominate “Meh, you do you.” as the Fediverse slogan if I had such powers.

Bronzie@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 07:28 collapse

You keep doing you. I found the joke funny.

If we’re all too afraid of downvotes to post our true opinions, Lemmy will turn into another echochamber.

pwalker@discuss.tchncs.de on 31 Mar 08:23 collapse

It’s true, most of your comments seem to have a positive upvote score and therefore more upvotes than downvotes. Your Yale comment seems to have attracted the most downvotes in recent time, currently “-14” “upvotes”/points (seems that some lemmy clients just call them “points”)

So actually it seems that currently Lemmy itself doesnt support showing one users total upvotes/downvotes as this would very much resemble the reddit Karma system and they dont want that.

However as all your comments and the total sum of votes for each comment(I think also the bare numbers of upvotes/downvotes are visible via Api access) are public one could theoretically write a script or build this into a Lemmy client. However the 3 clients I just used to test this don’t support this and probably don’t want to.

spriddleriddle@feddit.org on 31 Mar 06:37 next collapse

😂

Hudell@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 01 Apr 13:05 collapse

And they did hold back that day, after the first 4 goals +/-, just to avoid embarrassing the host that much further.

Varyk@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 06:38 next collapse

Good article.

I appreciate that this was the photo the bbc chose to express German concern over US Russian relations;

<img alt="" src="https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/f26e6f63-f7e8-455a-879f-078665e44b93.png">

Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.org on 31 Mar 07:30 next collapse

I also see Putin as quite very

SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 08:27 next collapse

Very, quite

EtnaAtsume@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 09:21 next collapse

Verily

vividspecter@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 10:21 collapse

Yes, shallow and pedantic.

Mrkawfee@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 09:55 collapse

I only see Putin as “really” but then I’m not German

TheBlackLounge@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 08:03 next collapse

en.wikipedia.org/…/My_God%2C_Help_Me_to_Survive_T…

I wonder, is it meant to look like the famous graffiti?

Varyk@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 08:39 next collapse

very well could be.

I did not realize that graffiti was based on an actual photograph. <img alt="" src="https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/2eb2dd8f-6191-4393-aa59-daf8e55d2660.jpeg">

Kellamity@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 09:25 collapse
samus12345@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 14:08 next collapse

Hand way too big.

Varyk@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 18:56 collapse

great point. The orange should also be just the front of his face. the edges and neck should be his naturally translucent un-oranged wrinkly skin.

technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 31 Mar 16:13 collapse

Liberal qanon loves the homophobic conspiracies.

Varyk@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 18:54 collapse

qanon is wildly conservative.

and what’s homophobic to you about two guys kissing?

MyOpinion@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 07:10 next collapse

War is coming. Best be ready for it.

Suoko@feddit.it on 31 Mar 10:40 next collapse

Popcorn for all. New subsidies are coming, hybrid phev or bev ?

<img alt="" src="https://feddit.it/pictrs/image/12525baf-5d20-4391-9a8a-107074210d8d.jpeg">

index@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 11:40 collapse

Authoritarian governments and corrupted politicians needs people to fight their wars. War will come once enough people get brainwashed into it

wtckt@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 19:53 collapse

They already are and they’re speaking russian.

Naevermix@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 08:19 next collapse

This is not just about security, this is about safeguarding the last bastions of real democracy.

index@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 11:33 next collapse

this is about safeguarding the last bastions of real democracy

Yea sure thing…

feddit.org/post/8995350

technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 31 Mar 16:13 collapse

I think you mean white supremacy.

Trail@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 16:40 collapse

What’s your problem, dude.

MITM0@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 08:55 next collapse

Just don’t draft people & you good. A drafted military never fights well

Bashnagdul@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 10:14 collapse

Maybe, but a drafted one fights better than one that doesn’t exist.

lets_bomb_tel_aviv@lemmy.cafe on 31 Mar 10:17 next collapse

Quite the contrary.

Try to force me to carry a gun and I will use it against you.

CheeseToastie@lazysoci.al on 31 Mar 14:00 next collapse

Yep and people will fight for their own lives

MITM0@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 14:09 collapse

How about you fight instead of dragging people to die in wars witbout their consent.

Oh wait, you rather sacrifice others.

Oh & there are more desertions in a drafted military

Kusimulkku@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 14:16 next collapse

I mean I’d be there right with the other reservists fighting. Not that many options for a lot of countries, Russia is so much bigger and stronger than a lot of those bordering Russia that you need pretty much every man to do their part.

Bashnagdul@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 14:38 collapse

Don’t mistake me for saying drafting and war is good. Just that a drafted army fights better than a non existent one.

LordWiggle@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 10:10 next collapse

It feels a bit weird being on the German side for once, also their track record of succeeding isn’t that great, but I love our neighbors and I fully support them.

I’m just, sad the world is falling into another world war while we also just could be more kind and forgiving towards each other. It would save a lot of lives and leads of pain and agony.

realitista@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 10:27 next collapse

Their success rate would have been a lot higher if they had known when to stop ;-). I think if the stated goal of defending Europe from Russia doesn’t change that they have a very good chance of success given the numbers they are talking about.

gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de on 31 Mar 11:01 next collapse

The crazy thing that still makes my head spin and that I fail to process properly is that Europe would still be under Nazi regime today had they not attacked Russia … despite all the crimes. How do you deal with that? idk

Skua@kbin.earth on 31 Mar 11:19 collapse

I'm not sure it would. The Nazi economy was supported by plunder, they had to keep attacking to fund it. They couldn't get to Britain or America, and they had otherwise more or less run out of Europe.

I don't want to imagine the kind of atrocities they could have committed in the time that it would take for them to collapse, but I do think the collapse would have come

gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de on 31 Mar 21:26 collapse

thank you for that idea, that kinda calms me down a bit (actually a lot more than just a bit) :D

FireRetardant@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 11:05 collapse

I also wonder how much farther their war efforts would have gone had they not wasted time, men, and resources on ineffective warfare like that massive train driven cannon. Its a lot of effort and resources to set up double track rails just to miss most of your shots.

tacobellhop@midwest.social on 31 Mar 11:17 next collapse

They might have fared better without the meth addictions too

prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 11:31 next collapse

Generally incompetent leaders who promoted people to positions of power based on their loyalty rather than merit also.

Just the whole general way they did everything, I’d say.

Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org on 31 Mar 12:12 collapse

The opposite is probably true. The blitzkrieg strategy relied on soldiers being able to fight effectively for days on end without sleep. It definitely isn’t a sustainable way to treat your troops but it was very effective and not possible without Pervitin.

tacobellhop@midwest.social on 31 Mar 12:51 collapse

That part worked. The resultant addictions didn’t really help. Like the decisions got worse over time, even when it was a pipe dream in the first place.

FireRetardant@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 13:07 collapse

You’d almost need to take your front line troops after a few days/week of methed up raids and then put them into rehab backline labor positions. Rinse and repeat until you win the war or the troops hold a methed up mutiny.

Omgpwnies@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 14:08 collapse

methed up mutiny

Band name :)

LordWiggle@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 12:35 collapse

Or if they only focused on Brittain and didn’t invade Russia for one, especially with summer gear in winter.

Beetschnapps@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 12:16 next collapse

None of this would have been necessary if it wasn’t for republicans.

LordWiggle@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 12:38 next collapse

Not just republicans. Democrats in the US are right wing too. The entire country is fucked up, the reps just speed up the process exponentially. But don’t forget the most immigrants who have been thrown out was during Obama and Biden. Biden supported Israel too, with loads of weapons.

MehBlah@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 13:58 collapse

I call them the Republicrats and get attacked as being a centrist. That is the perversion of this situation is that I don’t think either part of our one party system give two shits about me. The only thing about the democrat faction is they are not trying to put people in real cages. Just trap them in wage slavery.

LordWiggle@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 16:27 collapse

Right… As if incarceration didn’t increase during dems terms. As if there weren’t crimes against humanity in prisons and detention centers thanks to dems.

MehBlah@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 21:26 collapse

Its been increasing no matter who has been in office as long as I have been alive. Its never gone down. So your point to me is meaningless.

LordWiggle@lemmy.world on 01 Apr 07:53 collapse

It actually went down during Trumps first term. That fucking idiot even failed in the thing he wanted most.

redwattlebird@lemmings.world on 31 Mar 21:53 collapse

If only American OPSEC was clean.

MehBlah@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 13:56 next collapse

They are good as long as they don’t have a demented drug user has their leader.

LordWiggle@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 16:24 collapse

Check, no Adolf Musk as bundeskanzler

MehBlah@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 21:27 collapse

Trump did so much blow that his asshole fell off.

LittleBorat3@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 14:08 next collapse

So yes forgiving and all that. Here are the steps: 1 Putin removes his troops from the occupied territories 2 he apologizes 3 maybe someone forgives him.

LordWiggle@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 16:30 collapse

Well yeah, but what I wished was that he wouldn’t have invaded in the first place, no totalitarian rulers, no people declaring wars as a dick measuring contest. No Putin in the first place. Putin will never give up and apologize, but hopefully he dies and his replacement would retreat, apologize and help Ukraine fix their country. But the chance of that happening is little to none, the next in line is probably just as bad as Putler.

frog_brawler@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 14:40 next collapse

There’s a lot of money to be made from a war.

LordWiggle@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 16:31 collapse

Yet it costs much more, and not just money.

ThomasCrappersGhost@feddit.uk on 31 Mar 17:31 collapse

USAmerica has made shit loads off war.

LordWiggle@lemmy.world on 01 Apr 07:50 collapse

And the rest of the world had to pay for it.

technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 31 Mar 16:11 next collapse

It feels a bit weird being on the German side for once

It should feel “weird” to support genocide.

LordWiggle@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 16:38 collapse

That doesn’t feel weird, it feels totally fucked up. The Dutch government is the same, maybe not as bad as Germany but still. There’s a ban on supplying them with weapons, but the Dutch government is finding loopholes to do it anyway. I’m totally disgusted by it. Fuck Israel, bunch of fucking nazis. Out of everyone on this planet, especially them should know better.

njm1314@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 17:44 next collapse

I mean the track record is pretty good as long as you don’t just stop at the 20th century.

LordWiggle@lemmy.world on 01 Apr 08:02 collapse

There were no world wars pre 20th century. But yeah, Germany, Prussia and the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation were pretty successful pre 20th century.

njm1314@lemmy.world on 01 Apr 14:06 collapse

They were actually multiple world Wars pre 20th century.

Gammelfisch@lemmy.world on 01 Apr 02:59 collapse

We are not the same Germany, with exception to the Prussian military discipline that is buried deep within us. Thanks to morons in DC and Moscow, they are forcing to break the pacifistic dam that we were force to build post WW II.

Phoenix3875@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 10:14 next collapse

A bit concerning if an AfD take-over can’t be completely ruled out.

rippersnapper@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 10:44 next collapse

Yeah I’m a bit tired of bought out politicians dismantling a country from the inside.

Probably the biggest loophole that HAS to be fixed!

madcaesar@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 11:16 collapse

The biggest problem with democracy is that voting isn’t mandatory, and 25% of any population is dumb as bricks.

waxy@lemmy.ca on 31 Mar 16:14 collapse

I would estimate the number is higher than 25% (and growing all the time)

index@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 11:37 next collapse

That’s one of the reason governments shouldn’t have any power. Good luck when in the nearby future adolf hitler II becomes the president of a police state with an army ready for war…

hanrahan@slrpnk.net on 31 Mar 11:42 collapse

It’s already hapoened in the US.

A_norny_mousse@feddit.org on 31 Mar 15:46 next collapse

In 4 years. But still, shit. Hadn’t even thought about it.

shalafi@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 16:35 collapse

The AfD may be hard right but I can’t see any Germans getting in bed with Russia.

njm1314@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 17:45 collapse

The AfD is in bed with Russia though.

Spacehooks@reddthat.com on 31 Mar 10:26 next collapse

O great the host is ready to play.

index@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 11:25 next collapse

It didn’t take much for people to get brainwashed into war all over again

theanarchistlibrary.org/…/emma-goldman-preparedne…

all4theTomatoes@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 12:25 next collapse

Man what a great read, we really need more people like Emma Goldman these days.

Kusimulkku@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 14:18 collapse

I’m not sure what else those under threat of attack should do than to try and best prepare for it. Germany isn’t the first target that comes to mind but still.

index@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 18:34 collapse

Europe spend billions on war already, they are already prepared for it and practice a war every year

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steadfast_Defender_2024

Kusimulkku@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 18:55 collapse

And Germany needs to spend more to get their shit in order. Right now their military is in a very poor shape.

You don’t defend your country or help your allies by just pointing at a balance sheet.

index@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 19:16 collapse

They spend billions each year their shit is already in order

Kusimulkku@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 19:55 collapse

They’re spending billions on military pensions alone. Doesn’t do anything for their military capability. They’ve been chronically underspending for decades and it has deteriorated their capabilities. And it’s understandble, times have been good and USA was a good strong partner. Things have unfortunately changed. What they need money now is modernization, new purchases, development, all sorts of things to actually make the military a respectable defence force.

You don’t fight a war with receipts.

index@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 20:19 collapse

Who are you supposed to fight a war to begin with?

Germany is not the only country in the world spending money on military pensions.

Kusimulkku@lemm.ee on 01 Apr 02:48 collapse

Gee I wonder who might be the threat here.

Germany is not the only country in the world spending money on military pensions.

No but if they are spending a lot of money on it, by your logic they must have a a very capable military.

baggachipz@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 13:57 next collapse

Germany, Italy, and Japan go to war against Russia and the US. Only this time the former group is the Good Guys.

Revan343@lemmy.ca on 31 Mar 14:40 next collapse

Pearl Harbour 2 is gonna be sick

Dozzi92@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 16:17 collapse

Starring Cuba Gooding Junior Jr.

OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml on 31 Mar 17:17 next collapse

Only this time the former group is the Good Guys.

Propaganda is crazy

baggachipz@sh.itjust.works on 31 Mar 17:20 collapse

You’re not suggesting that the Axis powers were the Good Guys in WW2, are you?

[deleted] on 31 Mar 17:36 collapse
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njm1314@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 17:43 collapse

I think you skipped over a comment in that chain.

kiagam@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 17:45 collapse

You’re right, thanks

nomugisan@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 31 Mar 17:24 next collapse

There are no good guys in war

tehn00bi@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 17:32 next collapse

Only this time they don’t have enough population to left to fight.

3laws@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 21:57 next collapse

Italy has a grotesque far right wave RN, they are not the good guys still. Japan is not progressive enough compared to Germany, but I can believe Germany is far removed from being as much as a bad guy compared to the USA & Russia today.

MisterFrog@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 22:52 next collapse

Japan has never really reckoned with its past. They were just pacified.

I judge the country as a whole for this, since they keep electing politicians who continue to do very little to reckon with their past.

I feel a lot could be gained by apologising to the people and nations for the past, and nothing lost, other than nationalistic pride, bring forced into self reflection, and being genuinely sorry on behalf of the country.

People who think they shouldn’t apologise because it wasn’t them personally are stupid, frankly, and standing in the way of reducing tensions.

Will it fix everything in the region? No. Will it take some of the steam out of the war machine? Probably.

Gammelfisch@lemmy.world on 01 Apr 02:56 collapse

Is that why Japan is the only WW II participant who has not fired a shot in anger since August 1945? Japan learned, the rest of you fucks failed miserably and continue to do so.

MisterFrog@lemmy.world on 01 Apr 07:32 collapse

Oh don’t get me wrong. The strong adherence to pacifism is laudable. But they have not reckoned with their atrocities committed during and prior world war II. They practically deny them ever happening.

Your whataboutism is not appreciated.

macaw_dean_settle@lemmy.world on 01 Apr 01:46 next collapse

They are not Registered Nurses.

Gammelfisch@lemmy.world on 01 Apr 02:54 collapse

I do not want the Italians and Hungarians on my flanks.

UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world on 01 Apr 13:38 next collapse

Go back to WW1 and you’ll have a hard time pointing to good guys. Even WW2 was heavily sketch. The US was halfway in bed with the Nazis under Hoover and only at odds with Japan because it was encroaching on the British opium trade through Hong Kong and Shanghai.

These wars were, at their hearts, the end consequences of a century of industrial imperialism. The good guys were in Latin America and North Africa and the South Pacific, fighting for their independence and sovereignty.

baggachipz@sh.itjust.works on 01 Apr 13:40 next collapse

You’re taking my shitpost comment way too seriously.

Blackmist@feddit.uk on 01 Apr 19:42 collapse

Lieutenant George: The war started because of the vile Hun and his villainous empire-building.

Captain Blackadder: George, the British Empire at present covers a quarter of the globe, while the German Empire consists of a small sausage factory in Tanganiki. I hardly think that we can be entirely absolved of blame on the imperialistic front.

Agent641@lemmy.world on 01 Apr 13:53 collapse

It’s the Terminator 2: Judgement Day of wars.

kandoh@reddthat.com on 31 Mar 14:02 next collapse

What the hell is with the Germans and austerity? They’ve been holding their own country back for over 15 years

technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 31 Mar 16:09 collapse

Germany abdicated their monetary sovereignty to the EU, thus impoverishing themselves in service to international capital.

But their punishment and exploitation is nothing compared to Greece, etc.

shalafi@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 16:34 collapse

I thought Germany was the EU’s economic powerhouse? No?

HighFructoseLowStand@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 17:34 collapse

It is.

raod_guitar@feddit.org on 31 Mar 14:21 next collapse

Finally back to the ostfront again!

technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 31 Mar 16:08 next collapse

Dear imperial media… You talking about this Germany?

They didn’t leave history in the past. They’ve been supporting genocide ever since.

wtckt@lemm.ee on 31 Mar 19:51 collapse

Oh yeah. That’s it. They’re morally bankrupt. They shouldn’t be allowed to defend against a lighthouse for human rights and ethical behaviour such as Russia. Imperial media. Lol.

TylerBourbon@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 17:49 next collapse

I don’t see this as Germany leaving history in the past, but being smart to protect their future so the that the lessons of the past mean something.

IndustryStandard@lemmy.world on 01 Apr 20:08 collapse

Germans are on track to elect the AfD. Do you think them having a 500 Billion dollar army is a good plan?

Ponygirl42@lemmy.wtf on 31 Mar 18:06 next collapse

Sad to read that people are ok with this.

Stop contributing to rich people bullshit and step out of the system. Every other move will get us all killed.

OmegaLemmy@discuss.online on 01 Apr 08:20 collapse

That suggests you have an alternative, care sharing?

Ponygirl42@lemmy.wtf on 01 Apr 08:54 collapse

Yes. Dying for peace is way better than dying for war. Also stop buying shit, stop paying taxes, build and support alternative networks. Educate yourself and especially the young people around you. Stop building walls, start building bridges. The system only “works” because we believe it does.

OmegaLemmy@discuss.online on 01 Apr 12:40 collapse

Oh, you’re suggesting an anarcho commune.

I’m sure those will work.

Ponygirl42@lemmy.wtf on 01 Apr 16:42 collapse

will war work? No it wont so better to try something different.

Also no i do not mean an anarcho commune. But hey all is better than the slaughter for money we have at the moment.

PumpkinSkink@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 18:46 next collapse

Great powers rearming will not be good for anyone no matter what the context is around it. After Napoleon, European leaders were so afraid of war between great powers that they avoided it for 100 years. The moment they let their guard up we got WW1. The weapons do not make us safer. Don’t think for a moment it can’t happen again.

ynthrepic@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 19:31 next collapse

Neither does passivism though. If everyone around you is losing your mind, you either give up your freedom and very possibly your life, or you fight.

The only reason no other great power has needed a fully prepared military is because of US leadership. That can’t be trusted now, so here we are.

zaphod@sopuli.xyz on 31 Mar 20:19 collapse

After Napoleon, European leaders were so afraid of war between great powers that they avoided it for 100 years.

What kind of bullshit is this? The napoleonic wars were over in 1815. In 1866 there war the austro-prussian war, in 1870 the franco-german war. That’s barely 50 years, and those wars are just those I remember from history class. I’m sure there were more in between. Or are we talking Napoleon III who was deposed in the franco-german war in 1870? Well I’m pretty sure in the 100 years since then Napoleon there were some even bigger wars.

FuckFascism@lemmy.world on 31 Mar 19:10 next collapse

Misleading title ass click bait type shit.

Gammelfisch@lemmy.world on 01 Apr 03:03 next collapse

What choice do we have? I would focus on improving everything for the regulars and copy the Finnish reserve system.

[deleted] on 01 Apr 19:23 next collapse
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[deleted] on 01 Apr 19:38 collapse
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finitebanjo@lemmy.world on 01 Apr 19:51 next collapse

I foresee a non-zero chance that this could backfire and their new ever-expanding military budget gets used on smaller weaker nations and then as an excuse to divert funding away from services that people actually rely on.

IndustryStandard@lemmy.world on 01 Apr 20:07 collapse

Germant repeats history. More news at 11.