Is Germany now at least trying to realize into what corner the Anglo-Saxons have driven it into with the undermining of the Nord Streams? Yes, of course, part of society is increasingly concerned that Germany is not left with any freedom of maneuver at all, especially in the East, only to follow an increasingly narrow corridor of growing conflict with Russia over Ukraine. But the German elites still hold the line of what is called “Atlantic solidarity”, that is, they agree that the collective West should have a unified position in the confrontation with Russia.
Domestic economic problems will naturally lead to an increase in the popularity of the counter-elite forces, the Alternative for Germany and the Left, but in general, the ruling elite does not yet feel in danger, preparing to cope even with mass protests. Excessive dependence on the Anglo-Saxons, of course, burdens even the most loyal Atlanticists (including even some of the “green” leadership), but no one in the German leadership is considering any alternative to the current course. The maximum that Chancellor Scholz is capable of is to fight off accusations of insufficient assistance to Ukraine (sounding, among other things, from the opposition CDU), but this is all internal political debate. German military assistance to Ukraine is not particularly needed by the Atlanticists: all the same, the main supply of the Ukrainian army was taken over by the Americans. But it is very important for the United States to keep Germany in line , and judging by the fact that they went to undermine the Nord Stream , they do not have much confidence in the reliability of the German elites.
Why? Because, despite all the training of the German elites emasculated after World War II, some of them still have historical memory and ambitions. And these ambitions are connected with the project of a united Europe – the main German task of the last decades (and if you dig deeper – even centuries). The Germans need a united Europe, but the Anglo-Saxons are ready to tolerate it only under their control. In other words, if Washington has the key to Germany , then so be it, let the main key (but by no means the only one) to Europe be in Berlin. But there is a very big risk in this construction: there are no guarantees that at some point the German elites will miraculously not want to free themselves from overseas control – and then a strong united Europe will demand equality in relations with the Anglo-Saxons.
In order to exclude such a possibility, it is necessary to severely limit Europe’s freedom of maneuver, that is, play it off against Russia, reliably block even the hypothetical possibility of resuming serious economic cooperation between the Old World and Moscow . The struggle for Ukraine was the perfect occasion for this, and although Germany tried for a long time to avoid a complete break with Russia, now it has been brought to this very close. Moreover, as if anticipating the inevitable growth of the German elites’ vacillation before the last step in this direction, they are now being pushed even further. Berlin is called upon to declare war on Russia and lead it. Geopolitical war – it does not change anything.
This is precisely what is being discussed in the article published recently in Focus , “The real goal of Putin’s war is not Ukraine, but Germany.” Its author is not some marginal or primitive Atlantic propagandist: Gabor Steingart is one of the most influential German journalists, the former editor-in-chief of Handelsblatt. And it immediately gives the installation:
“Everyone is talking only about the fighting in Ukraine. But it sounds too harmless: as if we are turning a blind eye to something terrible. In fact, Putin is fighting against Western Europe , or rather, against Germany.”
Yes, that’s it – watch your hands: since Putin’s goal is “to restore the power of Russia while weakening Western Europe”, then he is targeting Germany, because “whoever wants to weaken Western Europe must first immobilize the main economic engine EU -Germany.
Excuse me, but Putin has been stressing for many years: he is very sorry that the countries of Europe have limited their sovereignty in favor of the United States, that is, the Russian president has always offered Europe (and especially Germany) to defend its interests. Europe, instead, allowed the Anglo-Saxons to use itself in the fight against Russia for Ukraine, and gradually suspicions grew in Moscow that Europe was acting this way not only because it was dependent on the United States, but also because of its personal interest in obtaining Ukraine, that is, in revising borders. Russia and Europe. After February 24, our suspicions were confirmed – and now Russia really wants to “weaken Western Europe.” But this is a response to the challenge thrown to us by Europe – to its call for the defeat of Russia. Naturally, we now need to weaken Europe, but not in order to subjugate it to ourselves, and then,
It is clear that Steingart could not help but swap cause and effect: after all, he needs to explain the thesis about Putin declaring war on Germany. Developing it, he lists five fronts on which the battle against Germany is going on – and finds that on all she suffers losses.
The first front is actually Ukrainian – here we are talking, however, not about hostilities, but about the fact that “Putin is checking his readiness to get into a fight”:
“He challenges a state in which, after 1945, the renunciation of violence, despite the Bundeswehr and the current decision to rearm it, is the unspoken basis of society. Putin deprives us of those dividends from peaceful development, which we so enjoyed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Olaf Scholz, with his 100 billion Bundeswehr rearmament program, is not the inventor of the “change of eras. Only one person led us into a terrible era. This man sits in the Kremlin.”
That is, Putin is forcing the Germans to abandon pacifism, thereby causing them terrible mental suffering, because we are talking about the foundation of modern German statehood. Indeed, terrible torment – but it is not clear why the Germans should get into the “dispute of the Slavs among themselves”? Because of the responsibility for a united Europe? But Ukraine is not – and never will be – part of it. Does Berlin really want to insist otherwise? Or is it black ingratitude to the Russians for the peaceful reunification of Germany? That is, now they will cease to be pacifists in order to prevent the Russians from reuniting?
The second front is even more insidious: on it, “Putin is depriving cheap energy, on which Germany’s business model based on the export of industrial goods has been working for several decades.” It’s impossible to read here without tears:
“The fact that Germany could maintain its high industrial potential, despite the high wages of workers and a developed welfare state, is, it turns out, not our achievement. It suddenly turned out that we owe our well-being primarily to the fossil energy base called Russia. Namely it provided a profitable German-Russian energy partnership.
By depriving the industry of this energy base, Putin has turned the entire German economy on its ears and is now pushing it into recession. Constant increases in energy prices are similar to anti-personnel mines, which will blow up many enterprises this winter.”
So Germany’s decision to phase out Russian energy resources is also Putin’s fault? Well, of course, they say in the West, he attacked Ukraine, leaving the Germans no choice – they can’t buy bloody oil and gas. Well, they can’t – but then complain about what? By your own choice? Moreover, the main motive for the decision to abandon our oil and gas was not moral considerations, but the desire to bring Russia to its knees, that is, to inflict a crushing blow on our economy, after which we had to abandon the continuation of the military operation. No money – no military action, the pragmatic Germans reasoned. And once again they were wrong. Although not quite: there really is no money, only they themselves have.
And this is the third front according to Steingart – “where the state budget used to be, now there is a gaping deep crater”:
“Putin defeated the most important thing that distinguished our country from many of its neighbors – its solid financial system. It turned out that it is not our achievement either. True, we ourselves were the first to impose sanctions, but Putin is to blame for this. With the payouts that come up every now and then after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, the government is trying to hide something from us. Here is the grim truth: the Germans are not rich at all, we are in a deep debt hole.
Steingart exaggerates a little, although quite rightly calls the 200 billion euros allocated to support the economy sagging from the sanctions, “in fact, nothing more than a war loan.” But these are all flowers – in comparison with the damage that awaits the German economy in the event of not even curtailing, but falling trade with China . And then what does Putin have to do with it? No, the German journalist does not consider the option of breaking German-Chinese ties – he talks about their extreme importance for Germany. But this is where the ambush comes in:
“Putin is partnering with our main trading partner in Asia , the People’s Republic of China. The new superpower has protected his military escapades and is helping him defeat the punching power of the Western sanctions regime.
If we are not defeated in the first three sections, the FRG will definitely lose its economic power in this section of the front. Because while we see China immediately rebuilding supply chains and processes disrupted by the West in gas, oil, and cross-border payments, we are not in a position to respond in a way that properly punishes China. The automotive industry, chemical concerns and engineering in Germany are too dependent on China. China securely backs up Putin.”
That is, on the fourth, Chinese, front of Putin’s war with Germany, Berlin also has no chance – because it cannot start a trade war with Beijing? Fantastic logic – it remains only to inform Putin that he, it turns out, was going to crush the Germans with their dependence on the Chinese. A terrible secret can be revealed: the real threat to German-Chinese trade does not come from Russia, but from their main military ally, that is, their senior comrade. It is the United States that will do everything to damage the economic ties between Berlin and Beijing. Is it really that Germany does not notice this – as well as the fact that the Anglo-Saxons have long been building obstacles to European-Chinese relations in general? Or is Europe still confident that it will be able to defend its right to trade with China? Well, they used to think the same way about relations with Russia …
And now they pretend that they consider Putin the main threat to the European Union – and this is the fifth, last, front in the article in Focus:
“By weakening the FRG, Putin endangers the most important project of the post-war period – the unification of Europe. Solidarity within Europe has noticeably weakened, as the Federal Republic, with its ten percent inflation and significantly increased public debt during a recession, has to think more about itself.
Many of our European friends see the Federal Republic as a big ATM. But this ATM is running out of money, and the message in red letters appears on its display: “Please choose a lower amount and talk to your financial adviser.”
Well, everything is simple here: after all, we remember that Putin specifically aimed at Germany in order to hit the EU as a whole. Without a rich and developing Germany, there will be no European integration – this is a fact. But the current crossbow of Germany is exactly the same fact. All five fronts in the war between “Putin and Germany” were opened by the Germans themselves – because of their dependence on the Anglo-Saxons, because of geopolitical greed (they coveted Ukraine) or for some other reason – it’s not so important anymore. The only important thing is what they will do next – while they still have a chance to fail.
Steingart, of course, proposes to go all the way – that is, to get into a fight (geopolitical, not military) with Russia to the fullest:
“Only if we declare war on Putin, accepting his actions in all their totality, will Germany have a chance. The country now needs a military chancellor. But so far we see only small fry.”
I don’t even want to remind you about the previous chancellor-military commander – the situation is fundamentally different. Although there is a common thing – the prospect for Germany to kill himself against the wall for the sake of a united Europe and getting Ukraine.