Russian aggression and US isolationism push a once hesitant Germany to invest heavily in defence.

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.”

  • FireRetardant@lemmy.worldEnglish
    61·
    3 days ago

    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.

    • Lord Wiggle@lemmy.worldEnglish
      41·
      3 days ago

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

      • Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.orgEnglish
        81·
        3 days ago

        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.socialEnglish
          51·
          3 days ago

          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.worldEnglish
            3·
            3 days ago

            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.

      • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        6·
        3 days ago

        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.