German General Major Christian Freuding, left, who is in charge of the German Bundeswehr\u2019s (army) \u201cSituation Command Ukraine\u201d photographed on May 9 shaking hands with the Ukrainian Neo-Nazi commander Oleg Romanov<\/p>\n
With the appointment of Lieutenant General Christian Freuding as the new Inspector of the Army, the highest-ranking officer of the military brass, the German government has taken another step in its aggressive rearmament and war preparations.<\/p>\n
Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (Social Democratic Party, SPD) praised Freuding as the \u201cgeneral of the\u00a0new era<\/a>\u201d and the \u201chead of German Ukraine policy.\u201d Freuding represents a new generation of officers who are not merely ready but eager to wage war. His appointment comes at a time when the German and European bourgeoisie are rapidly preparing for a major conflict\u2014against Russia abroad and against their own population at home.<\/p>\n This development parallels that in the United States. At the end of September, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth\u00a0assembled hundreds of generals<\/a>\u00a0at a military base near Washington D.C. to invoke the so-called \u201cwarrior ethos\u201d\u2014an open call to arms against Russia, China and ultimately any domestic opposition. Germany\u2019s ruling class is moving along the same lines.<\/p>\n The German cabinet recently adopted the Military Security Act, granting the army sweeping powers for deployment at home. It authorises not only the use of armed drones but also expands soldiers\u2019 authority to carry out searches, arrests and other measures against civilians. Recent exercises, such as those held in\u00a0Hamburg<\/a>, show that the Bundeswehr (Armed Forces) are already training for operations inside the country\u2014a development that like the preparations for war against Russia recalls the darkest chapters of German history.<\/p>\n Freuding himself personifies this new, aggressive course. His first order of the day reads like a document from Hitler\u2019s Wehrmacht command before 1939:<\/p>\n Demanding tasks lie ahead of us. We must further improve our operational readiness. We want to finally achieve full materiel equipment. We must also grow in personnel. \u2026 We will establish new units and major formations\u2014first and foremost our 45th Armoured Brigade in Lithuania. \u2026 We will immediately develop and expand urgently needed capabilities, such as combat with and against drones. \u2026 The enemy will not wait for our \u201cready\u201d report.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n He continues, \u201cI want to work for an army that is ready to fight, that prevails, that wins.\u201d<\/p>\n This militaristic language is no accident. It reflects the mentality of an officer corps that openly speaks of an \u201cenemy\u201d and aims to transform the Bundeswehr into a \u201ccombat-ready army.\u201d Freuding\u2019s task is the practical implementation of Germany\u2019s war strategy against Russia\u2014including the deployment of an armoured brigade in Lithuania, directly on Russia\u2019s border.<\/p>\n Previously, Freuding headed the Ukraine Situation Centre in the Defence Ministry and is regarded as an architect of Germany\u2019s military support for Kiev. On May 9\u2014Victory Day marking the Red Army\u2019s defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945\u2014he was\u00a0photographed shaking hands with Ukrainian neo-Nazi commander Oleg Romanov<\/a>, who leads the fascist \u201cPaskuda\u201d unit within the Ukrainian armed forces. That Freuding chose this day to associate himself with such forces was a deliberate provocation, symbolising the continuity of German militarism\u2014the ideological and political link to those who fought alongside Hitler\u2019s Wehrmacht against the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n Freuding\u2019s talk of \u201ccombat\u201d and \u201cvictory\u201d ties directly to the worst traditions of German imperialism. In both world wars, Berlin\u2019s central aims were the domination of Eastern Europe, control over resource-rich Ukraine, and the subjugation of Russia. Today, this same geopolitical madness is being pursued under the slogans of \u201cfreedom\u201d and \u201cdeterrence.\u201d<\/p>\n The resurgence of German militarism is not accidental but the product of capitalism\u2019s deep crisis. The ruling class is responding to growing great-power conflicts, extreme social inequality and working class resistance by turning to war abroad and repression at home. Driven by these objective forces, it can only move faster down this path.<\/p>\n A commentary published October 7 on the Bundeswehr Association\u2019s website by former Bundestag Armed Forces Commissioner Hans-Peter Bartels (SPD) titled \u201cOperation Eastern Flank 2029\u2013or sooner?\u201d speculates whether Germany might be \u201cseriously challenged\u201d by Russia before 2029. The \u201ctime factor,\u201d he argues, was therefore crucial.<\/p>\n Bartels bases his confidence on the \u201creality of the government\u2019s official financial plan\u201d\u2014that is, the \u20ac1 trillion in war credits backed by all parties in the Bundestag (parliament). These will raise the regular defence budget to 3.5 percent of GDP (\u20ac153 billion) by 2029 and later to 5 percent (over \u20ac220 billion). This constitutes the largest rearmament and war offensive since Hitler.<\/p>\n \u201cEven the mere announcements of orders send a signal to Moscow,\u201d Bartels enthuses, before listing:<\/p>\n 1,000 Leopard tanks, 5,000 Boxers, 600 Skyrangers, additional Pumas, wheeled howitzers, loitering munitions, drones, satellites, digital radios and combat-cloud systems, stealth bombers and Eurofighters, 14 new frigates, a doubling of the submarine fleet, a tripling of ground-based air defence, land-and sea-based missile defence, and deep-precision-strike weapons.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cIt almost looks,\u201d Bartels concludes, \u201cas if the Bundeswehr is being re-founded these days\u2014stronger, more modern\u2014and it must happen quickly!\u201d<\/p>\n At a Defence Ministry conference on Tuesday, Pistorius announced plans to build new barracks \u201clike on a production line\u201d to accommodate the planned expansion of the army. \u201cFor the new military service alone, we will need around 40,000 additional beds for recruits and for soldiers in active units in the coming years,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n\n
\n