Will the West’s Paranoia of Russia Destroy the World?

April 6, 2025

Paul Craig Roberts 

Do you remember the James Bond film in which a deranged Soviet General wanted to launch a nuclear war, or Dr. Strangelove, an American deranged general who wanted to do the same?  Well, Dr. Strangelove is still with us, but he is no longer considered insane.

In today’s Pentagon spreading nuclear weapons among allies who lack them in order to conduct an even larger nuclear war is just good war planning. On April 1, and unfortunately it wasn’t an April Fool’s joke, the nominee as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, said that the United States was ready to consider entering into nuclear sharing agreements with more of the country’s NATO allies. “From a military perspective, expanding NATO allies’ participation in the nuclear deterrence mission in some capacity would enhance flexibility, survivability, and military capability. If confirmed, I will work… to evaluate the cost/benefit of such a decision.” https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/next-pentagon-chief-confirms-willingness-provide-more-allies-nuclear-attack 

The nominee said that another benefit of providing nuclear weapons to NATO members who don’t have them is to prevent nuclear proliferation resulting from acquiring them on their own. If too many of our allies have the weapons, the US would not be able to manage the escalation risk.

What Caine said makes sense.  We do not want Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, or Poland launching a nuclear war.  

But what this common sense hides is the absurdity of “managing nuclear war.”

There is a consensus, or close to one, that nuclear war would be lethal to life on the planet.  It calls to mind the novel, A Canticle for Leibowitz, with the spaceship loading with human, animal, and plant life for a distant planet in a short period of time remaining prior to nuclear armageddon on earth.

It is, of course, the Pentagon’s job to be prepared for war.  But as the war the Pentagon is preparing for is unwinnable, why not attempt to prepare for peace?  What cause is worth fighting for it if results in the death of planet Earth?

These thoughts entered the mind of President John F. Kennedy.  JFK had campaigned as a Cold Warrior proclaiming a “missile gap.”  Somehow President Eisenhower, World War II hero and 5-star general had let the Soviets get ahead of us.  Kennedy was rescued from his delusion by the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of Pigs.  He refused the request to allow the US Air Force to support the CIA’s Cuban refugee army’s invasion of Cuba. He refused the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s “Northwoods Project” ( https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/news/20010430/northwoods.pdf ), which called for the US Air Force to shoot down US passenger airliners, staff boats of refugees from Cuba to Florida, and kill Americans on the streets of Miami and Washington, D.C., and blame Castro as justification for a US invasion of Cuba. He rejected the Joint Chiefs of Staff plan for nuclear attack on the Soviet Union.  All of this information is publicly available, but few are aware of it.

Kennedy worked behind the scenes with Soviet leader Khrushchev to defuse the dangerous situation.  Instead of recognizing Kennedy’s leadership, the US military/security complex saw Kennedy as “soft on communism,” a traitor-in-the-making to America who had to be removed from office.  As Kennedy was popular, assassination was the solution.

I agree with James Douglas, Oliver Stone, and all the rest that Kennedy was murdered by the US Security State.  Where I depart from them is over whether it should have been revealed or covered up.  Here facts are not the issue, just judgment, and judgment is not infallible.

I do not believe that anyone on the Warren Commission believed the report.  The entire purpose of the report was to protect the American public from losing confidence in their own government in the midst of a dangerous Cold War with a nuclear-armed opponent in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis and Bay of Pigs. With the balance of power in the world at stake, the United States would have been harmed by official admission that the security agencies of the US government had assassinated its own president.

I agree that today six decades after JFK’s assassination, the truth, long proven by independent investigators, could be officially recognized, and perhaps it will be.

What I will address instead is how the truth could have presented in 1963 if only the American government were up to the task.

Once sworn in, Lyndon Johnson could have said something along the following lines:

“Dear fellow Americans, Our inordinate paranoia, our fear, of the Soviet Union has resulted in our President’s death at the hands of the CIA, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secret Service, because President Kennedy’s efforts to reduce the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union that very recently brought the world close to nuclear war were misperceived by our protective agencies as a sign of dangerous and unwarranted trust in our enemy that left us exposed to nuclear attack. President Kennedy was seen as soft on Communism and possibly a traitor. 

“The fault is not in the CIA and the Joint Chiefs.  The fault is in the Cold War and the deployment of immensely destructive nuclear weapons.  This threat is real, and it must be eliminated.  Our most urgent task is not to prosecute our protective agencies for their misjudgment but to terminate the Cold War and ban the existence of nuclear weapons. Our challenge is to learn how to get along, not how to kill one another.  The tragedy and our grief over our President’s assassination is the fruit of our own paranoia.  Our job is to substitute mutual understaffing and trust for fear and mistrust.  If not, sooner or later the disastrous weapons will be used.”

Nothing like this could happen, because too many people and interests had a stake in an ongoing conflict.  The assassination of JFK put Johnson in the presidency.  It benefitted the power and budget of the military/security complex by blaming the assassination on Oswald, a Soviet agent.  For the Joint Chiefs and the CIA that was a wonderful outcome.  What did they have to gain from Johnson telling the truth and continuing Kennedy’s efforts to reduce hysteria and threats?  When vision was needed, it wasn’t there.

Most disasters in history result from people being incapable of making the right decisions.  Today it is Trump and Putin who are being tested.  How much confidence can we have in either?

source:

https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2025/04/06/.

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Europe Cultivates a Climate of Crisis

Europe Cultivates a Climate of Crisis

By Richard Palmer • March 27, 2025

All European Union residents should stock three days’ worth of emergency supplies, the EU urged its citizens yesterday. Have at least six liters of water per person, tinned food, a flashlight, a radio with batteries and a printed emergency plan, it advised.

The warning comes a week after French media reported the government was planning to mail a 20-page survival booklet to every home before the summer. It will give emergency phone numbers and radio channels, advice on dealing with a nuclear attack, and details on how to sign up for reserve units or local firefighting groups. It will also advise citizens to put together a similar three-day survival pack.

Why the sudden interest in disaster response in Europe?

It is tied to Europe’s efforts to rearm.

Europe wants to embark on a massive military spending spree. But only Germany with its low debt can do so easily. Everyone else is close to maxing out their credit cards.

The only way to substantially boost that spending is to make painful cutbacks, such as fewer unemployment benefits, higher pension ages or less health-care spending.

In France in particular, this debate is toxic. The public likes the sound of a more muscular European military. But it doesn’t want to suffer to pay for it.

European leaders need to cultivate a climate of crisis. This new push toward survivalism helps spread the message that nuclear war is a real danger.

Pointing this out is not saying there is no danger. But without the nudge, Europe’s citizens don’t feel they are in enough danger to make large sacrifices for a military.

Eastern Europe does. It is closer to Russia. Lithuania sent out survival manuals in 2016. Latvia published one five years ago and updated it a year ago. Poland published one in 2022. Denmark sent one out digitally last summer. Finland and Sweden sent them out last November. All of these countries have dramatically increased their defense spending; Poland’s has roughly doubled since 2022.

But the French don’t really fear Russian troops marching down the streets of Paris. If the Russians failed to take Kyiv, Ukraine, in three years, they are not going 1,000 miles further west anytime soon.

Europe genuinely fears Russia and fears facing the world without the United States defending it. But there is clearly something more going on: EU leaders want to encourage a sense of crisis to get the military they want. European remilitarization isn’t driven only by fear. Some are creating an opportunity to do what they’ve wanted to do for years.

In 1978, Herbert W. Armstrong wrote: “Europeans want their own united military power! They know that a political union of Europe would produce a third major world power, as strong as either the United States or the ussr—possibly stronger!”

In that same article, he discussed Europe’s fear of Russia, but he warned, “The United States is not loved in Europe.” Europe wants this military power so it no longer has to play second fiddle to the U.S.

Mr. Armstrong forecast this decades ago because it is prophesied in your Bible. Now Europe is making it happen and the U.S. is cheering it on. Europe has benefited from decades of U.S. taxpayers footing its defense bill. But those in Europe pushing for rearmament aren’t doing it because they want to be good U.S. allies. They resent America.

You need to understand the biblical warning. This European power will catch far too many people unawares.

This rearmament has hit some major obstacles already: Some say it has run out of steam as indebted nations struggle to raise cash for more arms. But Bible prophecy also shows that the rise of a new Holy Roman Empire will not be an easy process. It will happen quickly and suddenly. But what emerges is a 10-nation superpower led by a strongman—not a 27-nation economic union led by three different presidencies and a few committees.

Now is the time to watch the rise of this power and understand those prophecies. Our latest Trumpet issue, “Up in Arms,” has articles explaining Europe’s sudden military rise, how Germany is about to get a strongman, and why it already dominates the Mediterranean Sea. 

You can read it online here

source:

https://thetrumpet.com/31237-europe-cultivates-a-climate-of-crisis

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Germany Is Looking for a New Charlemagne

Germany Is Looking for a New Charlemagne 

A horrifying empire is rising with the same evil spirit behind it.

By Gerald Flurry

'The pro-Nazi line is gaining a strong foothold in Germany and Europe. It is accelerating at a mind-dizzying pace. Most of the world ignores it, but that won’t make it go away. On the contrary, this negligent attitude encourages it tremendously.”

I wrote those words in 1998 after a far-right party received 13 percent of the vote in a German state and the mainstream parties adopted their talking points (“Nazi Spirit Soars in Europe”).

Look where we are today! In the last German federal elections, on February 23, another far-right party, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), came in second place nationwide with an astonishing 20 percent of the vote. This party has some troubling associations with Nazism! Leaders in this party have encouraged people “to be proud of the achievements of the German soldiers in two world wars” and have called German Holocaust remembrance a “stupid coping policy.”

The AfD is pushing for independence from the United States. This is a very popular, mainstream position among Germans that will have frightening consequences. The AfD also wants Germany to have closer relations with Russia. This is reminiscent of the years leading up to World War ii.

U.S. presidential adviser Elon Musk has been encouraging the AfD to keep growing. At one of their party rallies, he told them to be proud, not ashamed, of German history. He doesn’t understand history. He certainly doesn’t understand Bible prophecy, or he would never make such a statement.

The AfD came in a strong second place to the conservative Christian Democratic Union (cdu), which secured 28 percent of the vote. It was clear that voters wanted drastic change from the previous left-wing government—a coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats. All three parties were big losers in this election. The Social Democrats achieved its worst result ever, and the Free Democrats didn’t even gain enough votes to make it into parliament.

Germany has been plagued by weak leadership for many years now. But Germany and Europe really need strong leadership—especially given what Russia is doing, as well as China, North Korea and other nations, and the many economic and other problems they are facing. This leadership crisis has been heightened by the pressure the Trump administration has been exerting.

The U.S. Confronts Europe

Germany’s coalition collapsed on Nov. 6, 2024, almost immediately after Donald Trump was declared the winner of the presidential election. Germany’s leadership crisis is directly linked to Mr. Trump’s comeback.

Since then, in the lead-up to the election in Germany, this fact has become more pronounced. America is threatening to withdraw its troops from the Continent and demanding drastically increased military spending from Europe.

The weekend before its elections, Germany hosted the Munich Security Conference. At the conference, U.S. Vice President JD Vance told European leaders truths they didn’t want to hear. “[T]he threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor,” he said. “What I worry about is the threat from within. The retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values: values shared with the United States of America.”

European leaders reacted emotionally—offended, frustrated and angry. “If I understood him correctly, he compares conditions in parts of Europe to those under authoritarian regimes,” said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. “That is not acceptable.” President Donald Trump “wants to destroy Europe,” an anonymous senior EU diplomat said. “The trans-Atlantic alliance is over.”

On the same trip, Mr. Vance and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spent much of their trip prodding European countries to more than double their military spending.

Americans don’t realize what empire they are empowering!

In a televised roundtable on election night, cdu chancellor-candidate Friedrich Merz criticized U.S. “intervention” in the German election campaign: “The interventions from Washington were no less dramatic and drastic and ultimately outrageous than the interventions we have seen from Moscow. We are under such massive pressure from two sides that my top priority is to create unity in Europe.

“My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the U.S.A. I would never have believed that I would have to say something like that on television. But at the very least, after Donald Trump’s statements last week, it is clear that the Americans—at least this part of the Americans in this administration—are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe.

“I am very curious to see how we are heading towards the nato summit at the end of June, whether we will still be talking about nato in its current form or whether we will have to establish an independent European defense capability much more quickly. That is my absolute priority, and I have no illusions at all about what will come out of America.”

Mr. Merz not only wants a militarily strong Europe—he also announced that he wants nuclear independence from the U.S. and a share in Britain’s and France’s nuclear bombs.

These demands are bold and audacious. But French President Emmanuel Macron has, in principle, already agreed to nuclear sharing.

Years ago, the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said, “Germany’s national character is to dominate” (emphasis mine throughout). Once Germany has strong leadership, it will inevitably dominate. This has been its history! Our booklet Germany and the Holy Roman Empire proves this and takes you back long before the first coming of Christ. Germany’s name at that time was Assyria, and it appears in many end-time prophecies referring to modern-day Germany.

The truth is, it is not just the AfD that is causing the Nazi spirit to soar. Almost everywhere in Germany, we are seeing a dramatic revival of the old empire! We see this in its desire for a strong independent military. We see it in the anti-America rhetoric from the mainstream and the far right. We see it in the increased attacks on Jews, minorities and politicians. And we see it in the longing for a strong authoritarian leader.

It is urgent that we understand what is happening in Europe—especially Germany!

While Germany lay in ruins and ashes after World War ii, Herbert W. Armstrong had the crystal-clear, prophetic vision to see that Germany would rise again, when nobody else thought it would. In fact, the victors asserted they would ensure the Germans didn’t rise again militarily, but they failed to do that.

Mr. Armstrong knew that another great power would come on the scene—the greatest resurrection ever of the Holy Roman Empire, prophesied in Revelation 17. As everybody was saying Germany would never rise again, Mr. Armstrong was proclaiming around the world that it would rise again, stronger than ever!

Bible prophecy says the Holy Roman Empire is going to emerge out of the current European Union, but it will be pared down to 10 kings (Daniel 2; Revelation 17). The Bible’s prophecies are always fulfilled!

History rings clarion alarm bells about the Holy Roman Empire. Its past is full of intolerance, conspiracy, betrayal, bloodshed, executions and other nightmares. But what happened historically is only a foretaste of the carnage this final resurrection is prophesied to inflict! And it will not be friends of America, Britain or the Jewish state.

Another holocaust is coming! The Jewish people, Americans, Britons and the whole world need to be warned!

On the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Elisha Wiesel, the son of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, wrote an article in USA Today. In the midst of rising anti-Semitism, when the butchers of Hamas are considered partners in negotiation, he asked a penetrating question: “Will we continue giving moral credibility to voices who say that the tiny nation of Israel is the villain for refusing to die?”

He quoted what his father told Ronald Reagan on national tv: “The issue here is not politics, but good and evil. And we must never confuse them, for I have seen the SS at work, and I have seen their victims.” That is history we ought never to forget. The Bible warns that it is about to be repeated—and much worse. We must have God’s protection to ensure that it does not happen to us!

For decades, we have been warning about the rise of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire. Soon, they are going to catapult the world suddenly into another world war! That is a very negative prophecy, but there is great hope directly linked to it.

Longing for Charlemagne

There is one big problem with all of Friedrich Merz’s goals: He will have to achieve them in a weak coalition, probably with the Social Democrats—the very party he opposed in the election campaign and that suffered a historic loss.

This is why democratically elected leaders have repeatedly failed to meet new challenges. This is why Germans long for radically different leadership. They are desperate for a strong leader—a modern Charlemagne.

In fact, all of Europe is longing for a Charlemagne!

Every year the international Charlemagne Prize is awarded to an individual who has worked to unite Europe. The trouble is, among all those leaders of Europe today, none has the prestige of Charlemagne!

The Bible, however, reveals that Europe will get a new Charlemagne who is going to hijack what will become the Holy Roman Empire. The German people will come to realize that there is a great danger in that. An evil spirit will get control of Europe’s next emperor.

History shows us what that means.

“In the year 782, Charlemagne, the king of the Franks, became the military champion of the papacy, stepping into the vacuum created by the separation of Constantinople and Rome, and defending the papacy from the Lombards who kept threatening it,” David N. Samuel wrote. “Pope Leo iii crowned Charlemagne emperor in Notre Dame Cathedral in 800. The future of Europe was bound up in that event, and the alliance between the papacy and Germany has been of great significance ever since” (European Union and the Roman Catholic Influence in Britain).

Throughout the centuries that followed, Germany was Europe’s greatest perpetrator in instigating bloodshed.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung noted: “This ruler, who is still present in many places in Frankfurt today … is by no means undisputed. Charlemagne, who was crowned emperor in Rome in 800, has gone down in history as power-obsessed and cruel, indeed as a butcher of the Saxons, whom he subjugated and converted to Christianity” (Jan. 22, 2021).

On May 8, 1997, former German President Roman Herzog received the Charlemagne Prize for his efforts to unite Europe. In his acceptance speech, Dr. Herzog said, “For 1,000 years, the destiny of our continent has revolved around the choice between a cohesive or a fragmented Europe. Charlemagne, after whom our prize is named, made his own particular choice: the first unification of Europe. At such an hour, the truth must be told: Only by wading through a sea of blood, sweat and tears did he reach his goal.”

There was a lot of truth in that statement about how Charlemagne took over Europe. He did it violently and killed many thousands of people!

Charlemagne was one of Adolf Hitler’s heroes. He too argued that Charlemagne’s violence was necessary to unite the German people. Professor and renowned German medieval researcher Johannes Fried told Die Welt in 2014 that Hitler praised Charlemagne in “preparation for his own violent actions, praising Charlemagne was a legitimization strategy.”

Charlemagne was the man the Third Reich really looked to. He is also the man that Europe looks to today.

German leaders are seeking a new Charlemagne. They want a strong leader over Europe. The fact that Europe’s elite today and Hitler of old revere the same man is a dangerous sign!

Hitler Was Satan-Possessed

Adolf Hitler was a weak little man, but when he got up to speak, he had tremendous power! In his book The Psychopathic God—Adolf Hitler, Robert G. L. Waite wrote: “This thundering demon was not there before …. A limp, little man changed into a force of overwhelming power ….”

Where did Hitler get this power? He got it from Satan the devil who possessed him! That’s what your Bible says, and you will see it happen again.

When he gave those powerful speeches, it was a sight to behold. Hitler said, “Neither a military nor a civilian personality could replace me. … I am convinced of the strength of my brain and my resolution. … The fate of the Reich is dependent entirely upon me.” Hitler had more power than a normal man.

Hitler became Satan-possessed by worshiping the bloody history of the Holy Roman Empire. “He insisted … that his early years in Vienna were absolutely crucial to his career because ‘at that time I formed an image of the world and a view of life which became the foundation for my actions …. I have had to change nothing’” (ibid). In Vienna he saw the crown jewels of the Holy Roman Empire. He wanted the power they symbolized. He wanted to be like Charlemagne—only stronger.

“Albert Speer, who knew Hitler best during World War ii, was convinced that the führer’s intellectual development stopped with the world as he had known it in Vienna in 1910” (ibid). That is amazing. Even as a teenager he was fascinated and mesmerized by those crown jewels. Something was happening to him, and he didn’t even know what it was. He was very deceived.

In Vienna, Hitler came to believe that the Germans, not the Jews, were the chosen people of God. This thought isn’t biblical; it comes from Satan the devil. The Germans are also a great people, and God will use them mightily in the future. But we must expose Satan’s deceit.

The imperial crown, the orb of empire, the scepter and the imperial sword were in Vienna for 140 years; Hitler returned them to Nuremberg. After taking the insignia of the First Reich, he called his empire the Third Reich. “At the presentation of these symbols of imperialism, he solemnly vowed that they would remain in Nuremburg forever” (John Toland, Adolf Hitler).

He was fascinated by what happened in Vienna. Winston Churchill thought Hitler developed his worldview later in Munich, but that’s not true. He got everything he wanted in Vienna with those crown jewels.

Among all the relics of this empire, Hitler coveted the crown of Charlemagne most of all.

The same crown jewels fascinate European leaders to this day. In 2018, these crown jewels were featured in a special exhibit correlating with Austria’s presidency of the European Council that year.

European parliamentarian Otto von Habsburg once said, “We do possess a European symbol which belongs to all nations equally. This is the crown of the Holy Roman Empire, which embodies the tradition of Charlemagne.” How true! That European crown is that of the Holy Roman Empire, a crown that sits in a museum in Vienna. And oh, Hitler loved that! Charlemagne was his hero!

Habsburg added: “The [European] Community is living largely by the heritage of the Holy Roman Empire, though the great majority of the people who live by it don’t know by what heritage they live.” That is amazing!

Revelation 17 reveals that, after World War ii, this empire went underground. To this day, they don’t talk about it much publicly. Surely they know Herbert W. Armstrong prophesied about it; his powerful message reached millions around the world. He warned many people what would happen to Germany and how they would again lead that Holy Roman Empire.

Mr. Armstrong is no longer alive, but he left a lot of literature about the rise of the last resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire, the one that Jesus Christ would destroy at His Second Coming! That is why the leaders of the Holy Roman Empire hide what they are doing.

The descent underground was itself prophesied. It is a shame that the world won’t pay attention to what Bible prophecy says!

All seven heads of the Holy Roman Empire have been diabolical and destructive. Millions died in the Middle Ages, as you can prove from history books. We have to be careful because it’s going to rise again suddenly. We should not be caught unawares.

Possessed Leader Prophesied

Germany is about to be transformed by the emergence of a strong leader who will have the same spirit that possessed Charlemagne and Hitler.

Habakkuk 1:6-8 prophesy, “For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.” This refers to the Holy Roman Empire. (Prove that with our free booklet Habakkuk.)

Verse 11 tells what happens in the mind of the leader of this last Holy Roman Empire: “Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.” This man thought he worshiped the great God, but it was actually the god of this world! (2 Corinthians 4:4). That satanic spirit that empowers him causes this nightmarish mind change.

Daniel 8:23 also speaks about this new Charlemagne: “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.” This is the new Charlemagne, a powerful leader who will shock the world just as that Holy Roman Empire did many times in the past!

“And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power …” (verse 24). What other power did he have? The power of Satan the devil! This is a man possessed by the devil! “[A]nd he shall destroy wonderfully [mightily], and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people” (verse 24). This refers to God’s own lukewarm people in this end time who must be plunged into the Great Tribulation, a time of suffering caused by the Holy Roman Empire empowered by the devil.

The question then is, who will be Germany’s next Charlemagne?

We have been watching Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, a former German defense minister, for quite some time. He is a brilliant man in many ways. He followed Edmund Stoiber, a protégé of Franz Josef Strauss of the Christian Social Union. Baron Guttenberg could be the one to rise to power and fulfill these prophecies.

Where will this lead? “And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many …” (verse 25). This strongman is a deceitful liar with much power and a great military! Germany today is one of the top armaments exporters, and they do a lot of it secretly through factories in other countries. They are becoming very powerful. But they will soon be far more powerful—once the prophesied 10 kings unite under them. Revelation 17:12-13 say, “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.” Revelation 17:12 reads: “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings which have received no kingdom as yet but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.” Commenting on this scripture, Mr. Armstrong wrote in the October 1962 Plain Truth: “The beast, then, is the leader, or ruler, over all—and 10 other dictator-kings, or lesser rulers over 10 European nations or nation-groups.”

We believe there will be one supreme king over 10 kings. (There is a slight possibility that there could be just 10 kings total and that the leadership would come out of Germany.) Given that Revelation 17 is a prophecy of a church-state combine known as the Holy Roman Empire, Mr. Armstrong strongly believed that those leaders would be Catholic.

We may be seeing some indications who the dictator-king, or lesser ruler, over Germany could be. Friedrich Merz is a Roman Catholic who has repeatedly called for a guiding culture in Germany based on Christian, or rather Catholic, values. He is also an outspoken advocate for a European army. Since his party won the election, he has been acting with unusual urgency and zeal to create a militarized Germany—even defying democratic norms doing so. Furthermore, he enjoys the support of Guttenberg, who we believe may be the “one supreme king.”

Verse 14 prophesies that the Holy Roman Empire of Mussolini and Hitler will rise once more before Jesus Christ returns.

The political party of Giorgia Meloni, who now rules Italy, is directly tied to Mussolini, Hitler’s ally in World War ii.

These forces are building again just as God prophesies, and just as Mr. Armstrong said they would and as we have been saying for 35 years. These forces are going to unleash a terrible time and cause incalculable suffering!

But notice: This coming leader “shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand” (Daniel 8:25). He is going to confront Jesus Christ Himself and be smashed and crushed! Christ is going to destroy the 10 kings! Then He will establish His own righteous Kingdom with the peace, happiness and joy to Earth that we all should have had a long time ago but have been denied because of our rebellion against God!

Revelation 12:12 states that Satan knows his time is short! Do you know that? This wonderful future, where Christ supplants the evil kingdoms of this world, is coming soon!

source:

https://www.thetrumpet.com/31138-germany-is-looking-for-a-new-charlemagne.

Gerald Flurry

 

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Ten Kings of the New Holy Roman Empire Rising Now. Half of them have already risen! One of the most important end-time prophecies of the Bible is being fulfilled.

Ten Kings of the New Holy Roman Empire Rising Now.

 Half of them have already risen! One of the most important end-time prophecies of the Bible is being fulfilled.

By Gerald Flurry

The Philadelphia Trumpet Magazine

A new superpower is rising in Europe! For more than 75 years, the Trumpet and our predecessor, the Plain Truth, founded by Herbert W. Armstrong, have been watching for this to happen. Based on Bible prophecy, we expect it to be led by one strongman who leads 10 “kings.”

We can now see who some of these kings will be.

Europe is facing one crisis after another. Its American ally is collapsing socially, financially and militarily. Russia and China are rising. Europe is responding and is about to surge with power! We could see a stunning transformation of Europe before the end of this year!

Your Bible says the new European superpower will be led by 10 kings, all under Germany and a German strongman.

Bible Prophecy

At the beginning of Mr. Armstrong’s ministry, Adolf Hitler was taking control of Germany and Benito Mussolini was taking control of Italy. They formed a great European Axis power that launched World War ii, which killed 60 million people. The Vatican worked with both of these leaders. It even saved and relocated Nazi officials after the war and the murderous Holocaust!

This church-state relationship was a modern Holy Roman Empire. History shows it was actually the sixth revival of that medieval empire. And prophecy shows that a seventh resurrection is almost here!

“Revelation 13 and 17, coupled with Daniel 2 and 7, say that a union of 10 nations in the area of the old Roman Empire will plunge the world into the Great Tribulation!” Mr. Armstrong wrote in 1982, summarizing what he had consistently prophesied for more than 50 years. “The 10 nations of Revelation 17 will be Catholic” (co-worker letter, May 20, 1982). He taught that five of these 10 nations or nation-groups, led by “ten kings” (Revelation 17:12), would be in Western Europe, and five in Eastern Europe.

Revelation 13 describes a fearsome beast that symbolizes the Roman Empire. Its heads and horns represent its domination of the world at its inception and its repeated revivals throughout the past two millenniums. Another symbolic beast, in Revelation 17, represents the last seven resurrections of that empire, which were all influenced by a church, symbolized by a woman rider. (Interestingly, one symbol of Europe is the mythical woman Europa, often pictured riding a beast.) This is the Holy Roman Empire. (This is all explained in detail in Who or What Is the Prophetic Beast?, by Mr. Armstrong. We will gladly send you a free copy.)

Amazingly, Revelation 17:10 dates this prophecy: “And there are seven kings [seven resurrections of that Holy Roman Empire]: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.” The meaning of this prophecy would be revealed after five of those resurrections were history—when “one is” and “the other is not yet come.” “One is” refers to the sixth resurrection, which was Hitler’s Nazi empire! That is when Mr. Armstrong was on the scene and God revealed the meaning of this prophecy.

Even before World War ii ended in the defeat of Hitler and Mussolini, Mr. Armstrong taught on the World Tomorrow television program and in the Plain Truth magazine that Germany would not only rise again but also build a European superpower mightier than America and its allies. While the war still raged, and then while Germany lay defeated, he taught that the seventh and final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire was certain. And he explained that it would have 10 kings under German domination.

At the time, Germany was extremely weak. In fact, the Allies and the Soviets cut it in half. Germany had started two world wars in 25 years, and the victors promised to prevent it from doing so ever again (sidebar, page 4). The power of Catholic leaders in the Vatican was also diminished (though not enough to prevent them from helping most of the top Nazis escape). Meanwhile—it would emerge decades later—German political and industrial leaders, Vatican officials, a future pope and allies in other countries were carrying out a plan to take German and European power underground.

Germany and Europe were decimated. Russia, leading the Soviet Union, was so powerful it seized much of Eastern Europe, including East Germany, and was in a position to conquer even more of the Continent. The only thing holding it back was America, which placed forces in Europe and built up Western Europe, including West Germany. In fact, largely out of fear of Russia, America let the Germans “denazify” themselves only two years after Hitler died and the Third Reich surrendered!

Decades passed. Was this beastly, bloody European empire truly destroyed? Revelation 17 describes it as “the beast that was, and is not, and yet is” that “shall ascend out of the bottomless pit.” It is stunning how perfectly the facts fit that prophetic description. Mr. Armstrong’s explanation of this prophecy, and of the prophecy that “five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come,” is more relevant today than ever!

United Europe

Even in the postwar period, a few politicians had a vision for a united European power. One was Franz-Josef Strauss, longtime leader of Bavaria, second defense minister of West Germany and one of Europe’s strongest leaders. And he actually knew Mr. Armstrong!

During a meeting with Mr. Armstrong in 1970, Strauss summarized his thinking this way: “A united Europe is more essential now for the free world than it would have been any time before …. Big powers have been established, the United States of America, Russia, Japan. I think that small and medium-sized European states are no longer able to face what the future demands from all of us. … Therefore my political friends and I have been pleading for years and years now for a united Europe” (emphasis mine).

Strauss insisted that European unification would be incomplete without Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and the other East European countries.

Strauss died in 1988. (Mr. Armstrong died in 1986.) The “strongman of Europe” never saw his dream fulfilled. But just one year later, the Berlin Wall fell. A year after that, the crumbling Soviet Union relinquished control of the eastern part of the country, and Germany reunited.

The nations of Eastern Europe were then able to work with and unite with the nations of Western Europe in various ways. But the close cooperation Strauss envisioned remained elusive—until now.

Strauss was actually just one of dozens of cabinet officials, legislators, prime ministers, presidents, kings and other top world leaders that Mr. Armstrong knew personally. Another was Otto von Habsburg. This man was the last crown prince of Austria-Hungary and what had previously been the Holy Roman Empire. He was a member of the European Parliament, representing Germany and Bavaria’s Christian Social Union, and a leader of the International Paneuropean Union. He spoke openly about how the Holy Roman Empire had united Europe into a great power in the past and said reviving it was the only way Europe could return to greatness.

While in Los Angeles, California, attending a council on world affairs in 1983, Mr. Habsburg visited with Mr. Armstrong. The two men discussed why a new European empire was rising slowly rather than quickly at that time.

Mr. Armstrong told him this: I think what you’re going to see is a financial collapse of the Western world. Then the Holy Roman Empire will rise with great power, exceeding China or Russia.

That was an extraordinary forecast. And we are now experiencing just such a collapse today, starting with America’s banks! Watch how this develops and how it affects Europe (article, page 1).

Mr. Armstrong went on to say that this European empire might assemble in pieces. But he said definitely that when it is time for the 10 kings to rise in unity, it will happen suddenly.

Otto von Habsburg made two crucial statements that we need to understand. The first is this: “The European community is living largely by the heritage of the Holy Roman Empire, though the great majority of the people who live by it, don’t know by what heritage they live.”

Why don’t many people, including the Europeans, understand Europe’s heritage? One reason is that those who are building the new Holy Roman Empire have done so mostly underground, just as Revelation describes.

Another reason is that leaders have deliberately kept quiet about just what kind of heritage the Holy Roman Empire really has!

What Kind of Empire?

Mr. Habsburg was born into the royal line of the centuries-old House of Habsburg in Austria, but his father was forced out, and in 1961, he renounced any claim to his father’s throne. He did not want to be on that throne. He did, however, want to be involved in the European Parliament and politics, and he was for many years prior to his death in 2011.

He kept the dream of a glorious European empire alive. And he helped lay the foundation for the seventh and final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire.

Habsburg had a vision of making Europe great by reviving “the heritage of the Holy Roman Empire.” But what is that heritage? What did the Holy Roman Empire do, throughout its history, when it was strong?

Here is the other key statement Habsburg made: “We possess a European symbol which belongs to all nations of Europe equally. This is the crown of the Holy Roman Empire, which embodies the tradition of Charlemagne.”

Charlemagne brought the Holy Roman Empire to the heartland of Europe, known as the First Reich. And he accomplished his goals with horrific violence! He waded through blood to conquer Europe and fulfill his vision. The brutality with which he treated those he conquered shocked even his own nobles. In one instance, he executed 4,500 Saxons in a single day. He managed to unite Europe for the first time since Justinian for this reason: Europeans submitted to him and his version of Christianity—otherwise he killed them.

This is part of the “tradition of Charlemagne”!

After the Holy Roman Empire of the German People dissolved in 1803, Germany continued to live by that tradition. And what did it produce? The world witnessed the Second Reich during World War i (1914–1918), when the German kaiser (a title derived from caesar) plunged Europe and other parts of the world into a bloodbath that killed an estimated 14 million people.

Germany lost that war, but the Holy Roman Empire soon continued its rise. Five were fallen, but a sixth was coming on the scene, as Revelation 17 says. In the aftermath of Germany’s defeat, one man who had been born in Austria-Hungary and had fought for the army of the German Empire took a deep interest in its history. In Vienna, he viewed that powerful European symbol that Habsburg exalted: the crown jewels of Charlemagne. This man was fascinated by them, in fact. He practically worshiped Charlemagne.

Author Robert G. L. Waite said it was there in Vienna that this man said he “formed an image of the world and a view of life which became the foundation for my actions. … I have had to change nothing” (The Psychopathic God—Adolf Hitler). Regarding this time in Vienna, Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf, “This was the time in which the greatest change I was ever to experience took place in me.”

“[F]inally he knew who he was and what he must do,” Waite wrote. “He was the leader sent by destiny. He must answer the ‘voices’ that he said he heard …” (op cit). As Waite recorded, this man heard voices in his mind and underwent the greatest change he was ever to experience.

There in Vienna, the cultural capital of the Holy Roman Empire, Adolf Hitler had an awakening. He received a supernatural vision, he said, and he heard voices that he had to respond to. “The voices told him to rescue his motherland from the Jews who had violated her” (ibid).

This man would rise quickly to take control of Germany and much of Europe. He walked in the bloody footsteps of Charlemagne, whom he revered. He called his empire the Third Reich. He annexed Austria and “had brought from Vienna, after 140 years, the insignia of the First Reich—the imperial crown, the orb of empire, the scepter and the imperial sword. At the presentation of these symbols of imperialism he solemnly vowed that they would remain in Nuremberg forever” (John Toland, Adolf Hitler). Taking those jewels, he said, signified that his people—and no longer the Jews—were now God’s chosen people.

Hitler’s murderous motivation came from voices, from spirits. He didn’t know it, but Hitler was actually possessed by an evil spirit! (To learn more, request your free copy of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire at theTrumpet.com/go/ghre.) He was being influenced by the father of vanity, lies and murder. Hitler was the tool the devil used to ignite World War ii and the Holocaust! This man tried not only to supplant the Jews but to exterminate them altogether! He murdered 6 million Jews and caused the deaths of another 54 million!

The reichs are among six total resurrections of the Holy Roman Empire that have occurred so far. All six of them shed rivers of European blood to conquer other peoples!

Happening Now

After the war, the Nazis went underground. The Bible even prophesies about this underground, called “the bottomless pit” or “the abyss” in Revelation 17:8. Just like the postwar Nazis, the Holy Roman Empire today is underground. But it is growing in strength, and some people are passionate about it, which is bringing it more out into the open. Very soon, you are going to see it plainly!

I don’t believe Habsburg thought like Adolf Hitler. However, the great empire that he and others helped to build is going to be hijacked by an evil spiritual force and cause unspeakable destruction and death! Today, the Fourth Reich is ready to rise!

The unification project that Strauss, Habsburg and others pushed for is almost complete! The European Common Market became the European Union in 1993. Smaller nations are bonding together and integrating into the large union. East European nations are just as much a part of the union as West European states are. Catholicism has a strong influence over the Continent, and it will become much stronger. The federal authority of the EU has taken more and more sovereignty and power away from member nations. It has become increasingly undemocratic. The Lisbon Treaty of 2007 defied national referenda to the contrary and created an EU constitution. Europe has developed a common currency, trade policy, diplomatic service, court system, border agency, coast guard, police force, legislature, flag, anthem and more.

And, as Mr. Armstrong also specifically prophesied, Britain has exited and is “no part of it.”

People are even referring to what is taking shape in the same terms Mr. Armstrong often used: “a United States of Europe.” And when this beast that “was, and is not, and yet is” ascends, it will happen suddenly, and it will surpass the power of America, Russia or China.

We are seeing nothing less than the rise of the “ten kings” prophesied in Daniel 2 and Revelation 17!

The prophetic image in Daniel 2 portrays these 10 kings as 10 toes on the two feet of a mighty statue. This shows that this empire will have 10 kings leading European nations or nation-groups: half in Western Europe, half in Eastern Europe. Mr. Armstrong also taught that the composition of the legs and feet—iron and miry clay (Daniel 2:41)—represents the iron strength of the Roman Empire nations mixed with weaker Israelitish nations.

Who will they be? The precise composition remains to be seen, but Mr. Armstrong speculated about it for years, and we are increasingly seeing just how accurate his views were!

He wrote in 1953, “These will include Germany and Italy, probably Spain and Portugal and France, Greece, and probably some of the Balkan nations from among Yugoslavia, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania or others” (Good News, May 1953). In 1980 and 1982, he again pointed to these same nations, along with Poland and Ireland.

Spain, along with Portugal, is very Catholic. At one point, the two were under one king of the Iberian Union. It is where much of the bloody Catholic Inquisition took place. It was involved in establishing the Nazi underground after World War ii. Hungary has a history as an important part of the Holy Roman Empire and is currently led by a strongman who emphasizes Christian heritage and has tied his military to Germany. Czechoslovakia separated into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but the two cooperate closely. The Czechs even send soldiers to help protect Slovakia’s borders. They also use German military equipment and have a brigade that works closely with a German armored division. Romania also has a brigade working closely with the German Army.

Germany sparked the Yugoslav Wars in 1991, gaining control of the Balkans in 1998. It recognized Kosovo and pressured the United States and nato into bombing Yugoslavia, breaking it apart into separate countries. (Request Germany’s Conquest of the Balkans.) This strategic region, which provides access to the Mediterranean Sea, will certainly be part of the new European superpower. Some Balkan states are not part of the European Union, yet the EU border patrol, Frontex, already operates in several of them.

Poland, which was dominated by Soviet Russia, was able to break away as Mr. Armstrong forecast. It is 90 percent Catholic, its largest trade partner is Germany, its economy is currently surging, and it is suddenly building a mighty military. It has announced that it is increasing military spending by 60 percent and doubling its number of troops, which could soon make it the largest military in Europe.

The rising Holy Roman Empire will not include all 27 current European Union nations. It will be ruled by 10 kings who will dominate Europe and much of the world. Five of those kings are already becoming clear!

War and Peace

Mr. Armstrong consistently said that Britain would not be part of this European empire, decades before Britain officially left in 2020! In fact, he showed that Bible prophecy identified Britain, America and the Jewish nation in the Middle East as the victims of this empire!

Prophecy makes clear that this modern Holy Roman Empire will cause horrifying bloodshed. Yes, Germany is about to unleash another global conflict, far worse than both world wars combined!

God is allowing this deadly empire to rise for a seventh and final time for the very purpose of punishing nations who have known Him and who have rebelled and turned against him. The British, the Americans, the Jews and the other peoples that descended from ancient Israel have received immense blessings from God. (This is explained in The United States and Britain in Prophecy, by Herbert W. Armstrong; request your free copy.) But as we can clearly see, these peoples have rejected God, and He is removing those blessings and allowing the modern descendants of the ancient Assyrians to once again attack and conquer them!

Other Bible prophecies show that Britain, America, Judah and the other nations of Israel are about to pay a bloody, bloody price for their terrible rebellion and sin! Much of this bloodshed will be inflicted by the new Holy Roman Empire.

We are about to see millions of people slaughtered by this conquering empire.

Given the severity of these prophecies, is there any hope? There certainly is!

These three nations could heed God’s last warning message and repent (Amos 7:8). At this point, they don’t seem to be moving in that direction.

Revelation 17:13-14 state this about the 10 kings: “These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb [Jesus Christ], and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”

That’s right: The Bible reveals that this bloody European superpower will fight Jesus Christ! That means the kings we now see rising are a sign that Jesus Christ’s return is imminent!

Those kings are rising now, and five kings have already risen. Time is very, very short.

Bible prophecy is true, and the revealed explanation taught by Mr. Armstrong is true. The prophecy of the Second Coming is also true! This leads to the best news you could possibly hear!

The Bible talks about only one group escaping this coming calamity. Revelation 3:10 reads, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” That “hour of temptation” will start with the Great Tribulation, which will include an attack from the Holy Roman Empire on the nations of Israel—primarily the United States and Britain (The United States and Britain in Prophecy will explain this to you). But God will protect those who keep His word!

Will that include you?

Ten Kings of the New Holy Roman Empire Rising Now

https://www.thetrumpet.com/27566-ten-kings-of-the-new-holy-roman-empire-rising-now.

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