The End of Pacifism: How Germany Is Preparing for a Major War

Germany's post–Cold War security model has reached its breaking point. The full-scale war in Europe has forced Berlin to abandon long-standing assumptions that stability could be preserved through economic interdependence, restraint, and a deliberately limited role for military power. What is emerging instead is a systematic preparation for a large-scale armed conflict on the European continent.

This is not a rhetorical shift, nor a temporary response to crisis. Germany is dismantling the foundations of its previous security doctrine — from defense industrial policy and strategic planning to fiscal constraints, civil defense, and manpower policy. Political taboos that seemed untouchable only a few years ago are now being removed one by one.

The most visible indicator of this transformation is the rapid expansion of military production — and a fundamental change in how it is organized.