German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's August 30, 2025, declaration that Germany is "already in a conflict" with Russia, echoed by French President Emmanuel Macron's depiction of Vladimir Putin as an "ogre who always wants to eat more," signals a dangerous escalation in European rhetoric. Merz's accusations of Russian cyberattacks and disinformation, coupled with his push to make Germany's military Europe's strongest, mirror France's hawkish stance and NATO's broader militarisation. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed Merz's claims as "a case for psychiatrists," accusing Germany of proking Ukraine's "neo-Nazi regime," while ignoring its role in derailing the Minsk accords. As Ramon Tomey's September 1, 2025, Natural News article argues, both nations seem to have forgotten World War II's brutal lesson: confronting Russia militarily led to Germany's devastation. By doubling down on military aid to Ukraine and stoking Russophobia, Germany and France risk repeating history's deadliest mistakes, prioritising escalation over diplomacy and ignoring domestic crises to justify a new Cold War, or worse.
Merz's claim, made on French broadcaster LCI, that Germany is in conflict with Russia due to alleged cyberattacks and social media interference, lacks verifiable evidence, as Tomey notes. His alignment with Macron's inflammatory "ogre" metaphor and warnings of Russian territorial ambitions amplify NATO's narrative of an existential Russian threat. Since taking office on May 6, 2025, Merz has pushed for unprecedented defence spending, securing a constitutional change to allow 3.5% of GDP for defence and 1.5% for infrastructure, a move he credits with saving NATO at the June 2025 Hague summit. His May 28, 2025, pledge to help Ukraine develop long-range missiles, free of Western range limits, further escalates tensions, despite his reluctance to supply Taurus missiles directly due to coalition hesitancy.
This hardline stance contrasts sharply with Germany's post-WWII leaders like Helmut Schmidt, who prioritised détente with Moscow. Zakharova's retort highlights Germany's role in arming Ukraine since 2022, including €9 billion committed for 2026–2027, which she ties to the 2014 Maidan coup and the West's failure to enforce the Minsk accords. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's warning of a "Fourth Reich" reflects Moscow's view that Europe's militarisation, led by Germany and France, masks imperial ambitions under democratic rhetoric. Merz's rhetoric, like France's, ignores the historical cost of confronting Russia, Germany's WWII defeat left millions dead and its economy in ruins, a lesson Tomey argues Berlin has forgotten.
France, under Macron, mirrors Germany's trajectory. Macron's "ogre" comment and his push for NATO's 5% GDP defence spending target align with Merz's vision of a militarised Europe. France's role in the Weimar Triangle and joint defence initiatives with Germany, announced on May 7, 2025, underscores a unified front against Russia. Macron's support for Ukraine's long-range strikes and his dismissal of Russian ceasefire proposals echo Merz's rejection of Vatican-mediated peace talks, as noted by Deutsche Welle on May 28, 2025. Both leaders frame Putin as an insatiable aggressor, yet Russia's repeated denials of plans to attack NATO states, as stated by Putin in an August 30, 2025, Xinhua interview, are dismissed as "nonsense."
France's historical parallel is equally stark. Its Napoleonic ambition to subdue Russia in 1812 led to catastrophic defeat, much like Germany's WWII misadventure. Macron's leadership, like Merz's, seems driven by domestic pressures, economic stagnation and unrest, with France's 2025 GDP growth forecast at a mere 0.9%, using Russophobia to deflect from internal failures. Both nations' refusal to engage diplomatically, as Zakharova critiques, risks entrenching a cycle of escalation that could spiral beyond Ukraine.
The historical parallels are chilling. Germany's WWII invasion of the Soviet Union led to over 5 million German deaths and the country's division for decades. France's 1812 invasion left its Grande Armée decimated. Yet, as Natural News highlights, both nations are accelerating military aid to Ukraine, Germany with €5 billion in 2025 and France with air defense systems, while NATO plans to deploy 800,000 troops through Germany, per a leaked 2025 document. Critics, including Russian officials like Dmitry Polyanskiy, argue this militarisation serves Western expansionism, not defence, violating 1990s assurances against NATO's eastward push.
The consequences of this path are dire:
Escalation to Wider Conflict: Merz's missile support and France's backing of Ukraine's strikes on Russian soil, risk direct NATO-Russia confrontation. Zakharova's "psychiatrists" jab underscores Moscow's view that such rhetoric is unhinged, potentially provoking retaliatory strikes, as warned by Lavrov's "Fourth Reich" comment.
Economic Fallout: Germany's economy, stagnant in 2025, faces further strain from defence spending and Trump's tariff threats, with $160 billion in U.S. exports at risk. France's economic woes mirror this, yet both prioritise militarisation over domestic investment.
Domestic Backlash: By framing Russia as the sole threat, Merz and Macron sideline internal issues, Germany's rising unemployment among migrants and France's social unrest, fuelling far-Right movements like AfD, which Merz struggles to firewall, as noted in Wikipedia. This echoes pre-WWII scapegoating, risking social division.
Worst-Case Scenario: If NATO's actions, led by Germany and France, trigger Russian retaliation, cyber or military, the conflict could engulf Europe, reminiscent of WWII's devastation. Unproven claims of Russian sabotage, like Baltic infrastructure attacks, amplify this risk, as Natural News suggests.
Germany and France's refusal to heed history, eschewing diplomacy for militarisation, echoes the hubris of past defeats. Merz's vision of a "strongest" German army and Macron's aggressive posturing, ignore the Minsk accords' failure, which Zakharova ties to Western meddling. Europe's "unrealistic" security guarantees for Ukraine, absent U.S. backing, push the continent toward self-inflicted harm. Both nations must pivot to dialogue, as Helmut Schmidt once did, or risk a repeat of history's catastrophe.
https://www.naturalnews.com/2025-09-01-germany-unable-remember-lesson-it-learned-ww2.html