The war, which officially began on February 24, 2022, with the Russian
Federation's aggression against Ukraine, but was triggered as far back
as 2014 with the Maidan coup, triggered European rearmament, and
especially German rearmament. Before 2022, the German economy was
closely linked to the Russian one in terms of energy supplies. Through
the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the German locomotive was supplied with
low-cost energy, which acted as a driving force for the entire German
economy, enabling the exponential development of the entire industrial
sector, especially the automotive sector. The disruption of the Nord
Stream pipeline caused by explosives planted by Ukrainian saboteurs in
September 2022 halted the flow of gas from the Baltics, marking the
beginning of a momentous change for a country that, for decades, built
its industrial power on low-cost Russian energy. The German leadership's
current goal is to diversify energy sources, focusing on American LNG
and "allied" suppliers, at a price that can be up to three times higher
than the Russian supplier.
But the disconcerting thing is that Germany is promising to permanently
prevent the rebirth of the Nord Stream pipeline. This strategic choice
reinforces dependence on America and weakens industrial Europe.
The United States thus becomes the main supplier of liquefied natural
gas (LNG) to Europe, imposing contracts at prices much higher than those
for Russian gas.
The definitive end of Nord Stream represents a severe blow to European
energy sovereignty and a strategic gift to the United States, which has
long been pushing the EU to abandon its energy dependence on Moscow.
Obviously, behind these official decisions lies a broader geopolitical
issue. By flaunting the paradigm of "energy freedom," Europe is paying a
much higher price for energy, consuming less and weakening its industry.
The German government's decisions affect all of Europe.
Germany is the industrial driving force of the European Union, and its
decisions are reflected throughout the continent. With Nord Stream
definitively closed, Italy, France, and other EU countries must
completely rethink their energy strategy.
The risk? An increasingly weak Europe, dependent on external suppliers
and in conflict with its own economic interests.
It is in the interests of North American imperialism to sabotage the
flow of energy materials and block trade in order to push the countries
of old Europe away from Russia. It is clear that the United States has
every interest in reshaping international relations to establish itself
as the dominant global power, even by triggering a new global conflict.
The concrete conditions are being created for a direct armed conflict
between the US-led imperialist bloc and Russian imperialism.
In this dramatic context, the strategic choice of German rearmament fits
in, to boost a weakened economy. The new German Chancellor, Friedrich
Merz, has launched Germany's rearmament in grand style, which has
inevitably been followed by the rearmament of the entire EU.
Germany is rearming and preparing for future war, and is doing so by
amending the Federal Constitution, overcoming the "debt brake" rule that
since 2009 had obliged Germany to balance its budget, allowing unlimited
military spending.
The German government has budgeted over EUR900 billion for weapons and
infrastructure. The estimated sum is enormous, equivalent to double the
annual federal budget even for Europe's largest economy. Lacking this
liquidity, the German government will have to resort to extraordinary
loans. The plan calls for a radical restructuring of the Bundeswehr, the
German armed forces. A momentous change is underway: after the Second
World War, in the wake of the war that broke out in 2022, Berlin has
chosen to rearm for the first time.
Merz has promised to transform the German armed forces into "Europe's
strongest conventional army," to return to military power, a decision
that breaks a historical taboo and calls into question the European
order as we knew it after the Second World War. Germany will become the
world's third-largest military spending power, after the US and China.
First, by supporting Kiev with massive arms deliveries, now, with
radical rearmament, war tensions are being kept high in the Old
Continent, a deep rift is being forged with the Russian Federation, with
the winds of war ever closer.
The new German rearmament has a dangerous precedent in the 1930s, after
the Nazi Party seized power. Even in the 1930s, history was marked by
the political and economic games orchestrated by North American
political and economic powers.
German rearmament in the 1930s was possible thanks to the substantial
assistance provided by North American industry and capital to the Nazi
government in Berlin. In the 1930s, approximately 150 American
capitalist groups participated in German rearmament, providing German
companies with everything from raw materials to technology and patent
knowledge. The resources provided to German companies (and American
companies based in Germany) included synthetic rubber production
technology (DuPont and Standard Oil), communications equipment (ITT),
calculating and tabulating machines (IBM), aircraft technology (used to
develop the Junkers Ju 87 bomber), fuel (Standard Oil), military
vehicles (Ford and General Motors), financing (through investments,
brokerage services, and loans from banks such as Union Banking
Corporation), cooperation agreements, production facilities, and raw
materials.
By the late 1930s, the four largest automakers in Germany, essential to
a modern wartime economy, were Daimler, Auto Union, Ford, and Opel. Ford
and Opel (owned by the American General Motors) accounted for 52% of
sales in Germany. In 1935, Opel of Brandenburg had developed a heavy
truck designed to be "less vulnerable to attack by enemy aircraft." From
1937, the Opel Blitz began producing military vehicles for the German
army at an accelerated rate. In 1939, Ford also opened an assembly plant
in Berlin for vehicles destined for the Wehrmacht.
In 1939, General Motors converted the Opel plants in Rüsselsheim to the
production of military aircraft. From 1939 to 1945, those plants alone
produced 50% of all propulsion systems for the Junkers 88, considered
the Luftwaffe's best bomber.
Ford and GM built 90% of the light trucks and 70% of the heavy trucks
for the Nazi army, which were the backbone of the German military.
In 1943, while the multinational's US plants were supplying the US Air
Force, in Germany it was building the engines for the Messerschmitt 262,
one of the world's first jet fighters.
In the 1930s, the US-based IBM also had a presence in Germany, owning
many factories. IBM's factories were considered a strategic element of
the Nazi war effort. IBM held a 94% stake in the Munitions Manufacturing
Corporation, which manufactured bombers, cannons, and aircraft engine parts.
IBM also supplied the Nazi regime with Hollerith technology, machines
capable of cataloging an impressive amount of data, operations used in
the deportation and massacre of the Jews.
For oil supplies, crucial for a modern country at war, the Nazis
depended on industries owned by the "Western democracies." The American
industrial groups Standard Oil (USA) and IG Farben (as well as the
British Shell) were present in Nazi Germany. A significant portion of IG
Farben's shares were held by DuPont and various American banks,
including Rockefeller's Chase National Bank and J.P. Morgan Bank. In
1932, IG Farben was the world's largest chemical company. IG Farben
owned Degesch, the chemical company that manufactured Zyklon B, the
lethal gas used by the Nazis in the gas chambers.
At the height of the war, the Nazi war machine needed greater quantities
of oil, so they switched to the hydrogenation of coal. For the
production of this type of oil, a collaboration was established between
Standard Oil, Shell, and IG Farben, with each holding a one-third stake
in the deal.
Thanks to Krupp, the American company U.S. Steel supplied the Nazi army
with steel to manufacture cannons.
The American company International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT), with
Sosthenes Behn as president, participated in the Nazi war effort, owning
major factories in Germany. In 1938, Lorenz-ITT entered the German
aircraft industry to produce the deadly Focke-Wulf fighter-bomber.
Today, witnessing Germany's massive rearmament plan, we cannot help but
see once again the dark scenarios already tragically witnessed twice in
the last century. A heavily armed Germany, driven by North American
interests, poses a real danger to all of Europe.
What happened before and during the Second World War makes it clear that
a war, and even more so a modern war, cannot be waged without adequate
technical and economic means, and these means are provided by industrial
and financial capital, regardless of its nationality. The Nazi army was
largely equipped with equipment supplied by "democratic" capital, and
many German military vehicles and tanks were powered by gasoline
supplied by "democratic" oil companies.
In the era of modern capitalism, wars, such as the Second World War or
those currently underway in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, are not
waged because of a clash between the "barbarity of totalitarianism" and
"democracy." Instead, military conflict is generated by the clash
between the various factions of global capital, regardless of that
capital's ownership structure.
Renato Franzitta
https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Federation's aggression against Ukraine, but was triggered as far back
as 2014 with the Maidan coup, triggered European rearmament, and
especially German rearmament. Before 2022, the German economy was
closely linked to the Russian one in terms of energy supplies. Through
the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the German locomotive was supplied with
low-cost energy, which acted as a driving force for the entire German
economy, enabling the exponential development of the entire industrial
sector, especially the automotive sector. The disruption of the Nord
Stream pipeline caused by explosives planted by Ukrainian saboteurs in
September 2022 halted the flow of gas from the Baltics, marking the
beginning of a momentous change for a country that, for decades, built
its industrial power on low-cost Russian energy. The German leadership's
current goal is to diversify energy sources, focusing on American LNG
and "allied" suppliers, at a price that can be up to three times higher
than the Russian supplier.
But the disconcerting thing is that Germany is promising to permanently
prevent the rebirth of the Nord Stream pipeline. This strategic choice
reinforces dependence on America and weakens industrial Europe.
The United States thus becomes the main supplier of liquefied natural
gas (LNG) to Europe, imposing contracts at prices much higher than those
for Russian gas.
The definitive end of Nord Stream represents a severe blow to European
energy sovereignty and a strategic gift to the United States, which has
long been pushing the EU to abandon its energy dependence on Moscow.
Obviously, behind these official decisions lies a broader geopolitical
issue. By flaunting the paradigm of "energy freedom," Europe is paying a
much higher price for energy, consuming less and weakening its industry.
The German government's decisions affect all of Europe.
Germany is the industrial driving force of the European Union, and its
decisions are reflected throughout the continent. With Nord Stream
definitively closed, Italy, France, and other EU countries must
completely rethink their energy strategy.
The risk? An increasingly weak Europe, dependent on external suppliers
and in conflict with its own economic interests.
It is in the interests of North American imperialism to sabotage the
flow of energy materials and block trade in order to push the countries
of old Europe away from Russia. It is clear that the United States has
every interest in reshaping international relations to establish itself
as the dominant global power, even by triggering a new global conflict.
The concrete conditions are being created for a direct armed conflict
between the US-led imperialist bloc and Russian imperialism.
In this dramatic context, the strategic choice of German rearmament fits
in, to boost a weakened economy. The new German Chancellor, Friedrich
Merz, has launched Germany's rearmament in grand style, which has
inevitably been followed by the rearmament of the entire EU.
Germany is rearming and preparing for future war, and is doing so by
amending the Federal Constitution, overcoming the "debt brake" rule that
since 2009 had obliged Germany to balance its budget, allowing unlimited
military spending.
The German government has budgeted over EUR900 billion for weapons and
infrastructure. The estimated sum is enormous, equivalent to double the
annual federal budget even for Europe's largest economy. Lacking this
liquidity, the German government will have to resort to extraordinary
loans. The plan calls for a radical restructuring of the Bundeswehr, the
German armed forces. A momentous change is underway: after the Second
World War, in the wake of the war that broke out in 2022, Berlin has
chosen to rearm for the first time.
Merz has promised to transform the German armed forces into "Europe's
strongest conventional army," to return to military power, a decision
that breaks a historical taboo and calls into question the European
order as we knew it after the Second World War. Germany will become the
world's third-largest military spending power, after the US and China.
First, by supporting Kiev with massive arms deliveries, now, with
radical rearmament, war tensions are being kept high in the Old
Continent, a deep rift is being forged with the Russian Federation, with
the winds of war ever closer.
The new German rearmament has a dangerous precedent in the 1930s, after
the Nazi Party seized power. Even in the 1930s, history was marked by
the political and economic games orchestrated by North American
political and economic powers.
German rearmament in the 1930s was possible thanks to the substantial
assistance provided by North American industry and capital to the Nazi
government in Berlin. In the 1930s, approximately 150 American
capitalist groups participated in German rearmament, providing German
companies with everything from raw materials to technology and patent
knowledge. The resources provided to German companies (and American
companies based in Germany) included synthetic rubber production
technology (DuPont and Standard Oil), communications equipment (ITT),
calculating and tabulating machines (IBM), aircraft technology (used to
develop the Junkers Ju 87 bomber), fuel (Standard Oil), military
vehicles (Ford and General Motors), financing (through investments,
brokerage services, and loans from banks such as Union Banking
Corporation), cooperation agreements, production facilities, and raw
materials.
By the late 1930s, the four largest automakers in Germany, essential to
a modern wartime economy, were Daimler, Auto Union, Ford, and Opel. Ford
and Opel (owned by the American General Motors) accounted for 52% of
sales in Germany. In 1935, Opel of Brandenburg had developed a heavy
truck designed to be "less vulnerable to attack by enemy aircraft." From
1937, the Opel Blitz began producing military vehicles for the German
army at an accelerated rate. In 1939, Ford also opened an assembly plant
in Berlin for vehicles destined for the Wehrmacht.
In 1939, General Motors converted the Opel plants in Rüsselsheim to the
production of military aircraft. From 1939 to 1945, those plants alone
produced 50% of all propulsion systems for the Junkers 88, considered
the Luftwaffe's best bomber.
Ford and GM built 90% of the light trucks and 70% of the heavy trucks
for the Nazi army, which were the backbone of the German military.
In 1943, while the multinational's US plants were supplying the US Air
Force, in Germany it was building the engines for the Messerschmitt 262,
one of the world's first jet fighters.
In the 1930s, the US-based IBM also had a presence in Germany, owning
many factories. IBM's factories were considered a strategic element of
the Nazi war effort. IBM held a 94% stake in the Munitions Manufacturing
Corporation, which manufactured bombers, cannons, and aircraft engine parts.
IBM also supplied the Nazi regime with Hollerith technology, machines
capable of cataloging an impressive amount of data, operations used in
the deportation and massacre of the Jews.
For oil supplies, crucial for a modern country at war, the Nazis
depended on industries owned by the "Western democracies." The American
industrial groups Standard Oil (USA) and IG Farben (as well as the
British Shell) were present in Nazi Germany. A significant portion of IG
Farben's shares were held by DuPont and various American banks,
including Rockefeller's Chase National Bank and J.P. Morgan Bank. In
1932, IG Farben was the world's largest chemical company. IG Farben
owned Degesch, the chemical company that manufactured Zyklon B, the
lethal gas used by the Nazis in the gas chambers.
At the height of the war, the Nazi war machine needed greater quantities
of oil, so they switched to the hydrogenation of coal. For the
production of this type of oil, a collaboration was established between
Standard Oil, Shell, and IG Farben, with each holding a one-third stake
in the deal.
Thanks to Krupp, the American company U.S. Steel supplied the Nazi army
with steel to manufacture cannons.
The American company International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT), with
Sosthenes Behn as president, participated in the Nazi war effort, owning
major factories in Germany. In 1938, Lorenz-ITT entered the German
aircraft industry to produce the deadly Focke-Wulf fighter-bomber.
Today, witnessing Germany's massive rearmament plan, we cannot help but
see once again the dark scenarios already tragically witnessed twice in
the last century. A heavily armed Germany, driven by North American
interests, poses a real danger to all of Europe.
What happened before and during the Second World War makes it clear that
a war, and even more so a modern war, cannot be waged without adequate
technical and economic means, and these means are provided by industrial
and financial capital, regardless of its nationality. The Nazi army was
largely equipped with equipment supplied by "democratic" capital, and
many German military vehicles and tanks were powered by gasoline
supplied by "democratic" oil companies.
In the era of modern capitalism, wars, such as the Second World War or
those currently underway in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, are not
waged because of a clash between the "barbarity of totalitarianism" and
"democracy." Instead, military conflict is generated by the clash
between the various factions of global capital, regardless of that
capital's ownership structure.
Renato Franzitta
https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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