Germany: Toward a New Domination of Europe?
by Drieu Godefridi • March 19, 2025 at 5:30 am
By giving himself the right to spend an extra €500 billion over 12 years on infrastructure and climate change, and additional to that, spend "whatever it takes" for the German military -- €40 billion more per year being the best available estimate -- [Friedrich] Merz [the likely next chancellor] is assuming considerable power, the likes of which no German chancellor has had since 1945.
As the allocation of these resources is formulated in broad and vague terms, the chancellor will have immense power in the allocation of funds. In addition, the German military will be financed to the tune of €120 billion per year, giving it the potential to become the strongest force in Europe -- France spends roughly €55 billion a year. Here again, the power of Germany and its chancellor is growing considerably.
It certainly seems as if Das Rheingold is emerging from the deep.
In the opera Das Rheingold by Richard Wagner, the Rhine Gold is a magical treasure guarded by the Rhine Maidens (Rheinmädchen). This gold can be forged into a ring that gives its holder unlimited power. By arrogating to himself the power to put Germany into debt in a way that no chancellor has done since 1945, Friedrich Merz, the likely next chancellor, will be taking on an unrivalled power: that of dominating Europe.
