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On May 8, 1945, Hitler-Germany signed an unconditional surrender. The most enormous slaughtering of peoples in history, one that no one else but Germany was responsible for, found its end in Europe. German fascism was defeated by the Allied powers. For the second time in only one century, Germany was to blame for millions of dead, injured, homeless, gassed, prosecuted, tortured, hungry, and hard driven human beings of a multitude of peoples. Peoples that did not want to forget this very responsibility and guilt. Peoples that wanted nothing else more ardently than lasting peace. And states that, because of their victory over German fascism, had the power to construct and set the rules for a post-war Germany that by no means would have any basis for waging war and committing genocide again. There was to be built a Germany that should forever join the ranks of the peace-loving peoples of the world. Therefore, the Allied victors signed the Potsdam Agreement in August of 1945, by which the de-nazification, de-militarization, and democratization of Germany were determined.

The womb is fertile still...
German imperialism was down then, but not dead. Only in one part of Germany the people took the courage to build a democratic republic. Land reform and nationally owned enterprises took the G.D.R. from the influence of German imperialism. But in the other part of Germany, German imperialism recovered - slowly, but surely. At first, it recovered economically, thanks to the Marshal Plan as well as to reparations not being paid. But also politically, because the F.R.G. became a partner for the Western powers, an ally against socialism. Not even ten years after fascism, the F.R.G. was accepted as a country with almost equal rights in the European Union and NATO: "To keep the Russians out, the Germans down and the Americans in."(1)
Equal rights also granted to the founding fathers of the F.R.G., which was built and led by many former Nazi bigwigs in politics, the judicial system, economy, and the military. In the F.R.G, its hibernating domicile, German imperialism came to power again, and that meant the big companies recovered first. For these were not crushed but had their share in making the F.R.G. the economically leading power in Europe - and thus also the politically leading power in the end. This country, the successor of fascist Germany, developed into the very country that set the tone in Europe, within only 40 years! In spite of this Germany having the responsibility for the two biggest wars in history, costing the lives of millions of people who fell victim to Germany's hunger for power, in spite of all this, Germany could be a respectable partner and pursue the renewed expansion of its old "greatness" without restraints.

In 1990, time was ripe to give itself a territorial basis for the "greatness" it had achieved by then, after constant planning, after constantly wearing down the other German state. For a long time, the rage over the territories lost to German imperialism had been seething when in 1989 the great-German irredentists saw no more obstacles in those times of change. The F.R.G. annexed the sovereign state G.D.R. Thus, the F.R.G. had grown in size and power. There it was, one Germany again and as "normal" as it had not been since 1945. Now, no Antihitler coalition kept this country at bay anymore, the Potsdam Agreement had become null and void for the F.R.G., once and for all. By the annexation of the G.D.R., German imperialism was set loose for the third time in the century.

... that all this came from.
Then all happened in quick succession: The economic giant had grown to be a political heavyweight as well, a heavyweight nobody in Europe is able to avoid. World leading big conglomerates like Siemens, Daimler, Krupp, and Deutsche Bank rule this country - and they also rule into the states of Eastern Europe. Represented by its black-yellow-green-red governments (each colour here stands for a ruling party or the opposition), they sit at the diplomats' conference tables in the E.U. and the U.N. Represented by its generals, they sit within NATO and in the future E.U. army. Their interests are nothing but profit and their claim to power throughout the world.
There is no socialist camp anymore to keep the imperialist powers at bay. The times of fragile alliances between the imperialists against a common enemy is over; the times of a renewed outbreak of the contradictions between the imperialists has come.

Since 1990 they have again been fighting very openly against each other, for a redistribution of the world amongst them. Their rivalries have aggravated in the meantime. To secure their spheres of interest against other imperialists they are waging wars, with which not a small amount of profit can sometimes be made by the capital-rich at home.
After the F.R.G. had abolished the postwar order by the annexation of the G.D.R., the U.S. had to prove they were the only superpower in the world, and they did so in the second Gulf War in 1991. Yugoslavia was bombed in 1999, in order not to leave the field to Germany alone. For it was Germany that urged the others to this war. First, the country was torn apart by German secret diplomacy. This was achieved by the unilateral recognition of Slovenia and Croatia as independant states in 1991 - against all objections raised by other European states. Then Yugoslavia was attacked by German bombers. For the third time in one century there was a German war of aggression against Yugoslavia! Without a U.N. mandate and against all international laws, a war started from German soil! What German imperialism had in mind in the case of Yugoslavia was an occupation of the Balkans by German troops, an enlargement of their "own backyard", and the securing of their own influence against that of other imperialist robbers by erecting a German protectorate. The F.R.G. though was helpless during the aggression against Afghanistan, and it wanted to remain that way in this case: The F.R.G. was and is an important part of the economic, political, and cultural "reconstruction" of the country. In the words of Secretary of War Peter Struck: "The security of the F.R.G. is also being defended at the Hindukush!"(2)

"Germany is serious about its sovereignty; the country 'emancipated' itself from the U.S."(3)
The Middle East, Iraq, is nothing but another battlefield of inter-imperialist contradictions. The redistribution of the world between the imperialist powers will, as is always the case, be carried out by means of war and on the backs of other peoples. The Middle East, Iraq, is being desired by the imperialist powers as a sphere of influence: Because there is one of the biggest crude oil reservoirs of the world (and this is a point of interest depending mainly on the actual import rate for crude oil of the respective imperialist nations). Because the geostrategic hegemony must be kept or enlargened, because no other imperialist power should put its hands on something another imperialist wants.
The imperialist giant U.S.A. is being challenged by rivals that become ever stronger, especiallly the F.R.G., for it holds the second rank in the list of the world's strongest economic powers. Last year, we still had to look thoroughly for the signs of a growing rivalry between the U.S. and the F.R.G., but this year, it has become obvious for every one. Previously, we watched the disgusting fight about U.S. steel tariffs, we heard the cry of rage in our country, when the U.S.A. dared to ask Germany for living up to its duties as a partner, also regarding military questions. Today, the "Iraq war" has brought to light the contradictions. Obvious: the special kind of "pacifism" of our country's rulers. Loudly enough, the "German Sonderweg" (individual, or special way) was contrasted to an American "lust for war." Germany even gathered powers like France and Russia, so that its own "way of peace" would get more weight. Hereby, this Germany, that is being ruled by capital like the other states, forges an axis of the very powers whose influence in Iraq is increasing constantly these days. This axis, however, may be crumbling very quickly, depending on the political world climate. The capital owners in these countries will only lose, if U.S. troops or a U.S. friendly government rule in Iraq after the third Gulf war. And they also lose when the next victim aimed at is Syria or Iran.
During those prewar weeks international law was often emphasized, which the U.S. was said to be acting against. International law was thus made a weapon to be used and to be conjured up at will, depending on whom they wanted to hit with it. Just thinking: Was the same international law of any interest to that very same government breaching it by strating the war of aggression against Yugoslavia? And also: Is this same government interested in the content of international law, when at the same time they are about to "revise and develop it further" (as said Ulrich Klose, Social Democrat), as some well known representatives demand, which would, by the way, mean adding the "right to a pre-emptive military strike" (Rupert Scholz, Conservatives)?(4) Here, possible strategies are taken advantage of for oneself and being condemned as soon as others demand the same right. Just as national interests recommend at a certain time.
The U.N.'s role was and is also heavily emphasized in the F.R.G. Before the attack on Iraq, it used the Security Council to explain Germany's "peaceful" interests to the U.S. and Great Britain - at least, it seems so. However, in a secret report by the German U.N. envoy, Gunter Pleuger, the real aim was explained, namely, "to isolate Washington within the Security Council, to prevent any last minute efforts for a consensus with the U.S.A., and thus force the States into a solo effort against Iraq." By this, they could hope that "the U.S.A. would turn back to the Council remorsefully, once the impossibility of managing the dimensions of reconstruction would become obvious."(5) The United Nations are thus exploited for German interests, for the isolation of the main rival just before the war, for elimintaing the main rival in the process of implementing the postwar order in Iraq. "If stability in Iraq is wanted, if you want to bring lasting peace to the region, then you will need the United Nations," and "this must be made clear to all parties."(6) Meanwhile, the U.S. and Great Britain are feeling partly obliged to follow German pressure by declaring that the U.N. would have a "vital role" to play in postwar Iraq. With this objective achieved, the F.R.G. is taking the next step. The German War Secretary, Peter Struck, is pushing the U.S.A. into accepting a participation of the Bundeswehr [German army]: "The Americans would be pleased to see Germany being present on a military scale."(7) But whether German soldiers will occupy Iraq as parts of a U.N. operation or not, is not yet clear: "Any talk about the color of helmets is premature," said "peace chancellor" Schröder.(8) And at the same time far-right think tanks are developing their own plans for a "new order in Iraq following European principles, on the basis of 'ethnic division' and 'confessional separation.'"(9) This is completely according to the principle of German power politics in Europe: to nurture so-called "ethnic minorities", and break up states. In other words: To divide and conquer, divide et impera.

They talk peace...
The German government's hypocrisy regarding peace, in the headlines everywhere during the recent months, is nothing but one option of protecting their own interests. Here, an imperialist peace is set against an imperialist war, namely one by Germany's main rival, the U.S. - however, these are not alternatives. Since imperialist peace in this case simply means that a war waged by other imperialists will not result in the desired effects for own hegemonial claims, own profits. Today, imperialist peace is the peace of our rulers, who make use of these "peaceful" times to enlarge their domination of the European continent. Eastern Europe is being penetrated on an economic and political level. German imperialism looks at the so-called "historic" eastern expansion of the E.U. as a "peaceful" achievement of aims that it could not accomplish through means of war from 1933 to 1945. "Perhaps it is especially understandable that we, the Germans, are so very, very happy about the fact that after the division of Germany was overcome, now the division of Europe is overcome - once and for all."(10) However, the so-called backyard of German imperialism, the states of eastern Europe, are not at all completely in the hands of German imperialism, are not its easy prey. This became clear only a short while ago when U.S. imperialism revealed plans to move its military bases from the F.R.G. to Poland. For in the battle over the hegemony in the world any means are used to achieve the goals. And the not so peaceful way German imperialism has been using to make ends meet in penetrating eastern Europe is obviously coming to an end. The imperialist great powers are opposing each other ever more clearly, also militarily. After Iraq, will it be another country on whose back these contradictions are fought out in a barbarous way, will that perhaps be Poland? Today, imperialist peace is the peace of our rulers, tomorrow it will be their war against other peoples.

...but arm for war.
Wars are a part of imperialist peace, imperialists' own wars, as long as they serve the national capital and its plots. Not only since 1990 did we observe the armament and the rearrangement of the military in this country, the adoption of new strategic documents like the "Guidelines for Defense Policy" in 1992. Herein, the "securing of markets and ressources" is demanded as a vital interest for the F.R.G. But how can it be achieved that markets and ressources are secured within other states' boundaries? Only by buying these countries, that is how. Otherwise, these words must be taken as a threat of war. New German wars that require an adjustment of the Bundeswehr and of the military equipment. Thus, the "structural reform" of the Bundeswehr is nothing but a new armament, because nothing is being really consolidated and reduced, only optimized and specialized. The defense budget is meanwhile climbing mountain-high: for the years until 2006, 24.4 billion Euros will be budgeted annually. "On an international scale, 9,000 German soldiers are engaged in multilateral operations. Therefore, Germany is second in the world in sending troops, right after the U.S.A," claimed the Schröder government on February 27, 2003.(11) Since 1998 altogether 100,000 soldiers were sent abroad. 100,000 German soldiers to protect German interests in foreign countries, and also in countries that the German Wehrmacht had devastated by murder and ruin! Extensive operations abroad are also determined by the War Department, in the new "Guidelines for Defense Policy" of May 2003: "The Bundeswehr fights terrorist organizations that operate worldwide, and contributes to withdrawing from them safe areas of retreat and to secure naval lines. Future operations cannot be limited, neither regarding intensity, nor geography. That is due to the extensive attempt to accomplish a modern security and defense policy and to its demands. The political purpose determines the aim, location, duration, and sort of any operation." Domestic operations of the Bundeswehr are also made possible: "...if and when the Bundeswehr only has the abilities needed, or whenever the protection of citizens or critical infrastructure requires an enormous capacity and action of personell."(12) Thus, other peoples are theatened by German "pre-emptive strikes" - and that is, by the way, exactly the same phraseology the Hitler fascists used during the Second World War. And this is also the final act of the German government's peace propaganda. "We must be prepared to draw the consequences from the fact that an operation of defense on the borders of our own country has become an unlikely option."(13) Defense unlikely - or in other words: Attack likely, at whatever borders there may be!

Good Old Europe?
Germany is arming for the next big war. If this war is about the redistribution of the world, if it is about claims to power and areas of influence for the different imperialist powers, then it will be waged against the F.R.G.'s main rival, the U.S.. Another possibility is that it will be waged against other great powers that today are good friends with the F.R.G. The F.R.G. questions the U.S.'s position as a global superpower. And because the "problem of American power"(14) cannot yet be solved by military means - which is exactly the circumstance that saves all our lives at the moment - the F.R.G. demands a powerful Europe from its "partners" within the E.U. Dominated by the F.R.G., Europe is to follow a Common Foreign and Security Policy, a European Security and Defense Policy. This will be realized on a political level by appointing a European foreign secretary and by passing of a European constitution - which is preferredly to conform to the Franco-German proposal.

This is right now partly achieved by the takeover of responsibility by European forces under German command in Macedonia in April 2003, and then in Bosnia in 2004. "If western Europe is able to stabilize this region [the Balkans] in its backyard, then the second, much bigger step is also possible: to westernize Russia in a European sense. This is the only way a necessary counterweight to the USA can be established."(17) "Westernization in a European sense" - in 1941 that meant attack and war of annihilation.

Down with the Berlin Republic!
With our rulers arming the country for wars, with the same rulers waging wars, with the next big war being only a matter of time, our rulers are making good use of the situation. Foreign wars are prepared by an interior war. Here, war means a further elimination of civil, of democratic rights. Increased surveillance implemented by the so-called "grand attack for general surveillance", computer screening, and the so-called "Schily bundles" (Guidelines on domestic security, drafted by Otto Schily, Secretary of the Interior), registration of all political leftists. Removing the taboos from torture, widening of the paragraph 129 of the Criminal Code (directed against terrorist activities). War also means further admission of fascist organizations and parties - rejecting by the German supreme court to ban the nazi National Democratic party. Interior war especially means a campaign against the workers and the unemployed in this country. Almost made disappear by the antiwar hype of recent months: the attacks of our rulers against us by implementing the "Hartz concepts," which have been passed as laws only in parts yet: a cut back of allowances, introduction of labor duty, "Ich AG" ("I, Inc.," forced self-exploitation on the brink of surviving), micro jobs, and digital registration of all workers. After this deformation of the labor market, the health system will be their next target. And should the unions, the representatives of our interests, be as bold as to oppose this vastest of all attacks of the capitalists against us workers, then Schröder has warned them already that he will attack the unions directly in turn!
Preparation of German wars also means to push the militarization of society, first by war propaganda. To this end, the media bombardment during the Iraq war was used, when German generals out of service were allowed to explain in dead earnest the murderous war strategies. To this end, also troops are being sent around the country on promotion tours, be it during the event of a fairground, or be it by teaching children strategy games at the Leipzig Book Fair. Getting used to the military, that and nothing else is the aim of this propaganda campaign. For military and war have to become a "normal" part of daily life again. To make German imperialism at the same time look as if it were peace-loving, is the German government's task; the very same government that is developing into the U.S.'s opposite pole within the global political system. Psychological preparation for war is the right term for things like these. And even more so, because the government has achieved to tie huge parts of the progressive forces and of the German people tightly to the system. They march in the streets together with government and capital against the USA - just like in 1914 against "czarist imperialism". How long will it take until the place for marching will be the battlefield?
This Germany has not at all become more peaceful in the course of its history. The F.R.G. is an imperialist state whose politicians, civil servants, and military personell carry through the claims to power of German conglomerates on the domestic and the foreign stage. For us there is no common path with German imperialism - except the way to the mass grave, and even that is a path we have to go instead of the imperialists! We have nothing in common with the German warmongers, with this government of political oppression, of social slavery!
At the beginning of the 1950s, the German peace movement was directed against the rulers at home, against the remilitarization of the F.R.G., against the General Treaty, signed 1954, by which the F.R.G. gained political sovereignty and thus the possibility for rearmament. Because of that, the forces that were an important part of the struggle for peace were banned in the F.R.G., and these were the FDJ and the KPD (Communist Party of Germany). For they had been profound trouble-makers for the rulers . This, and nothing else must be our duty: The struggle against German imperialism, our main enemy, the struggle for getting over with this system. For we will no sooner be a force of peace than when we are unwelcome to our rulers.
No peace with our rulers - because they talk about peace and arm for war!

Central Council of the FDJ
May 2003

Sources:

(1) Thus former Secretary General of NATO, Lord Ismay.
(2) Press conference, 12/05/02, cf.: http://www.bmvg.de/sicherheit/print/021205_struck_projekte.php.
(3) Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 04/04/03.
(4) Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, 03/23/03.
(5) Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, 03/16/03.
(6) Gerhard Schröder, in: Article by the Department of Press and Information of the Federal Government, 04/10/03, and Address to the Nation, 04/03/03; cf.: www.bundesregierung.de.
(7) Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 04/14/03.
(8) Article by the Department of Press and Information of the Federal Government, 04/11/03, cf.: www.bundesregierung.de.
(9) Thus the "Centrum für angewandte Politikforschung" (Center for applied Policy Research) in Munich, and the "Bertelsmann-Stiftung" (Foundation). Cf.: www.cap.uni-muenchen.de und www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de.
(10) Gerhard Schröder at the signing ceremony, 04/16/03, cf.: www.bundesregierung.de.
(11) Cf.: www.bundesregierung.de/Nachrichten.
(12) Extracts documented in Die Welt, 04/25/03.
(13) Peter Struck, in Europäische Sicherheit, January 2003. Cf.: www.bmvg.de/archiv/reden/minister/ print/030106_europaeische_sicherheit.php.
(14) Peter Schmidt, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (Foundation for Science and Politics), 19.03.03. Cf.: www.swp-berlin.org.
(15) Financial Times Deutschland, 03/21/03.
(16) Cf.: www.german-foreign-policy.com, News,04/19/03.
(17) Jochen Thies, "Das Ringen um eine neue Weltordnung", in Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, Nr. 25/2002.

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