Germany is building what's expected to become Europe's largest military

Germany is building what's expected to become Europe's largest military

Transcript¹

Three days after Russian troops entered Ukraine, German Chancellor² Scholz announced Germany would more than double its military's funding, a move that caught Europe and Germans by surprise.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

German Chancellor Olaf Schulz's decision to more than double the funding for his country's military has caught not only Europeans, but also Germans by surprise. The country's reckoning with its own history has, for decades, prevented it from building a big military, but now there's a war on Europe's doorstep. And as NPR's Rob Schmitz reports, the continent's largest economy is building what's expected to become Europe's largest military.

ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE³: The announcement came three days after Russian troops had entered Ukraine, and only a few people in parliament had been briefed about what Chancellor Olaf Scholz was about to announce - that Germany would infuse its beleaguered⁴ military with more than 100 billion euros, putting it on pace to be the third-largest military on the planet.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CHANCELLOR OLAF SCHOLZ: (Speaking German).

(APPLAUSE)

SCHMITZ: Germany's parliament erupted into a rare standing⁵ ovation⁶ - a roar that filled the main chamber⁷ of the Reichstag, a building whose destruction and rebirth were at the center of the horrors of the last World War and was now again witness to what Germans labeled a zeitenwende - an historical turning point.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SCHOLZ: (Speaking German).

(APPLAUSE)

SCHMITZ: Defense⁸ expert Jana Puglierin watched on in disbelief.

JANA PUGLIERIN: It was mind-boggling for me to see this because for many of the things that he had basically decided⁹ overnight, I had fought for years and I was sure to never see them materialize.

SCHMITZ: Puglierin heads the Berlin office of the European Council on Foreign Relations. She says, for years, she's listened to Germany's allies urge it to step up and spend more on defense and provide more leadership, but she says Germany's government has traditionally dismissed the idea. She says defense spending wasn't even an issue in the country's elections this past autumn.

PUGLIERIN: And I think the main reason for it was because German citizens did not feel threatened for a very long time. They never saw that their security was actually a fragile thing. They took it very much for granted. And the sheer idea that, I don't know, a Russian missile would hit Germany was completely absurd.

SCHMITZ: This German mindset is rooted in a past that's difficult for many citizens to reckon with - a time when the country, under Adolf Hitler, built one of the world's largest armies, says military expert Constantin Wissmann (ph).

CONSTANTIN WISSMANN: They started a war, and obviously all industry was turned into army, and then, afterwards, everything was flattened¹⁰.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: The storm breaks in full final fury on the German Rhine.

(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS)

SCHMITZ: Wissmann says that final fury in World War II not only destroyed the German Army, but left a residue¹¹ of shame around its future military.

WISSMANN: And, actually, you can see a lot of problems which the German Army has now still sort of stem from that time because we never really got comfortable with having an army, I guess.

SCHMITZ: Wissmannn is author of "Not Quite Ready For Combat: How The German Army Became A Rubbish Army." After the end of the Cold War, Germany slashed¹² its defense budget and used its reduced military not so much to protect its homeland as it did for foreign peacekeeping efforts. The state of Germany's military suffered so much that, in 2015, during a joint¹³ NATO training exercise, German troops were forced to use broomsticks painted black instead of guns because of equipment shortages. Wissmann says this new funding will help, but he says money won't solve everything.

WISSMANN: I think the structural¹⁴ deficits¹⁵ of the German Army run deeper. There are structural problems which should be resolved before you spend the money on it.

SCHMITZ: Even with the new money, military analyst¹⁶ Thomas Wiegold says Germany's armed forces are still playing catch-up.

THOMAS WIEGOLD: Funny enough, this does not mean increasing the size. This doesn't even mean to add completely different capabilities¹⁷. First and foremost, it means to finance what actually should be there already.

SCHMITZ: Things like modern fighter jets - this week, Germany pledged to buy nearly three dozen F-35s from Lockheed Martin to replace its 40-year-old fleet of Tornado¹⁸ jets. Wiegold says Germany needs to buy new tanks, weapons, warships¹⁹ - you name it. And as Germany rebuilds its military, Wiegold says the rest of Europe will feel safer. He quotes a former Polish foreign minister, who said, "I'm not afraid of a strong German Army. I'm afraid of a weak German Army."

WIEGOLD: It's not that France or the U.K. or Italy or even the Poles would see a military-strong Germany as a threat. I think it's more or less the other way around - that they expect Germany, with its economic power, to do its part on the security side.

SCHMITZ: Defense expert Jana Puglierin says she hopes Germany will move forward with the responsibility that Europe's largest economy and what will now be Europe's largest military bring with it because for too long, she says, Germany has relied on the U.S. to help defend it.

PUGLIERIN: And I have had so many Europeans and Germans saying, thanks God we have the United States. But at the same time, we need to realize that we should not take it for granted that the United States is there to babysit the Europeans forever, so I think we need to become a much more capable partner in the trans-Atlantic relationship - to create a transatlantic relationship on eye level, on equal footing.

SCHMITZ: And that means, she says, sharing the U.S. military's burden, but also a fair say in how international security develops. She says Germany is not only wary²⁰ of Russia, but also of China. And depending on who takes the White House in 2024, it's difficult to predict what the relationship with the U.S. will be like. A stronger military should help Germany navigate²¹ all of this uncertainty²² - a military that is now on track to be the world's third largest, behind only the American and Chinese militaries.

PUGLIERIN: What I would hope to see is that we develop a healthy relationship towards this notion of European serenity²³ because I think it's definitely necessary.

SCHMITZ: Puglierin says, for decades, Germany's leadership believed it could bring peace through trade and, as a result, wouldn't need a big military. But the world has become more unstable²⁴ and unpredictable, and a capable military, she says, is now a necessity.

Rob Schmitz, NPR News, Berlin.

(SOUNDBITE OF DISTANT.LO'S "GLOW")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 beleaguered   

adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰

参考例句：

• The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign. 那位饱受指责的政党领导人被迫辞职。
• We are beleaguered by problems. 我们被许多困难所困扰。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 ovation   

n.欢呼，热烈欢迎，热烈鼓掌

参考例句：

• The hero received a great ovation from the crowd. 那位英雄受到人群的热烈欢迎。
• The show won a standing ovation. 这场演出赢得全场起立鼓掌。

7 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

11 residue   

n.残余，剩余，残渣

参考例句：

• Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。
• Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.农药一旦超过控制的临界期，就会导致残留问题。

12 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

14 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

15 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

16 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

17 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

18 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

19 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

20 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

21 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

22 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

23 serenity   

n.宁静，沉着，晴朗

参考例句：

• Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。
• She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。

24 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。