On 27 February 2022, three days after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it was a historic turning point, or Zeitenwende, for European security.
Scholz promised to transform German foreign and defence policy, and substantially modernise and rearm Germany’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr. A key element of the Zeitenwende was the creation of a €100 billion special fund for an immediate increase in defence spending, as well as the promise to meet Nato’s target of spending 2 per cent target of GDP on defence by 2024.
Two years on, with the dawn of the second Trump administration, it seems that Zeitenwende was only the beginning for Germany’s armed forces.
In a series of public statements the President, along with his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President J.D.
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