As someone who studied the build up to WWII, and WWII in the Pacific, I often read today’s headlines through a historical lens.
This article in the WSJ on Germany preparing for potential conflict with Russia made me pause.
When you’ve studied how World War II unfolded, you know it didn’t begin overnight. It developed through strategic expansion, rising nationalism, militarization, and leaders determined to reshape the world order and global balance of power.
You begin to recognize patterns.
As Winston Churchill said, “If you fail to learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it.”
Or, as George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
History does not repeat itself in identical form. But it mirrors. And we need to pay attention. Not out of fear, but awareness.
In the early 1930s, imperial expansion from Japan and territorial aggression from Germany destabilized regions long before the broader world fully grasped the implications.
Today’s global landscape is different. The nations are different. But when powerful countries test boundaries and assert influence like we have seen for years, it naturally draws comparison for those of us who study that era closely.
Modern Germany preparing defensively is not the Germany of the 1930s — and that distinction matters deeply.
This German General Brueur is proactive.
My grandfather also believed deeply in preparedness — not as aggression, but as responsibility. Discipline, vigilance, and readiness were, in his view, what preserved peace and protected lives.
When he was in China in 1930’s with the Marines, he could read the tea leaves about Japan’s territorial and violent aggression when they invaded Shanghai in 1932 and 1937. Way before they attacked us on Dec. 7, 1941.
As we reflect on that generation, and our familles that served in WWII and the weight they carried, I am forever thankful.
And, reminded that history’s greatest gift is perspective and awareness.
Thankful for today’s leaders who study history and have their eyes wide open.
