Oct. 4—At least 25,000 demonstrators gathered at the big pro-peace rally in Berlin on Thursday, Oct. 3, on the Day of Unity in Germany, with numerous organizations taking part. The theme of the event was War Never Again, as conveyed on the official demonstration website.
Speakers from several parties, and spokesmen for many points of view addressed the large rally in front of the Victory Column, but a focused message connected all the speeches. These priorities were declared: Stop the war escalation with Russia in Ukraine and in Southwest Asia; start negotiations as a necessity to deal with the crisis; do not make Germany a target; stop the deployment of nuclear-capable U.S. missiles into Germany.
Strong messages drew attention to the many large banners on display in the crowd. One of them, carried by the Peace Alliance of Northern Germany, read “Yesterday Hiroshima, Tomorrow Euroshima—No Stationing of U.S. Medium-Range Missiles on German Territory!”
BüSo: ‘Germany’s Future Is the New Silk Road’
Among the peace organizations present at the Berlin rally, the BüSo (Civil Rights Movement Solidarity Party) participated, displaying its large banner, always a special attraction: “Germany’s Future Is the New Silk Road.” Continuous discussions took place at the BüSo’s organizing table, with the BRICS and the concept of “peace through development” active topics. People eagerly took up the BüSo leaflet (text below), which had a link to the archived video of the Oct. 2 international event reported above, “Another Step Closer to Nuclear Armageddon—Germany Needs a New Security Architecture.” More than 2,000 of these leaflets were circulated and many contacts made for future collaboration.
The most prominent speakers were Sahra Wagenknecht (leader of the BSW—Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht, a party founded earlier this year); Peter Gauweiler (CSU—Christian Socialist Union), who was one of the earliest signers of the February 2023 Wagenknecht-Schwarzer anti-war petition; and Ralf Stegner (SPD—Social Democratic Party of Germany).
In her address to the large crowed at the Victory Column, Wagenknecht thanked Mikhail Gorbachev for making peaceful reunification possible, but she denounced the current Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock (Green Party), as a “security risk” for Germany. This was a direct counter to a recent comment by Baerbock, who has denounced the Wagenknecht party’s electoral success in the three September state elections in East Germany—Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg. Wagenknecht lashed out at the “War Party”—which has been calling for Germany to exert all efforts for “readiness for war,” which they say will come in the near future. She called, instead, for the formation of a “battalion of war-mongers,” who then could go and prove their “war readiness” at the front.
East German State Leaders Call for Diplomacy
It is notable that on the Day of Unity, leaders of the three East German states which had just manifested a peace vote in their September state elections, had a jointly-authored guest article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily newspaper, headlined, “We Want a More Active Diplomatic Role for Germany.” They are in talks with the BSW of Sahra Wagenknecht, who made it a precondition for forming a coalition, that the stationing of U.S. missiles in Germany in 2026 be denounced. Brandenburg’s Minister President Dietmar Woidke (SPD), Saxony’s Minister President Michael Kretschmer and Thuringia’s CDU Chairman Mario Voigt wrote, “A strong and united alliance is needed to bring Russia to the negotiating table. Germany and the EU have been too indecisive in pursuing this path.” The broader the international alliance, they said, the greater the pressure will be. “It’s about achieving a ceasefire and offering Ukraine reliable security guarantees.” Noting that “the Peaceful Revolution is celebrating its 35th anniversary,” they wrote, “What remains of paramount importance is the freedom of our country in a secure Europe.”
On the Brink of Nuclear Apocalypse:
Germany Needs a New Security Architecture!
This is the statement distributed at the Oct. 3 Berlin peace rally.
Two regional wars—the situation in Southwest Asia and the war over Ukraine—are threatening to spiral out of control and could both lead to a global nuclear war!
After the assassination of the leader of Hezbollah, who enjoyed the highest respect throughout the Islamic world, and Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, which has already killed over a thousand people and displaced over a million, a conflagration is now escalating that could lead to world war.
Ever more powerful and far-reaching weapons are being delivered for the war against Russia in Ukraine, as if there were no red lines in the fight against the nuclear power Russia.
Now, in response, Putin has changed Russia’s nuclear doctrine to the effect that it will use nuclear weapons not only when Russia’s territorial existence is threatened, but also when a non-nuclear state backed by a nuclear power launches a massive air attack. Nevertheless, certain politicians and media still say that Putin is only “bluffing.” Vladimir Putin’s patience is interpreted as weakness, which is a potentially fatal miscalculation!
It seems as if the memory of the destruction and suffering of two world wars has been erased.
If permission is granted to use American and British long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian territory, the risk of escalation to nuclear war would be greater than during the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Putin has warned that the use of such weapons would mean that NATO countries are at war with Russia.
On August 26, The New York Times reported that President Biden had already changed the U.S. nuclear doctrine in March of this year in order to forestall the danger of a simultaneous war against Russia, China and North Korea. The U.S. decision (!) announced by the Chancellor [German Chancellor Olaf Scholz] in July to station American medium-range missiles in Germany from 2026 should be seen in this strategic context. There was no debate about this in the Bundestag or in public. Now it is reported that the Pentagon has commissioned a study on the effects of radioactive fallout on global agriculture, especially in Eastern Europe. Defense Minister Pistorius wants to make Germany “war-ready,” the health system and even the Red Cross are to prepare to transport large numbers of wounded back from the Eastern Front soon! It seems as if a large part of this establishment lives in a parallel world in which the rules of video games apply, but not reality!
If war breaks out, Germany will be the main target of an attack, and if nuclear weapons are used, nothing will be left of Germany, no industry, no cities, no infrastructure—and no people. In other words, we are trapped in a military strategy in which, in the worst case, there will be no survival. Is that in Germany’s interest?
At the end of the Cold War and German reunification, there was a chance to establish a peace order for the 21st Century. This great opportunity for humanity was missed by the unprecedented triumphalism of the West. All promises made to Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin were broken, and today we are on the brink of a global nuclear war that threatens to wipe out all life on this planet.
A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. John F. Kennedy warned the world after the Cuban Missile Crisis that a nuclear superpower should never be put in a position where it must choose between “humiliating defeat or nuclear war.” Powers must avoid confrontations that force an opponent to choose between humiliating retreat or nuclear war. The need to resolve a conflict diplomatically has never been more urgent than today.
But we must eliminate the real cause of the threat of war. After the end of the Cold War, the opportunity to establish a peaceful order for the 21st Century, which would have been absolutely possible at the time, was not used. Instead, the collective West tried to impose a unipolar world that would guarantee the dominance of the neoliberal system and liberal values forever.
Supposedly, “the end of history” had been reached. In reality, the countries of the Global South are revolting against the wars of intervention, the unilateral sanctions, the instrumentalization of the dollar as a weapon, the attempt to impose neoliberal values and the continuation of the colonial era. These nations, which comprise 88% of the world’s population, are now in the process of building a new economic and credit system that will enable them to overcome poverty and underdevelopment.
Instead of expanding NATO into a “Global NATO” and dividing the world into two hostile blocs in a new Cold War, we in the West must rethink and build this new economic system together with the nations of the Global South!
Instead of allowing ourselves to be harnessed to the war wagon for a war in which there would be no survival for us, we in Germany and the other European states must become a force for peace and cooperate with the BRICS states, which already represent the majority!
The world is on the brink of World War III; if it happens, it will wipe out all life on this earth in the nuclear winter that will follow. We must continue these demonstrations in millions until the threat of war is averted. For this to happen, we need a new global security and development architecture in the tradition of the Peace of Westphalia that takes into account the interests of every single state in the world!
No to American medium-range missiles from 2026!
Stop the unilateral sanctions!
For cooperation with the BRICS nations!
