For 42 years, I have continually warned that a "United States of Europe" would form in central Europe, comprising more than 250 million people; a huge industrial, economic and military power which would eventually challenge the United States; that a 10-nation combine would form which would fulfill the Bible prophecy of the "Beast" which would fight Jesus Christ at His return.

Specifically, I pointed out that the eventual United Europe would be formed among nations which were, during most of those 42 years, under the heel of Soviet domination; part of the "Warsaw Pact"; nations such as East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia [since divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia], Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania.

Too many times to count, I appeared before large audiences and said, "The last chapter of European History has not been written," before launching into a description of how the Cold War would NOT result in Russia advancing into Palestine; how, instead, the aforementioned nations would COME OUT from behind the Iron Curtain; how a "United States of Europe" would eventually form. Time and time again, I named the nations which would eventually emerge as a part of a United Europe.

Now, the Soviet Union has imploded, dividing up into many squabbling, sometimes warring states. Russia teeters on the brink of bankruptcy and civil war. President Yeltsin is in poor health; says he will not run for President of Russia again, and is being challenged by ultra nationalistic and communist leaders. RUSSIA, while NOT the "beast" power of Bible prophecy, will figure very prominently in world events of these next few years, and in the great Battle of Armageddon.

Long ago, the pope in Rome called for a "United Europe stretching from the Atlantic wall to the Urals." The Ural mountains are EAST of Moscow! Think that through! Today, Germany is the strongest nation in Europe. However, all is not well in this vibrant nation, and signs of unrest bode ill for the future. Acute political unrest, massive unemployment, the rise of neo-Nazi groups, economic malaise; all threaten peace and security in Germany. What is ahead for Germany and Europe, and what will it mean to YOU where you live?

When the Berlin wall came down, I took two of my sons, Mark and David, with me, and went to Berlin. I began an article there following my TV programs done at the wall, at the Brandenburg Gate, and at famous "Checkpoint Charlie." That article was published in a special edition of "20th Century WATCH" magazine, and then later made into a booklet entitled "United States of Europe, When?" In that original article, I reprinted about FIFTY quotations from previous years; many taken from older issues of the "Plain Truth" magazine, of which I was executive editor; from such CGI publications as "Twentieth Century WATCH," and "The International News."

Before you read several of these sensational quotations, REMEMBER! All during the Cold War, including the most chilling moments of all, such as the Kennedy-Khrushchev missile standoff over Cuba, when the world held its breath believing we were on the brink of nuclear war, my father and I were saying "Bible Prophecy does NOT predict a war between the U.S. and Russia! Russia will NOT be the power that occupies Palestine (Daniel 11:40-45). Russia is NOT the "beast" of Bible Prophecy!

Yet, ALL the popular, big-name, best-selling televangelists and Protestant evangelicals were saying just the opposite! One of the most popular prophetic scenarios in best-selling books with themes like "Armageddon" or "Doomsday," or "The End of the World" was that RUSSIA would advance into Jerusalem! None of their predictions came true. Instead, the Soviet Union collapsed, and now, a UNITED EUROPE is forming!

Now, notice what we have consistently written and preached for all these many decades:

The PLAIN TRUTH, June, 1952, p. 11: "The 10 `horns'...in the 17th chapter [of the Book of Revelation] ...will be...the revival of the BEAST, the Roman Empire, `out of the bottomless pit,' by a `United States of Europe,' or federation of 10 European nations within the bounds of the old Roman Empire" (that includes such nations as mentioned above, in eastern Europe!).

The PLAIN TRUTH, September, 1953, p. 1: "...This [riots had just occurred in East Germany], is the beginning of an East German revolt against Red tyranny. Czechoslovakia, Poland and other conquered nations behind the Iron Curtain have witnessed similar uprisings in recent weeks. It will take time [it certainly did!], but Russia is going to lose out in some of these countries..."

The PLAIN TRUTH, November, 1954, p. 7: "Word comes from the College of Cardinals that the possibility of the new pope being chosen (when that becomes a necessity) from the ranks other than Italian is not too remote. The next pope could be the man who will unite Europe!" [Editor's note: This was about 25 years ahead of its time! When Wojtila, a Pole, was elected as Pope John Paul II, he was powerfully instrumental in Poland for nurturing "Solidarity" and for prying Russia's grip loose from Poland and Eastern Europe].

The PLAIN TRUTH, February, 1962, p. 5: "On the WORLD TOMORROW program, and in the pages of the PLAIN TRUTH, we have been shouting to a heedless world for [many] years this was going to occur...it would come as an ECONOMIC force, bringing unprecedented prosperity to Europe. But also, it is to become a political and military combine—a gigantic third power bloc in the world, that will include more population, greater man- power, and possibly even greater military resources than either the United States or Russia. When this giant combine—a United States of EUROPE—finally emerges as such before a startled and dumbfounded world, it will last only a very short time. It will fight against Jesus Christ at His Second Coming!" [Editor's note: Read Revelation 17:12-14 with Revelation 19].

The PLAIN TRUTH, March, 1962, p. 26: "Fascism in Europe is about to be reborn in respectable business attire, and the Treaty of Rome will finally be implemented to its fullest extent...the dream of a Holy Roman Empire returning to power to dominate and direct the so-called forces of Christian mankind of the Western world [this dream] is not dead, but still stalks through the antechambers of every national capitol of continental Western Europe...IN THE DETERMINATION OF THE LEADERS IN THE COMMON MARKET NATIONS TO RESTORE THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE WITH ALL THAT THAT MEANS [Northwest Technocrat, Vol. XXV, No. 205]. United within ancient boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire; united by the common spiritual bond of universal Catholicism; united in a burgeoning and booming industrial economy that dominates today's world; united geographically in the most productive and industrial complex on earth—at least TEN NATIONS OF MODERN EUROPE WILL MARCH ONTO THE SCENE OF WORLD HISTORY AS THE GREATEST SINGLE FORCE EVER SEEN BY MAN!"

"This United Europe will form a nonaggression pact or political alignment of some sort with the Soviet East. This United Europe will then consolidate its gains..."

The PLAIN TRUTH, November, 1962, p. 10: "Just as certainly as we restore Western Europe to economic prosperity, and then to military power, a successor to Hitler will emerge, gain control of this power through a `United States of Europe,' which we [the U.S. government] are also encouraging, and we shall then wake up, too late, to realize we have restored our fascist enemy the power to destroy us!...battlefields are becoming economic, just as we said they would ...the movement is...forming toward complete political consolidation!"

The PLAIN TRUTH, November, 1962, p. 21: "Listen, now, to some of the most shocking news of recent times!

"ONLY THOSE DEAF TO THE SOUND OF HISTORY can fail to be excited by the French-German rapprochement and the steady movement toward the `making of Europe'...Historically, political union over so great a space came only from conquest or from the spread of a common culture. Where, in modern times, Napoleon, Bismarck, Hitler and Stalin failed, reason and mutual necessity are succeeding. A European political union would mean little if the ultimate power of deciding whether it fights...and dies...is going to rest with the Americans."

Ibid. p. 22: "In a recent address at Harvard University, Professor Walter Hallstein, President of the European Economic Community, said...the... market is...highly political. He considers it the substructure for a hoped-for United States of Europe. He said, `I want to stress that...it is political, not just that it tends toward a political goal.'"

The PLAIN TRUTH, January, 1963, p. 5: "Daring new plans for monetary reform and economic planning are on the drawing boards. These will so inextricably mesh the economies of the Six, reports Time, that they will `clear the way for the final goal of a POLITICALLY UNITED EUROPE.'"

The PLAIN TRUTH, March, 1963, p. 3: "...a German STRONG MAN is the logical choice to ascend to the helm of the new POLITICALLY UNITED EUROPE."

Ibid. p. 14: "Der Spiegel...was especially critical of the great number of former Nazis who were being wooed by Bonn to join the government ranks. The West German regime defended its policy of permitting former top-ranking Nazis to become an integral part of the new German democracy."

The PLAIN TRUTH, October, 1964, p. 48: "Germany—A UNITED GERMANY with her former territories restored—is ready to emerge as the strongest nation on earth at the head of a revitalized...Europe! The power colossus is then going to deal a death blow to the United States and Britain..."

The PLAIN TRUTH, December, 1964, p. 16: "...God shows that in this end time He is going to use the modern Assyrians...the Germans—to dominate a United Europe."

The PLAIN TRUTH, April, 1965, p. 19: "In spite of Mr. Churchill's farsightedness, [this was written just after Churchill's death, Ed.], he could not see far enough into the future to visualize the outcome of a United States of Europe. He did not know from Bible prophecy that it would be comprised of ten nations, dominated politically by a Roman-Fascist-like system and religiously by a great universal, militant church. He could not foresee that this great politico/religio/economic power bloc of ten nations would not only refuse Britain membership [in the final United States of Europe—the ten], but would ultimately prove the undoing of the Anglo-Saxon peoples of America, Britain, and the Commonwealth countries."

The PLAIN TRUTH, May, 1967, p. 4: "Second to building up a strong Germany, Adenauer's efforts [this was written after "Der Alte" had died] were dedicated to the establishment of a United Roman Europe—a union of Germany with those lands once within the confines of the Roman Empire" [emphasis mine: NOTE: Today, the nations of Eastern Europe are not only long since out from under Communist domination, but are being gathered into NATO; being admitted as members of the new European Union, and being tabbed as a part of the new economic union; signing on to the "Euro," the new European currency! Remember, this was written over 21 years ago, when all mainstream protestant evangelicals were saying RUSSIA was the "beast" of prophecy, and ignoring Germany and Europe!].

The PLAIN TRUTH, October, 1968. [Editor's note: I had just returned from Munich and Bonn, following interviews with the late Franz Josef Strauss, who was then head of the Christian Socialist Union of Bavaria, and former Defense Minister. The article in the October issue included a lengthy question and answer session with Herr Strauss]. p. 6: "One of our major conditions [Strauss said] is that the desire for admission to the Common Market is not based upon the motivation to impede political integration. We want...members who are ready and prepared to join us on the way toward a political integration with the long-run goal of the United States of Europe." Later, underlining the fact that Strauss had become a strong proponent of European acquisition of nuclear weapons, he said, "I believe the Europeans should take more responsibility for their own defense...I see as the only chance... that of building up a Europe—integrating the Federal Republic of Germany into that Europe and building bridges from an attractive, economically powerful, political and influential Europe with can defend herself—including a nuclear potential—to add to the power of the Europeans."

Many More Articles Written Through The Seventies

The PLAIN TRUTH kept publishing articles such as those quoted above all through the seventies. Space does not permit reprinting them all. By 1978, when I had incorporated as "The Church of God, International," I wanted to launch another magazine. We were not able to do so until the summer of 1979, when, on the very first cover of our new publication called "Twentieth-century WATCH," I featured a West German missile-firing tank under the title, "A Monster Stirs: West German Military Power Increasing." Here is a quote from that article: "Hitler imagined a `thousand year Reich' with himself...at the pinnacle of power, and dreamed of a millennial reign of `German supermen' over the world, as if he applied these prophecies [of a coming `Messiah'] to himself. This new leader of a united Europe, who will probably be a German, will attempt to fulfill the very same dream, proclaiming himself a great leader over the other 10 `kings' (in today's terminology, they could be presidents, premiers, prime ministers, etc.) and so wield power over a 10-nation combine, which will be the greatest power bloc the world has ever seen."

Twentieth-Century WATCH, Winter 1984: cover story pictured the Berlin Wall with East German border guards: lead article, "Will Germany Reunite?" I wrote, "A West German official recently said, `I get mad when Americans and others dismiss it [German reunification] as an impossible dream.' Said a 42 year old engineer in Munich. `Why can't we be like others, proud of who we are, without everyone calling it "New German Nationalism?" On Page 29 I wrote, "There may be no such thing as the remotest dream [remember, this was written in 1984—five years before the Berlin wall came down!] in the mind of a living German that a reunited Germany, at the head of a future United States of Europe, could ever conquer the United States of America. But, even as many Germans understand, the current world situation is not the last chapter, either in European history, or in American history. The future will too soon be upon us."

From a transcript of a sermon, May 22, 1982: "...we may see a strange alliance between the Soviet Union and Western Europe...an alliance of nations including Germany, and a `United States of Europe.'"

From a transcript of a sermon, April 25, 1987: "Many of you in this room have heard me saying that the prelude to World War III is going to be the collapse of the present day world economy, followed by the emergence of despots, dictatorships, and ultra-nationalists...governments in countries all over the world, especially [in] Germany. The reunification of Germany in the context of a unified Europe and the creation of a ten-nation central bloc...will become the United States of Europe, and challenge the United States of America."

From a transcript of a sermon, Charleston, South Carolina, May 16, 1987: "..some...understand that Adolf Hitler was trying to put together the dream of...German geo-politicians like Haushofer and Makinder...to create in the heartland of Europe...a United States of Europe; a vast trading combine which would embody all of those industrial, inventive people from the Urals to the Atlantic...the Poles, Czechs...the Germans...and... East Germany...Adolf Hitler was nothing more than a weak revival of a prophesied seven resurrections of [the]...Roman Empire which was predicted to exist...until the time of the second coming of Christ...10 kings are going to fight Christ at His coming..."

I could fill many more pages with similar quotations spanning many years!

When the Berlin Wall came down, two of my sons and I watched the greatest celebration we had ever witnessed! We watched as segments of the wall came down; as East German border guards sold their hats and articles of their uniforms to eager West Germans for souvenirs. We chipped away at the wall with thousands of others, and brought pieces of it home with us.

All the quotations you just read were found as a result of my desire to immediately publish a special edition of our magazine to shout out, `WE TOLD YOU SO!' Germany was REUNITING! Eastern Europe was COMING OUT FROM BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN; the Soviet Union was imploding; Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania were becoming independent nations!

Had my father, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong been alive, he would have done precisely the same thing! He would have researched all that he and I and others had written for DECADES; he would have then written a powerful article, shouting out to his readers, "WE TOLD YOU SO!" Shockingly, those he left in charge of the church and colleges God had used him to build treated these monumental events as if they were only a minor thing.

Now, in the light of all the foregoing, here are some of the important developments of very recent date:

Britain Scales Back Army In Europe

The British Labor government is about to dramatically cut back the size of its forces in Europe. George Robertson, the Secretary of Defense, has conducted a six-month "Strategic Defense Review"and is recommending that hundreds of tanks and troops be withdrawn from Germany. Calling such forces "cold war relics," Robertson intends cutting back in Britain's frigates and nuclear-powered submarines; cutting back in the number of RAF fighter aircraft, and reducing by about one third the size of the territorial army.

That means Britain's "Army on the Rhine" will be cut by a third, and will lose more than one half its tanks. The tanks will be placed in storage in England. During the mid 1970's, as the cold war dragged on, Britain maintained four divisions in Germany, or about 55,000 troops. Now, there is only one division, fewer than 17,000 men, which will be further reduced to about two thirds its present size.

For decades, economics have been the key factor in the scaling down of U.S. and British armed forces. Many voices in both governments have whined about the high costs of maintaining British and American forces in Europe; about both Germany and Japan being able to "dwell under the U.S. nuclear umbrella," with only small percentages of their GNP's being spent on defense, while vigorously competing against the U.S. and Britain in world markets.

Long ago, I warned that there would come either a rewriting or a reinterpretation of the post World War II constitutions of both Germany and Japan, which prohibited either country from sending its troops abroad; allowed each country only "defense" forces. Now, both constitutions have been reinterpreted, and BOTH Germany and Japan are able to inject armed forces into regional disputes outside their own borders.

Germany Agrees To NATO Expansion

As the "Euro" progresses toward complete adoption, so that Europe will have a common currency, so does "The North Atlantic Treaty Organization," or NATO, continue to expand. Not only is Europe uniting economically, and moving toward political unity as well, but EASTERN European nations are being wooed and won by NATO, thus joining in with Western Europe and the U.S. in a MILITARY pact!

Recently, the Bundestag, or the lower house of the German parliament, approved admission of Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic as MEMBERS OF NATO! The vote was 555 to 37. As if in repayment for Eastern European support, Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel told the Bundestag that German reunification would not have been possible without the support of states in central and east Europe. "That's why it was and is a moral obligation for us Germans to help them to return to Europe through membership in NATO and the European Union," he said.

With the reunification of Germany over nine years ago, the German economy was dealt a staggering blow. Trying to swallow up its poverty-stricken, depressed brother to the East, which had stagnated under decades of Communist mismanagement, proved to be horribly expensive to the Bundesbank and the West German government.

Not much progress has been made. Can anyone imagine the consequences of such massive unemployment that ONE IN FIVE in the labor force is out of a job? That is exactly the situation in East Germany! 20% unemployment! Now, it is a major political issue, and one which Gerhard Schroeder intends using. He has been telling the German people that Helmut Kohl is to blame. Do not think for a moment that all Germans are FOR the new common currency, the "Euro," to replace their prized "marks." During a recent television interview and debate, arguing about the upcoming elections, 83 per cent of the Germans who called in were AGAINST adoption of the "Euro," and wanted to keep their Deutschemarks. Many other nations feel the same way — notably Britain. The money of a nation is like a national symbol; like a sign of national sovereignty. Bible prophecy says the "Beast" power will be controlled by a symbolic woman (Revelation 17), representing a great false church, which will be like an "IMAGE" of the Beast itself. This means that a great ecclesiastical hierarchy will have adopted the POLITICAL structure of a GOVERNMENT! It will be a STATE, and a "state religion," holding sway over many countries.

Eventually, it will enforce upon its citizens a certain STAMP, or MARK! Notice, "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

"And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."

"Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six" (Revelation 13:16-18).

Romulus was the founder of Rome. His name in the Latin language adds up to 666! Notice that the saints, those who have overcome Satan, this evil world, and their own human natures by the power of God's Holy Spirit, are those who have refused to accept the "Mark of the Beast!" "And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

"And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God" (Revelation 15:1,2). Millions of professing Christians have not the faintest idea WHO, OR WHAT is the Beast? They do not know what is the "IMAGE of the Beast," and are ignorant of the meaning of his "mark".

A "mark" is an identifying sign, or symbol! The right hand is a symbol of agreement, or willingness, while the forehead is a symbol of acceptance into the mind and heart. By "shaking hands" with the Beast and the image of the Beast; i.e., SUNDAY worship and observance of PAGAN holidays and the sign of the cross, millions unknowingly have accepted the "mark of the beast."

Primarily, this is metaphorical; symbolic. Yet, it may eventually have a LITERAL fulfillment as well. The German "dollar" is the MARK! The French "dollar" is the "FRANC," which is merely the French word for MARK, or STAMP! Isn't it interesting that the two most powerful nations in Europe have money which is called the "MARK"? And isn't it interesting that, while many hope to adopt a common European currency, most Germans are against it?

Many years ago, Brian Connell, for over 20 years a Reuters correspondent, living in Germany, explained how the German political system is very different from that in Britain and the U.S. He showed how the industrialists could grant "subventions" to the political parties; how 14 of the largest 15 giants of industry were former card-carrying Nazis. He warned that any interruption in the new-found wealth of West Germany could lead to the diversion of those political funds into "less savory quarters." He meant, of course, massive funding for ultra right-wing fanatics, like "Neo-Nazis." With many, many Neo-Nazi incidents occurring in Germany; pro-Western Germans themselves are becoming alarmed.

With unemployment soaring, millions of frustrated German youths are turning toward ultra-nationalistic, right-wing organizations. Cornelia Schmalz-Jacobsen, head of the German government's Office of "Foreign Affairs," spoke of the dangerous amount of "xenophobia" (fear and hatred of foreigners) gripping Germany. "Hardly a day passes without some sort of incident...the public appears to be pushing these incidents out of its conscience and is becoming accustomed to the attacks [thugs called "skinheads," wearing Nazi symbols have murdered and beaten many foreigners in Germany] as everyday events.

The "Land" German word for "State" of Brandenburg around Berlin has mobilized a commando squad to respond to emergency calls about Neo-Nazi attacks. The squad is equipped with special weapons, high-speed vehicles and helicopters. In only the first week of its operation, it arrested 23 Neo-Nazis as the result of violence.

The new Nazis are moving into a vacuum left by fifty seven years of, first, Hitler's Nazi rule, and then by Communist brutality. With no jobs, no hope for the future, and such a past, millions of young Germans seek some sort of self-esteem in xenophobic doctrines.

Already, it is the "Jew," or the "American," or the Turk, or the Greek, or the Pole, or the Czech, or the Spaniard, and "traitors" in their own government who are to blame. Said Marita Boettger, the Eberswalde official in charge of foreigner relations, "The old value system was abandoned, and nothing replaced it. Many parents feel overwhelmed by this society because they depended so long on the state and the party to train their children. So a lot of young people are running around without any kind of values, and they fall for these primitive ideas about national superiority."

Soon, the COLLAPSE of the fragile global economy will occur! Already, the dark specter of imminent COLLAPSE of the Japanese Economy, which would DRAG AMERICA DOWN WITH IT has been warned by none other than the head of one of the largest of Japanese firms, SONY. Out of economic chaos will arise DICTATORS. Who will emerge, in the not-so-distant future, as the new STRONG MAN of Germany, and of Europe?

His title, in the Bible, is "The BEAST."!