EUROPE
After this I saw in the night visions and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible … and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns … And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
—Dan. 7:7, Rev. 17:12, 13
1386 Europe’s Call For A Leader
Several years ago, Belgium’s Premier, P. H. Spock made a statement in the newspaper:
“The truth is that the method of international committees has failed. What we need is a person, someone of the highest order of great energy.
“Let him come and let him come quickly. Either a civilian or a military man, no matter what his nationality, who will cut all the red tape, shove out of the way all the committees, wake up all the people and galvanize all governments into action. Let him come quickly. This man we need and for whom we wait will take charge of the defense of the West. Once more I say, it is not too late, but it is high time.”
1387 Prophecy of European Union
Dr. Walter Hallstein, former president of the European Economic Community said:
“Three phases of the European unification are to be noted. First, the customs union, second, the economic union, third, the political union … what we have created on the way to uniting Europe is a mighty economic-political union of which nothing may be sacrificed for any reason. Its value exists not only in what it is, but more in what it promises to become … We may fully expect the great fusion of all economic military, and political communities together into the United States of Europe.”
1388 Past Attempts At Union
It is interesting to see in history how men have attempted to put together the Old Roman Empire. Charlemagne tried to do this in A. D. 800. His “Roman Empire” included what are now the countries of France, Germany, Italy, Holland and Belgium. Charlemagne was crowned by the Pope as Emperor Charles Augustus. But his empire was not the ten nation confederacy of the Scriptures.
Napoleon tried his strutting best to establish his own Roman Empire. Another Pope, Pius VII, made a tedious trip across the Alps to Notre Dame cathedral in Paris to place an imperial crown on Napoleon, but the new little Caesar snatched the crown from the Pope and put it on himself. His empire was not the revived Roman Empire, either.
And then there was Hitler. Does anyone doubt that he attempted to put Rome together again? He said his Third Reich would last a thousand years. God had other plans and Hitler lost.
—Hal Lindsay
1389 Fear of the North
Warsaw Pact has a reported 1,000,000 troops in Europe. NATO puts its ground troops at 800,000, of which 340,000 are West Germans.
The 5th year of “Mutual and Balanced Forces Reduction” talks between NATO and the Warsaw Pact ended in 1978 without progress. The main obstacles had been an agreement on each side’s troop strength and on how to verify reduction compliance.
1390 Communist Armed Advantages
In Europe, the Soviet Union and its allies boast an advantage of more than 150,000 ground troops and 10,000 tank over NATO forces. Communists forces in northern and central sectors of the European front out-number NATO forces in manpower between 600,000 to 900,000. The Communists have a 3-to-1 advantage in warplanes, a 2-to-1 edge in tanks.
Also, geography favors the Communists. Russian forces would be closer to their homeland, whereas US deterrent forces would have to be flown across 3,000 miles of ocean. Some strategists claim that NATO barely has enough military strength to hold off an all-out Soviet attack for only a few days.
1391 More Soviet Dangers
Of serious concern also to the Europeans is the expansion of Soviet military forces away from Europe’s central region—where both NATO and Communist forces are heavily concentrated—toward NATO’s flanks, north and south.
In the north, growing Soviet naval power imperils the approaches to the Baltic Sea and presents a danger to valuable North Sea oil fields. Trouble in the south is with NATO’s own weakness and disarray, centering chiefly on the conflict between Turkey and Greece. Italy’s surging Communist Party is also a worry.
1392 Most Militarized Region
The European continent is one of the world’s most heavily militarized regions. The Western allies have 1,175,000 men under arms, including 208,500 Americans in West Germany. The Warsaw Pact has 1,305,000 troops, of whom 775,000 are Russians. Both sides have ultramodern weapons, including nuclear weapons.
1393 Basic De-Stabilizer Of Europe
As the 19-country Vienna conference of NATO allies broke up in April 1975, Netherlands delegate Willem do vos van Steenwijk affirmed that communist superiority remains the “basic destabilizing factor in the security situation in Central Europe.”
1394 Advantages In European Unity
If the Europeans should unite, the federation will:
• have 253 million people
• be 23% more populous than the U. S.
• be more productive than the USSR
• have control over more of the world’s trade than the US and Japan combined
• have 2,450,000 men under arms—almost as many as China.
1395 Enter The Common Market
On June 8, 1948, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands signed the Benelux Agreement that became the foundation for the European Economic Community. The 6-nation Common Market (EEC) came into being following the signing of the Treaty of Rome on March 25, 1957. Great Britain, Denmark and Ireland joined the Common Market in Jan. 1, 1971, increasing it to 9 nations.
On June 12, 1975, Greece asked the European Common Market to admit it as a full-fledge member “to coordinate democracy in Greece.” Brendan Dillon, current chairman of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of Market Countries, called the request “a new event of great historical significance.”
The 9 nations in the EEC are: Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, West Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, and Luxembourg.
1396 Goal Of 10-Nation Bloc
The Common Market, officially known as the European Economic Community is established upon the premise of a 10th-nation entity. When the Common Market Six was expanded Jan. 1, 1973, 10 nations were to be included, but Norway rejected the application. Only Britain, Ireland and Denmark were added.
Austria has applied for membership in the Common Market. It could become a buffer zone between the Soviet bloc and Western Europe. It is oddly enough the only nation originally under Soviet control which was allowed to become independent after World War II.
1397 Other States Interested In Bloc
The surging economy of the European market is attracting other nations. Even Israel has applied for membership. This interest in the European market has led some observers to believe that “A United States of Europe is now on the horizon.” And they are right.
A poll of citizens of the Common Market countries showed that 65% favored a United States of Europe, 10%, says “no,” and 25% were undecided.
1398 Even The Tombstones
Under pressure from the European Common Market, the Church of England will revise its Churchyard Handbook. Last published in 1962, the handbook specified that tombstones and graveyard monuments “shall be of English oak or natural stone quarried in Great Britain.” The forthcoming edition will merely recommend “teak or oak or natural stone” with no mention of country of origin. “We had a visit from the EEC,” explained editor David Williams.
—Christianity Today
1399 Three “Rebelling” Nations
Within the boundaries of the Old Roman Empire there are now three or four countries which do not have the power of self-determination. They belong to a foreign power. Perhaps these countries would have to be pulled up by the roots (Dan. 7:8).
1400 “Rebelling” Nations (2)
Yugoslavia, under Tito and successors, has virtually declared its independence from Russian dominion.
Albania, in 1961, broke ties with Russia and sided with China.
Austria, in 1955, was declared independent and neutral. It has increasingly vital ties with EEC.
Romania is the only member in the Warsaw Pact to chart a foreign policy independent of Moscow. In 1980, it refused to side with Russia on the Afghanistan issue at the UN.
1401 Yugoslavia’s Tito
During the first postwar years, Tito applied a Stalin-like terror to “Class enemies,” with mass arrests, concentration camps and executions. But then in l948, he and Stalin parted ways, not because Tito wished to reform communism but because he refused to take orders from his old boss. Out in the cold and almost flat broke, Tito turned to the West. The United States provided $2.5 billion in economic and military assistance between 1950 and 1956, and Tito survived, thus dealing the first blow to the monolith of world communism that led to its present disarray. Tito, 87, died in 1980.
1402 The Helsinki Agreement
The Helsinki Agreement was signed by 35 countries in Europe, including the United States and the Soviet Union, and provided for European security. Among other things, the 96-page document virtually stated that no European nation will have an excuse in the future to intervene in the internal affairs of others. This would contravene the so called “Brezhnev doctrine” which claimed the right for the Soviet to intervene in any East European country. The Agreement also implied Western endorsement of the Eastern status quo, where 105 million people lived in East Europe under Russian domination.
1403 Document For All Seasons
A news report: Thirty-five national leaders completed a three-day conference in Helsinki, Finland. After delivering a 20-minute speech, each representative signed a 25,000-word document worked out by the conference negotiators during the previous 22 months, when they haggled over the text, sometimes bogging down in disagreement over the placement of commas.
The National Observer says, “The result of their labor is something akin to what 35 gourmet cooks might create if each contributed to the brewing of the broth: “None would achieve the taste he sought, but neither would he be wholly displeased by the flavor.”
The 96-page document which was finally signed is the quintessence of compromise. The language is studded with ambiguities. Some clauses apparently contradict others. Jabberwockian sentences puzzled even many of the negotiators. Moreover, the document exacts no legal obligations from any of the signatory nations. In the end, it is a document for all seasons, nothing more nor less than what any of the 35 nations interpret it to be.
American officials see value in the agreement; though not legally binding it will carry considerable “moral” force. … U. S. officials readily concede that the agreement contains no machinery for enforcement. Nations are free to comply with those provisions they favour, ignore those they object to.
1404 British Support For Israel
The British Foreign Minister said in August 1975:
“I have made it utterly clear that I am not going to ask the British Government’s representative at the UN to support a motion to expel or to suspend Israel … The consequences would have a serious effect on the UN. I have argued in much more unpopular cases than this that the universality of the UN is an important principle for us all to observe.”
1405 Swedish Support For Israel
The Swedish prime minister said:
“The UN is based upon the principle of universality, which means that all countries in the world shall be members. A suggestion to exclude Israel is at variance with UN’s spirit and Charter. It will lead to great consequences for the further work of the world organization and also harm work for peace in the Middle East.”
1406 Pro-Israel Stance In Europe
Fearing Arab oil embargo, the 9 Common Market nations boycotted shipment of arms to Israel.
But on Nov. 16, 1973, ministers of the parliaments of 11 of Western Europe nations held a special conference in Paris (9 nations plus Sweden, Switzerland and Austria). The 50 ministers condemned the 9 Common Market nations’ pro-Arab statement in Brussels; and decided to act together in order to back Israel against pressure from Arab and Soviet countries and also from Western Europe.
Less than one week later the military arm of the Common Market, known as the Western European Union also held a meeting in Paris. The French pledge nuclear weapons in defence of West Europe and said the Western European Union (W.E.U.) was best suited to harmonize defense needs.
1407 Guarantee From United States
President Harry S. Truman was the first man to sign the papers recognizing the State of Israel in order that she could become a member of the United Nations.
Every president or spokesman reiterated his promise to see that Israel is protected and remains independent.
Truman in 1948 said, “Israel must be large enough, free enough, and strong enough to make its people self-supporting and secure.” John Foster Dulles, secretary of state under Eisenhower, declared that “the preservation of Israel is one of the essential goals of U. S. foreign policy.”
Kennedy in 1963 said that U. S. Policy in the Mideast was to halt all aggression, because “we support the security of both Israel and her neighbors.” Johnson repeated his pledge. Both Vice President Humphrey and President Nixon said that the U. S. is committed to the integrity of Israel as a free and independent state.
The U. S. Congress, by joint resolution of both houses in 1957, affirmed “the preservation and of the independence and integrity” of all Mideast nations, Arab and Israel alike, to be “vital to the national interest” of the United States. Presidents Ford and Carter have also reassured the public about support for the existence and independence of the State of Israel.
See also: Antichrist ; Israel; Dan. 2:33; 7:8; 9:27; Rev. 6:2; 7:24; 13:1.