The Next D-Day

On June 6, 1944, the sun rose on what would become the largest amphibious military invasion in human history. More than 130 battleships, cruisers, and destroyers bombarded the French coast to protect the transports crossing the English Channel as the way was cleared by almost 300 minesweepers. Some 7,000 vessels carried nearly 200,000 soldiers from eight Allied nations to the shores of Nazi-dominated Europe, even as more than 1,200 aircraft dropped paratroopers behind enemy lines.

All told, more than 2 million Allied personnel took part in Operation Overlord, from soldiers storming the beach or descending from the sky to pilots and sailors transporting men and supplies, to medics aiding the vast numbers of the fallen wounded. And let us not forget that, for many a soldier leaving his floating transport to storm the beach, his life ended in a hail of machine-gun fire before he had even set foot on European sand.

The Battle of Normandy that followed—aiming to secure an Allied presence on the continent and begin the liberation of France and the rest of Europe from the grip of Adolf Hitler—would not end until more than 70,000 Allied forces lay dead and more than 150,000 had been wounded. But the tide of the war had turned. Less than a year later, on May 8, 1945, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union, and the other nations of the Allied Forces, at the headquarters of U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Four months later, the Second World War ended as Japan formally and unconditionally surrendered to U.S. General Douglas MacArthur.

In all of recorded history, there had never been a military invasion of the size and scope of D-Day and Operation Overlord. And in the 80 years that have followed, the invasion remains unique in human experience. Nothing like it had happened before, and nothing like it has taken place since.

Yet, today, deteriorating world conditions raise the question: If those nations had to do it again, could they? Could the U.S. and the UK once again muster the military resources needed to save the world?

Eighty years after D-Day, the evidence is far from encouraging.

An Anglosphere in Decline

Few seem to doubt that the U.S. still governs the most powerful military in the world, all things considered—and for good cause. No other nation has shown itself capable of landing forces in so many different places in the world simultaneously, supported by the most advanced technology and firepower in existence.

Yet nothing lasts forever. And American will to maintain this advantage is evaporating.

The headline of a Wall Street Journal editorial in March highlighted the nation’s current condition: “Biden Shrinks the U.S. Military,” followed by the statement, “The President’s Pentagon budget reveals the armed forces in a state of managed decline.” The WSJ editors outlined a troubling reduction in military investment: a reduction of the U.S. Navy, a reduction in recruitment, a reduction in—well, virtually every significant military element, even while the nation faces more threats than it has seen in decades. What has not been reduced is political gridlock, as U.S. politicians seem far more occupied with winning their wars against each other than they are about winning wars against other nations.

And the United Kingdom is in even greater peril. Writing for “UK in a Changing Europe”—an academic thinktank sponsored by King’s College London—policy analyst Andrew Dorman summarized the state of Britain’s military with these words: “time to panic.” His February 2024 analysis notes the conclusion of the UK’s Service Chiefs concerning “the state of Britain’s armed forces and their inability to sustain a war for any period of time.” At a time when the threats of war are extremely high, Dorman sees the UK in a condition resembling that of the 1930s, when the nation had to scramble desperately to prepare for the growing threat on the continent. Whether such a scramble could succeed today seems uncertain at best.

Germany: Leader of Europe?

In stark contrast to the U.S. and UK, Germany is once again embracing the need for military might.

For decades after World War II, Germans shunned as distasteful the idea that Germany might regain its former war-making capacity. As the “official villain” of two world wars, the nation seemed comfortable leading through peaceable means alone—economics, statesmanship, and the wheeling and dealing of the political realm—allowing other nations, the U.S. in particular, to take the lead in the armed support and defense of Europe.

But those days are now gone. Facing warfare on their continent and uncertain U.S. leadership abroad, Germany’s leaders are thinking very differently than they did even a few years ago. In 2022, the German government committed an additional 100 billion euros to strengthening its nation’s armed forces, and has perceived a need to take “comprehensive steps towards a militarisation of German society as a whole” (German-Foreign-Policy.com). With Germany’s armed forces at a historic low of 180,000, a few are even calling for the reinstatement of conscription, while others suggest providing a fast-track to German citizenship for immigrants who enlist. Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense minister, wants to see his nation’s military spending increase dramatically. Not satisfied with the recent increases that brought German military spending to nearly 2 percent of the nation’s GDP, Pistorius in February 2024 told attendees at the annual Munich Security Conference, “We might reach 3 percent or maybe even 3.5 percent, it depends on what is happening in the world.”

And Pistorius’ recognition of the need for greater military spending is echoed across the European Union. Calling the current situation “the biggest security challenge since the Second World War,” European Council President Charles Michel warned in a March 18 op-ed piece, published in newspapers across Europe, “If we want peace, we must prepare for war.” Michel urged EU nations to shift to a “war economy” and to take responsibility for their own security rather than relying on uncertain U.S. support.

A Reversal of Power: The Fall of the West Prophesied

The years to come could see many changes. Perhaps the U.S. will see through the illusion of safety and security that its century of world dominance has generated and will recognize the truly perilous nature of the clouds gathering on its horizons. Perhaps the UK will again seize, even if only briefly, the sense of destiny and purpose that once empowered its people to build a powerful navy that ruled the oceans and a disciplined military force feared in lands around the globe. And perhaps Germany will find that its fears are unsubstantiated—that the post-war ties and agreements that let it set aside military ambitions in favor of peaceful influence might still have some life in them.

The path to the future is rarely a straight line. Changes come and go. Improbable twists and turns—ups and downs—will occur. Yet the inevitable destination has been foretold in the pages of your Bible, and it is sure. That destination includes a devastated U.S. and UK—their militaries shattered and powerless to prevent the utter destruction destined to visit their peoples—while Germany rises once again to the heights of global might, wielding war-making power that causes all the world to marvel.

The God of the Bible declares “the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure’” (Isaiah 46:10). And His word concerning the end-times reveals that these nations will experience a complete reversal from their post-World War II conditions. Before Jesus Christ returns, we will see the U.S. and UK humbled, broken, and enslaved, at the mercy of a Germany contending for control of the entire world.

But how? And why? Politics might be easy to blame. Where are the sane voices in the halls of British or American government sounding the alarm, as Winston Churchill did in the days leading up to World War II? But politics and policymaking are not the true culprits. They are mere symptoms. And no President or Prime Minister—no Congress or Parliament—has been willing to address the true sickness fundamentally producing those symptoms.

Because that sickness is national sin—and the only cure is national repentance.

Breaking the Pride of Their Power

Many today look to oversimplified explanations for the rise of the American and British peoples to their former heights of global power and influence. Some offer jingoistic slogans about “American exceptionalism” or Anglo-Saxon ingenuity. Others point an accusing finger at “colonialism” or “white supremacism” as the driving factors.

But your Bible is very plain about how and why their rise took place. God blessed the British and American peoples not because of their own special qualities, attributes, or abilities, but because He gave Abraham the unconditional promise that his descendants would rise to the highest places of power in the world. And a careful reading of Scripture will show in the light of history that the American and British-descended peoples became the modern recipients of that promise as descendants of the ancient Israelite tribe of Joseph, just as the modern Jewish peoples are descended primarily from the ancient tribe of Judah.

Those unconditional promises—delayed for centuries due to the sins of Abraham’s descendants—were founded on God’s faithfulness to Abraham due to his obedience, not on some supposed inherent “greatness” that his descendants did not possess (Deuteronomy 7:6–8; 9:4–6). The same promises eventually blessed his modern-day descendants.

This is perhaps an astonishing claim, and it is one we make often in the pages of Tomorrow’s World. And you should not believe it without proving it for yourself in the pages of your own Bible. If you haven’t already, please request our free booklet The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy. Understanding what your Bible says about the ancestors of today’s British and American peoples is the key to understanding what is ahead for these nations in the end times.

And Bible prophecy reveals the sobering truth that, due to the sins of the Anglo-Saxon nations—not simply their politics or economic policies—their military power will eventually be crushed and rendered utterly ineffectual. God’s inspired word makes it plain that He, not military might, was always the source of Israel’s victories. As King David admonishes us through time, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7). And, in Leviticus 26, the God of Israel made plain what His people should expect in battle when they refuse to obey His laws and seek after His righteousness. Whatever their gathered might or physical strength, their prospects for victory disappear:

But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant… I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you (vv. 14–15, 17).

Think of the frantic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, with terrified people clinging to the landing gear of departing U.S. aircraft. What is that if not a poignant example of what it looks like to “flee when no one pursues you”?

God promises that, due to the sins of Abraham’s descendants, He will punish them dearly, stating “I will break the pride of your power” (v. 19). How much of the pride of the most prominent English-speaking nations of the world is bound up in their militaries? Perhaps that pride is slipping away, but God does not promise a mere slipping away. He promises a total and utter breaking. God describes the cities of the modern-day descendants of the tribes of Israel, who have forgotten their Creator—and this includes the U.S. and UK—becoming utterly devastated by their enemies.

“In all your dwelling places,” He tells these peoples through the prophet Ezekiel, “the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, your idols may be broken and made to cease, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 6:6–7).

Many prophecies reveal the same outcome: cities laid waste and made desolate, their peoples scattered as servants and slaves across the earth. A time is coming in which these once-mighty nations will be crushed into poverty, powerlessness, and complete dependence on the mercies of their conquerors—a time called “the time of Jacob’s trouble” in Jeremiah 30:7 and the time of “great tribulation” by Jesus Christ in Matthew 24:21.

Rise of the Beast of Revelation

Scripture highlights the end-time destiny of the U.S. and UK, but what does it say of the great German nation? What will be the ultimate outcome of its new military aspirations?

Like the U.S. and UK, Germany is discussed in the pages of your Bible, found in its ancient form as the famed nation of Assyria. This, too, is something you must prove for yourself. And our free booklet Germany in Prophecy has been designed to help you find this great modern nation—both its ancient past and its fast-coming future—within God’s inspired word.

When you recognize Germany in the words of the prophets, you see that its destiny is, indeed, very different from that of the English-speaking people. In fact, as the English-speaking nations fall, Germany will rise, leading a war-capable Europe the likes of which the world has never seen. The Apostle John described this future war-making power, revealed to him in vision by Christ:

Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority (Revelation 13:1–2).

Yes, this end-time revival of the Roman Empire, empowered by Satan, will represent the culmination of world empires throughout history—and will wield power like no others before.

That will include the power to make war: “So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’” (v. 4). Conflict between this vast industrial, economic, and military powerhouse and others—such as combined nations of the Middle East and Northern Africa, as well as massive armies from eastern powers across the Euphrates—will kill billions (cf. Daniel 11:40–44; Revelation 9:17–18). But that will not happen until this beast has crushed the U.S. and UK under its claws.

The Next D-Day?

Will the U.S. and UK ever see another military victory on the scale of what D-Day brought about? The sure word of Bible prophecy tells us that, in the end, the future for these nations is grim. Though there may be twists and turns as we reach the end of this present age and see the return of Jesus Christ to establish His kingdom on the earth, Scripture reveals that we will, before long, see an unstoppable force rising in Europe, led by a newly empowered Germany setting out to conquer the world—with the British and American peoples utterly conquered and subjugated.

A little-known fact about the D-Day 80 years ago this June is that there is debate as to what the “D” stands for. Some suggest that it is derived from military speak indicating the end of a countdown to an event, similar to “H-Hour.” Writing on behalf of General Eisenhower himself, Brigadier General Robert Schultz once said that it referred to the “departed date” of an amphibious operation.

Yet prophecy makes tragically clear that the D-Day that lies ahead for the Allies who once helped save the world is one of defeat, devastation, and desolation. But those circumstances will be temporary, for Jesus Christ will return shortly after those humbling events and bring to all the world—Americans, Brits, and Germans alike—the D-Day mankind truly needs: a day of deliverance.