The so-called enemy state clause, which in certain cases still permits military action against the former Axis powers, has neither been forgotten nor become obsolete. The Russian Federation is now making serious efforts to terminate the Two Plus Four Treaty – the Federal Government's hostile behaviour is proving to be a game with fire.
The enemy state clause
In order to prevent future threats to peace after the experience of two world wars, 51 states – inspired by Immanuel Kant's essay "Perpetual Peace" – adopted the Charter of the United Nations in 1945, which entered into force on 24 October 1945. The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic joined the Charter in 1973; since 1990, reunified Germany has been a member of the United Nations as the Federal Republic of Germany.
The Charter establishes a mandate for peace in order to "maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures". International disputes or "situations which might lead to a breach of the peace" are to be settled or adjusted "by peaceful means in conformity with the principles of justice and international law".
Barely known to the German public is the fact that, under the so-called enemy state clause in Articles 53 and 107 of the Charter, Germany is still an enemy state with respect to the opponents of the Second World War (Article 77, which deals with the international trusteeship system and corresponding trust territories, became obsolete upon Germany's accession to the UN pursuant to Article 78). The enemy state clause provides that enforcement measures could be imposed without special authorisation by the UN Security Council should Germany once again pursue an aggressive policy, including military intervention if necessary.
Article 53, paragraph 1 of the Charter reads:
"The Security Council shall, where appropriate, utilize such regional arrangements or agencies for enforcement action under its authority. But no enforcement action shall be taken under regional arrangements or by regional agencies without the authorization of the Security Council, with the exception of measures against any enemy state, as defined in paragraph 2 of this Article, provided for pursuant to Article 107 or in regional arrangements directed against renewal of aggressive policy on the part of any such state, until such time as the Organization may, on request of the Governments concerned, be charged with the responsibility for preventing further aggression by such a state."
Under paragraph 2, the term "enemy state" refers to any state "which during the Second World War has been an enemy of any signatory of the present Charter". Article 107 of the Charter reads:
"Nothing in the present Charter shall invalidate or preclude action, in relation to any state which during the Second World War has been an enemy of any signatory to the present Charter, taken or authorized as a result of that war by the Governments having responsibility for such action."
In this connection, Article 52 is also of significance; in paragraph 4 it refers to Articles 34 and 35, whose application "shall not be impaired". Articles 34 and 35 concern the Security Council, which may become active in international disputes. Furthermore, reference is made to Articles 11 and 12, which in turn govern the powers of the General Assembly for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Has the enemy state clause become obsolete?
There is debate as to whether the enemy state provision arising from the aforementioned articles has become obsolete through Germany's membership in the United Nations. But if that were the case, these provisions could long since have been deleted. It is true that Germany was granted "full sovereignty" in the 1990 Unification Treaty (Two Plus Four Treaty), but the agreement was relativised once again by supplementary treaties, for example on troop stationing and military cooperation.
The victorious powers of that time, who had forced an unconditional surrender, are still present. The Federal Republic of Germany remains under the tutelage of the USA and under latent observation by Great Britain and France, even if this is glossed over and many refuse to acknowledge it. When one considers this fact in light of the geopolitical situation in which we find ourselves, much becomes clearer: Washington has considerable means of exerting pressure and influencing decisions of the German government, which can be observed constantly – for example in the blowing up of the Baltic Sea pipelines, the boundless support for Ukraine, and the devastating policy of aggression towards Russia.
It must be noted that the peace mandate of the UN Charter claims universal validity, yet has repeatedly been violated in recent years, particularly by the USA, which – on account of its interventionist policy in breach of international law – forfeited long ago the right to invoke human rights and the defence of democratic freedoms.
It is to be assumed that neither the USA nor Great Britain has any interest in annulling the enemy state clause of the UN Charter; the opposite appears to be the case. The same applies to a peace treaty (allegedly, considerable reparations would have fallen due after a peace treaty; but that would hardly have been an obstacle, since the Berlin government is constantly distributing and squandering millions and billions anyway). The opportunities to create forward-looking, orderly conditions were not seized.
Still in a State of Unconditional Surrender
The USA is demanding that Germany rearm. The military budget is to be raised to five percent of gross domestic product. Although there is no evidence for it, it is claimed that Russia threatens not only the Baltic states and Poland, but the whole of Western Europe. On the occasion of an introductory visit to Paris on 7 May 2025, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared, in agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron: "In its fight against Russian aggression, Ukraine can continue to rely on Germany and France."
Germany has been under tutelage in a permanent state of emergency since 1945. It is high time to end this guardianship. The most important goals of a sensible policy for Germany must be:
- Withdrawal from NATO, which has long been violating its own statutes
- Termination of the stationing of foreign military forces on German territory
- Cessation of arms deliveries, particularly to parties to a war
- Resumption of normal relations with states with which relations are currently impaired
- Resumption of inexpensive gas supplies from Russia.
Yet the preconditions for these goals to be realised are, for the time being, not in place following the inauguration of the Federal Government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil.
Mikhail Gorbachev contributed substantially to the unification of the GDR with the FRG in 1990, but that is ignored today. At that time, the Two Plus Four Treaty was concluded, entering into force on 15 March 1991. In it, it was declared "that only peace will emanate from German soil. According to the constitution of the united Germany, acts tending to and undertaken with the intent to disturb the peaceful relations between nations, especially to prepare for aggressive war, are unconstitutional and a punishable offence."
The renunciation of nuclear weapons was also reaffirmed.
The Russian Federation is now making serious efforts to terminate the Two Plus Four Treaty – with consequences that are difficult to calculate. At the latest with the planned stationing of US missiles, Germany is violating the treaty framework. As early as March 2022, Russia had classified Germany as "unfriendly".