Europe is not ready for war with an aggressive Russia and risks being “washed away” in a conflict, like how Napoleon dismantled the Holy Roman Empire, warns Germany’s pre-eminent military historian Sönke Neitzel, The Times reported on Nov. 30.

Several German generals also suggested during a high-level defense conference in Berlin that NATO might be unable to win the “first battle” in a defensive war on its eastern flank because it would struggle to quickly deploy enough troops and equipment to the front line, the article states.