Europe is quietly shifting from words to wartime preparation as fears of a direct clash with Russia intensify. Conscription is returning, Cold War bunkers are reopening, and NATO is drafting plans that would move hundreds of thousands of troops east in days, not months. Senior leaders are now warning that the scale of a future conflict could dwarf anything seen in decades. As Ukraine’s war grinds on, intelligence timelines, secret mobilisation plans and urgent political decisions are converging. The question gripping Europe is no longer if tensions will rise, but how close the continent already is to the brink.