06
NOV
2024
In Germany, men aged 18 of age of 18 and 60 already have conscription, which is anchored in the Basic Law, which, however, only applies since 2011 in the case of tension or defense. At that time, Berlin had suspended the mandatory military or military service in peacetime and replaced it with the voluntary military service or the Federal Voluntary Service. The background was the so-called realignment of the Bundeswehr. During the Cold War, the German armed forces were set up for a war against the Soviet Union. From the beginning of the 1990s, German foreign policy increasingly formulated a global claim. Berlin restructured the Bundeswehr accordingly in order to prepare it for military interventions, especially in Asia and Africa. In this context, Berlin now relied primarily on highly qualified professional soldiers. Conscripts were less useful in the context of intervention wars and also tied up military trainers in Germany, who were then not available for foreign operations. Since the escalation of the conflict over Ukraine in 2014, however, Berlin has now declared a possible war against Russia again as the "structural" core mission of the German armed forces. 1] In this context, the demands for a reactivation of conscription have begun to pile up even in peacetime.
Starting next year, the Federal Ministry of Defense now wants those Germans who have reached their 18th birthday. Reach the age of 18 or who are - as already trained in military training - in the reserve, write with a "mustering questionnaire". 2] For men, the answer is mandatory. Anyone who refuses to provide information must expect punitive measures.[ 3] Of the 18-year-old men who express an interest in voluntary military service in the questionnaire, the Ministry of Defense wants to select those 40,000 to 50,000 who appear "fittest, fit and most motivated" and oblige them to test. 4] In the first year, 5,000 of them are to get a military service place in the Bundeswehr. For women, all steps are voluntary. In order to be able to oblige women to do military service or even just to the military registration, the Federal Government would first have to change the Basic Law - because according to this, compulsory military service applies expressly only to men: Women "may under no circumstances be obliged to serve with a weapon", according to Article 12a. In accordance with the approach of "total defense", the Ministry of Defense also wants to ask in its letter about the willingness to serve in civil and civil protection.[ 5] The Bundeswehr receives the addresses of the young people from the registration offices, which are obliged under applicable law to answer certain data queries of the military. The Bundeswehr wants the data of the 18-year-olds obtained with the questionnaires until the completion of their 60th birthday. Save the age of life.[ 6]
The Ministry of Defense hopes to contribute to an increased "growth and endurance capacity of the Bundeswehr" [7] with the New Military Service and thus "improve the war skills of the troops" [8]. With regard to the escalating power struggle against Russia, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius recently complained in a press conference that Germany could "not even mobilize because we do not know who we can move in". The New Military Service enables his ministry - and thus the Bundeswehr - to "get close to the young men". Pistorius is counting on the long term that 30 to 50 percent of the Bundeswehr's military service workers will be retained as temporary or professional soldiers. But even those who decide against a military career after their military service remain an advantage for the armed forces: As military-trained, they are automatically reservists and can be drafted into the troops as such. If you complete six months of military service, Berlin plans you for the period after that as part of the "Einsatzkräfte für den Operationsplan Deutschland" - for example as a "Gewehrträger" or "Heimatschutzsoldat" in the Heimatschutzregimentern. 9]
The Ministry of Defense plans the New Military Service "first (!) on the basis of voluntariness. 10] There are two essential reasons for this. First, there is no agreement in the Berlin government coalition on the question of whether a comprehensive military service should be reintroduced. Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Justice Minister Marco Buschmann had expressed their rejection of conscription in a letter to Defense Minister Pistorius that became public. They also wanted to make the "Bundeswehr one of the most modern and powerful armies in Europe", write the FDP ministers - only not by compulsory service, but with a "market solution". 11] Pistorius and the defense commissioner Eva Högl, on the other hand, are calling for a debate on a new duty for the period after the 2025 Bundestag election. It needs "a commitment in perspective", Högl explained in an interview: Young Germans learned "structure, camaraderie, sense of duty" at the Bundeswehr - "all qualities from which the economy also benefits". 12]
Secondly, the capacities of the Bundeswehr are currently simply not sufficient to reactivate compulsory military service at short notice. This is the "decisive limiting factor" on the way to conscription, emphasizes Pistorius. His ministry assumes that it will be able to fill the "limited training places" "easily" with volunteers in the coming years. The necessary structures for a new conscription – buildings and material for the accommodation and training of recruits, as well as the necessary equipment – would have to be “rebuilt gradually”. Pistorius wants to use the time until the discussion on conscription is conducted "to increase capacity". However, if not enough volunteers come forward to use the capacities of the Bundeswehr, then "of course" a "mandatory option" must be considered anyway, explains Pistorius. "That goes without saying." 13]
[1] Rapporteur draft of the Federal Ministry of Defense: Draft law on the modernization of military replacement regulations and on the introduction of a new military service. Berlin, 10/13/2024
[2] Federal Minister of Defense presents new military service model. bmvg.de 12.06.2024.
[3] FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions): The "New Military Service" at the Troop. bmvg.de 12.06.2024.
[4], [5] Federal Minister of Defense presents new military service model. bmvg.de 12.06.2024.
[6] Rapporteur's draft of the Federal Ministry of Defense: Draft of a law on the modernization of military replacement regulations and on the introduction of a new military service. Berlin, 10/13/2024
[7] The "New Military Service": Pistorius relies on selection and voluntariness. bmvg.de 12.06.2024.
[8] FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions): The "New Military Service" at the Troop. bmvg.de 12.06.2024.
[9] Federal Minister of Defense presents new military service model. bmvg.de 12.06.2024.
[10] FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions): The "New Military Service" at the Troop. bmvg.de 12.06.2024.
[11] Letter from Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann to Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius dated 8. July 2024.
[12] "We need a mandatory year for everyone - men and women" - Interview, 06/15/2024. Interview with the Wehrbeauftragte in the "Stern" from 15. June 2024. bundestag.de.
[13] Federal Minister of Defense presents new military service model. bmvg.de 12.06.2024.