Germany may reintroduce compulsory military service next year

Berlin, Germany – Rayhan Butt, 18, from the western city of Bielefeld, is about to begin an internship with the German Army in Berlin and will officially join in the autumn as a member of the marching band. Butt said he supports voluntary military and civilian service and believes every young person should pursue one of these paths. “If tomorrow I am reassigned from the marching band to the battlefield, I would not hesitate to stand up as a soldier,” Butt said.

The German government is counting heavily on such sentiments as it pushes ahead with recruitment. The Bundeswehr aims to increase active-duty personnel by 80,000 to 260,000, plus 200,000 reserves, through a voluntary recruitment campaign. This is part of the Military Service Modernization Act that took effect on January 1.

Since January, more than 300,000 letters have been sent to 18-year-old men inquiring about their willingness to join the military and requesting information on physical fitness and education. Women also received letters but are not required to respond. This is part of Germany's military expansion plan launched in 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to build “Europe's strongest army.”

However, the new military service measures have not gained broad support. Official data published on July 14 shows that since the start of the year, 6,000 young men have applied for exemption on grounds of “religion” and “conscience,” higher than the total for all of last year. A provision in the new law requiring men aged 17-45 to obtain permission before staying abroad for extended periods was dropped after a backlash from student activists. Three large protests involving some 50,000 people have taken place in 90 cities across Germany since December.

Bela Breitner, 22, a computer science student in Bochum, is a member of the group Schulstreik Gegen Wehrpflicht (School Strike Against Conscription). The group was formed late last year to oppose the “militarization” of German society. “Many students oppose these measures because in recent years we have received nothing positive from the state,” Breitner said. “Many young people lost opportunities during the COVID pandemic, the school system has been severely underfunded, and now they want to impose military service to force us to train for combat.”

Compulsory military service was in place in Germany from the mid-1950s and was only suspended in 2011. Moritz Graefrath, an assistant professor of international security at the University of Oklahoma, said the suspension then was due to social and budgetary factors. “After the Cold War, war in Europe seemed unlikely, so military service was seen as a relic of the past,” he said.

Although the Bundeswehr is optimistic about its recruitment targets, only about 500 people have signed up since the start of the year. This figure prompted a senior politician in early July to declare that Germany must decide by July next year at the latest whether to reintroduce compulsory military service. Graefrath said the decision would depend on an assessment of “the current and future reliability of the United States, as well as the real threat from Russia.”

Meanwhile, the provision requiring men to seek permission before going abroad remains lifted, but only as long as military service remains voluntary. Activist Breitner said the group will continue to build broader support: “I believe there are many people in the world who share values like peace, freedom, and the right to choose, more than what divides us.”