Germany mulls reintroduction of compulsory military service
Germany mulls reintroduction of compulsory military service
The Bundeswehr is facing a dramatic shortage in personnel. Now Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has rekindled the debate over reintroducing conscription.
At the end of October, the Bundeswehr said it counted 181,383 soldiers in its ranks — that's still some distance from the target of 203,000 that the German military hopes to reach by 2025. This has given rise to concern in times of Russia's war against Ukraine, which has once again reminded Germans how quickly conflicts can erupt in Europe.
Since taking office at the beginning of 2023, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has been thinking about ways to make the Bundeswehr more attractive as a career. He said he has received 65 concrete proposals from his ministry on recruitment and reforming training methods.
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From 1962, the GDR also introduced general compulsory military service for all men between the ages of 18 and 26 for a basic military service of 18 months. The only recognized reason for refusal was religious conviction.
So if you believed in a god who told you it was immoral to serve in the military you didn't have to, but if you believed it was immoral because you came to that conclusion by thinking critically about the arguments for and against military service, you were just fucked?
It's pretty much the same in the US. Religion is apparently more important than any other personal belief.
This is the most German logic I have seen
Also GDR was on a soviet side of the Berlin wall, it basically inherited it from the USSR, and it took time to introduce it there at all. IIRC FRG that is closer to what Germany is now never had one.
well no, anyone can be a Conscientious objector, you just had to do some social work instead