Compulsory military service underway in Germany after abolition of conscription

By Carsten Hoffmann and Bryn Stole, dpa I Wednesday, June 12, 2024

BERLIN – German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Wednesday proposed that the country require young men to register for potential military service, in a move that comes 13 years after Germany effectively abolished national conscription.

The step would not reinstate conscription. Pistorius instead stressed that he anticipates using the registration questionnaires to see who might have interest in voluntarily doing service with Germany’s military, known as the Bundeswehr.

Pistorius described the idea as “selective military service,” designed to allow the military to call up only “the fittest, most suitable and most motivated” for training.

Young men would be required to fill out the questionnaires, but young women would also be given copies and be asked to voluntarily submit the form as well, Pistorius said at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.

Pistorius said that’s because the military service requirement, which remains in Germany’s constitution, applies only to men.
Around 40,000 expected to be mustered

Pistorius said that military planners estimate that 400,000 people will have to complete the planned questionnaire each year, and about a quarter of the men could express an interest in entering the military.

Some 40,000 candidates could then take part in the physical check-up. That call-up would be mandatory for those who receive it, but Pistorius stressed that he anticipates only summoning those who indicate a voluntary interest.

“We don’t want a boring, meaningless military service,” Pistorius said. “But rather a military service that is meaningful and makes sense.”

There is currently capacity to train between 5,000 to 7,000 recruits, but this is set to grow. The military service is expected to last six or 12 months.

The proposal represents a first step towards potentially reinstating some form of mandatory military service, a controversial issue in Germany, and would require a change to the military service law.

Pistorius stressed on Wednesday that no one would be forced to serve in the military against their will or beliefs: “Of course people will have the right to refuse military service. That remains unchanged.”

Military struggling to recruit
Germany effectively abolished conscription in 2011 after 55 years, with a system that also generally allowed men to opt out of the military and do civilian service instead.

Although many of the institutions and facilities for the conscription system have since been dismantled, the country’s law continues to allow for mandatory service in the event of war or other tensions.

The Bundeswehr has struggled to recruit enough volunteers to fill the ranks, and last year shrank to 181,500 soldiers despite new efforts to attract volunteers.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has put the military’s shortfalls into renewed focus, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz has pledged to rebuild the armed forces.

Adding more recruits is intended to help make the army “war-ready,” as Pistorius describes it.

Pistorius commissioned studies of various models of compulsory service ahead of Wednesday’s announcement.