Although the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, needs tens of thousands more soldiers, there will be no return to compulsory military service, according to the governing parties. “The new military service is initially based on voluntary service,” is the key sentence of the draft bill, which will go before the German parliament in December. In future, however, there will be mandatory physical assessments for all 18-year-old men.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius from the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) plans to launch the new voluntary military service — with better conditions and pay than old-style conscription — at the start of January.
“Other European countries, especially Nordic ones, have shown that the principle of voluntary service combined with attractiveness works — and I expect it to be the same here, ” said the Social Democrat after the coalition leaders reached an agreement. “The number of applicants is increasing, the recruitment figures are rising,” stressed Pistorius. The aim is to recruit 20,000 new volunteers by 2026. They will receive €2,600 ($3,025) per month before tax.
Germany to relaunch military service with voluntary recruits
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The governing parties have been at loggerheads over recent months over whether the armed services could recruit enough volunteers to satisfy Germany’s defense needs. The Bundeswehr currently has around 182,000 soldiers. Yet at least 260,000 will be needed by 2035 to fulfil NATO requirements.
Politicians from the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), argued that this ambitious goal could only be achieved with a return to compulsory military service, or at least with a mechanism that automatically triggered a return to compulsory military service in the event that there were not enough volunteers.
The Social Democrats, however, strictly rejected a return to compulsory military service. Now the parties have reached a compromise. If volunteer numbers don’t tally up, the Bundestag will have to decide whether to introduce “compulsory military service on demand” for a certain number of young men.
The CDU / CSU parliamentary group has also praised the agreement. Alexander Hoffmann (CSU) described it as achieving the “right mix of free will and obligation.”
German army needs more volunteers to fulfill NATO tasks
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New duties for young men: a questionnaire and the physical examination
Although military service remains voluntary, all 18-year-old men will have to fill out questionnaires, called a “declaration of willingness,” from 2026. They will have to answer questions about their physical fitness and their willingness to serve in the armed forces.
All 18-year-olds will, in fact, receive a QR code that links to the survey. Women can choose to fill it in and express their willingness to serve in the Bundeswehr. But this will not be mandatory because Germany’s Basic Law stipulates that only men can be conscripted.
From July 2027, all 18-year-old men will also be subject to a medical examination to see if they are fit for duty, starting with men born in 2008. Around 300,000 young men per year will be affected. The defense minister argues that this is the only way for the Bundeswehr to get an idea of who could be called up in the event of a conflict.
District conscription offices, dotted across the country, used to be responsible for these inspections. With the end of compulsory military service in 2011, these offices were abolished. The Defense Ministry is now rushing to create a new infrastructure and is already inspecting properties for this purpose. Pistorius emphasized that the Bundeswehr’s new “career centers” should not be anything like the dusty offices of bygone years. They should be modern, bright and airy, just like in Sweden.
German rearmament sparks controversy, again
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Criticism from the younger generation
The government’s compromise on military service has been met with criticism, particularly from those affected. School student body representative Quentin Gärtner criticized the agreement as inadequate. In an interview with German news organization Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND), the BSK Secretary General called for the Military Service Act to be accompanied by “a campaign for the education and mental health of young people” funded to the tune of €100 billion. “There is not even the slightest signal that the state is prepared to take responsibility for us,” said Gärtner.
Criticism also came from opposition politician Sören Pellmann, parliamentary group leader of the socialist Left Party in the Bundestag: “Everyone in the coalition is trying to chalk up the agreement on military service as their own success — the young generation is being thrown under the bus.”
Pellmann said the coalition had simply postponed the dispute. “You don’t have to be a prophet to realize that compulsory military service is coming.” The Left Party wants to offer young people advice, for example, if they want to refuse to serve in the armed forces. Regardless of whether military service remains voluntary or becomes compulsory again in the future, the Basic Law guarantees the right to conscientious objection.
This article was originally written in German.
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