The German army wants to increase its power in the coming years, and that means additional staff. Some people talk about a “re -establishment”. What is the situation today and where is this blocked? The statement by German Defense Minister has caused a sense: “We are not in war, but we are not in absolute peace.” In the meantime, several members of the German government have been repeated. If one accepts this given, the goal, as Boris Pistorius described it in the House, seems self -evident: “There is no time to lose our defensive potential. Reliable deterrence, strong operational readiness and support of our partners: these are the issues we will measure. “

Announcement … positions

One of the priorities is of course the support of staff. Bundeswehr currently has a potential of 183,000, including 11,300 volunteers, which was declared this year. About 30% of them are political staff, engineers, administrators, informants. About 13% are women. The average age of her staff is 34 years. The goal is to reach 203,000 in the next five years, with an upward trend. That is why the reinstatement of compulsory term of office, which was abolished in 2011, is now discussed. One reason was perhaps then the bombing of applications for conscientious objection in the first decade of the 21st century, with the record in 2002 with 189,644 applications.

The golden years

It wasn’t always like that. In the 1970s-80s, Bundesver had a staff that touched 500,000. It was, after all, a promise made by Chancellor Conrad Adenauer to the Allies as part of its founding in November 1955, along with NATO’s integration and role in the design of the Alliance. Her name was chosen to show her defensive character (Wehr will say a barrier), but also to differentiate her from her predecessor, Vermacht. However, 40,000 men of the latter were the main tank for its original staffing. Since the late 1960s the target began to approach.

Shipments outside the border

This number began to fall after the end of the Cold War. However, from the 1990s onwards, the German army had begun to take part in international missions, wanting to substantially show its peacekeeping face, following the relevant “approval”, an opinion by the Supreme Constitutional Court in 1994. In 1995 2,600 German soldiers in 1999 and I

The effort was steadily not to be involved in war conflicts, but to be more supportive of other NATO forces and businesses. This has not always been successful, nor in Bundesver’s almost twenty -year presence in Afghanistan, which ended in the well -known inadvertent manner, nor in Mali, a decision that had the most support of the French power there, but also the UN as a whole.

“Re -establish” 70 years later?

Zenke Natschel, a professor of war history at the University of Potsdam, notes that Bundesver was initially a NATO project, which, unlike other countries’ armies, had for decades that he could not rely on the tradition of older successes. That was probably the reason why he never showed that he was particularly excited about the young Germans.

Could this happen in some way now, as the historian argues, Bundesver essentially needs a second re -establishment, just 70 years later, in order to meet the needs of the time? The polls so far on the readiness of the young Germans to serve it do not currently show such a perspective. Politicians should look for other ways to make it attractive.

Source: Zeit Geshichte