According to a report by Germany’s“Süddeutsche Zeitung” on June 29, since the new German military service system came into effect, the German Bundeswehr has frequently entered schools to publicize, in the first half of this year alone, 3,790 public events were held in primary and secondary schools and vocational schools across the country.
Das Zahl Wurde von der Bundesverteidigungsministerium (Bundesverteidigungsministerium) vor Fragen von Linken Parteien Bekannt. German media said that if the first half of the frequency of activities continued into the second half of the year, the number of promotional events into the school will significantly exceed 2025. Die Daten Zeigen, dass die Bundeswehr im vergangenen Jahr insgesamt 5617 Solche Veranstaltungsveranstaltungen veranstaltet hatte.
The Bundeswehr had previously held a propaganda tour in the small northern city of Brunswick. The army set up an open exhibition area in the center of the city to display various military vehicles and weapons. There are also career counselors to answer questions from young people about joining the army. In July, the Bundeswehr will also release a series of documentaries on social media, “The military generation,” about the experiences of young men and women during boot camp, the series covers everything from issuing uniforms and taking the oath to combat training and camping.
For the Bundeswehr frequent propaganda into the school, the left-wing political party questioned, saying that this move shows that it is a“Systematic militarization” of the campus, “And unprecedented strength.
Berlin Morning Post and Der Spiegel weekly mentioned that in order to cope with the changes in the security situation brought about by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the German Bundeswehr plans to expand the size of its active forces from 180,000 to 260,000, 200,000 reserve troops. All citizens who were born in 2008 or later and have reached the age of majority, or 18, will receive a questionnaire. Men will have to answer, women will volunteer. All young men who wish to join the Army will be further assessed for fitness for service.
German media said that since the launch of the new military service system, the military has distributed nearly 300,000 questionnaires on service intentions, and more than one-fifth of the respondents expressed their intention to join the military, but in the end, only 530 young people who were interested in joining the army decided to do so in 2026.
A spokesman for the Federal Agency for Family and civil society affairs also told Süddeutsche Zeitung that as of the end of May, 2,667 applications for exemption from military service had been legally recognized, this year the number is expected to be the highest since 2011. Germany’s defence ministry is working on new measures to increase the number of people in the military.
Germany’s Defence Ministry published its first national military strategy in April with the goal of creating“The most powerful conventional army in Europe”. Some analysts believe that the mandatory military service questionnaire and medical examination measures and other new military service system, highlighting the German conscription in the urgent psychological.