By Ephraim Agbo
Germany’s renewed push toward conscription and large-scale rearmament is not just another defence policy shift — it is a seismic historical moment. For a country whose identity since 1945 has been shaped by military restraint, collective guilt, and a deliberate retreat from hard power, the current transformation marks one of the most consequential redefinitions of German statehood since reunification.
To understand why, one must look backward — through the ashes of the Second World War, the Cold War divide, the pacifist culture of the post-1968 generation, and the long era of security dependence on the United States. Germany is now stepping into territory it has consciously avoided for eight decades.
I. Post-1945 Germany: A Nation Built on Restraint
After the collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945, the country’s relationship with the military was not simply reformed — it was dismantled and rebuilt around explicit rejection of militarism. The Bundeswehr, founded in 1955, was designed to be:
- tightly controlled by Parliament
- integrated into NATO command
- structurally defensive
- culturally allergic to aggression
Military service existed, but it was framed as civic duty rather than national glory. And after reunification in 1990, Germany downsized even further — convinced that the end of the Cold War meant the end of major conflict in Europe.
II. The Long Pacifist Era: Europe’s Economic Giant, Military Dwarf
For decades, Germany cultivated a strategic posture defined by:
- low defence spending
- political caution
- a diplomatic-first foreign policy
- deep reluctance to use force abroad
The 2003 Iraq War solidified a societal consensus: Germany viewed military entanglement as dangerous, unnecessary, and morally fraught.
This pacifist reflex became part of national identity. Any expansion of military capability triggered historical anxieties — of 1939, of Hitler, of the Wehrmacht, of the devastation inflicted across Europe.
III. Russia’s War and the Shattering of Old Assumptions
The invasion of Ukraine in 2022 did something no election, no defence debate, no NATO summit had ever achieved: it broke Germany’s post-war illusion of permanent safety.
Suddenly:
- Germany’s minimal ammunition stocks were exposed.
- Tanks sat unused due to years of underfunding.
- The Bundeswehr’s top general declared it “barely operational.”
- Europe faced its largest war since 1945.
And a shocking reality emerged — the world Germany relied on had vanished.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz called it a “Zeitenwende” — a historic turning point. But the true pivot is what is emerging now: a structural, generational rearmament that challenges the core of Germany’s modern identity.
IV. Conscription Returns — The First Breach in a 60-Year Consensus
The government’s new proposal — sending questionnaires to all 18-year-olds, medically screening young men, and keeping the option of compulsory service open — would have been politically impossible even ten years ago.
Yet today, it is widely supported.
This is the most significant step toward remilitarisation since conscription was suspended in 2011. Historically, Germany justified ending the draft by arguing that Europe was stable and war was unlikely. That rationale has collapsed.
The fact that several countries are studying Germany’s model shows how dramatically the geopolitical winds have shifted.
V. The Return of a Military-Industrial Powerhouse
The rise of Rheinmetall — now rapidly expanding ammunition lines, vehicle production, and defence AI — evokes earlier eras when German industry was the engine of European military power.
Armin Papperger, its CEO, reflects this new confidence:
“We have to grow strong — on vehicles, on ammunition, on electronics, on AI. Germany will reach that target.”
The idea that Germany could soon possess Europe’s strongest conventional army — larger than at any time since 1942 — would once have triggered existential alarm. Today, it is discussed as strategic necessity.
History has turned sharply.
VI. The National Dilemma: Past Shadows vs. Present Threats
Germany now sits in a historical paradox:
- Its past urges restraint.
- Its present demands strength.
For decades, German politicians feared that assertive military power could reawaken European suspicions or internal traumas. But today, European neighbours want a stronger Germany — to counter Russia, stabilise NATO, and fill the vacuum left by American uncertainty.
This is the first time since 1945 that Germany’s neighbours are not afraid of its military strength, but afraid of its military weakness.
VII. A New Cold War — Or a Historical Loop?
Asked whether Europe is entering a new Cold War, Papperger dismissed labels:
“It doesn’t matter what you call it. We are not in a peaceful time. Someone is testing us every day.”
Historically, Germany sat at the frontline of the Cold War — divided, occupied, and armed to the teeth by foreign powers. Today, a unified Germany is rebuilding its own power, by its own choice, for its own security.
This is a profound historical reversal.
VIII. The Unanswered Question: What Kind of Power Will Germany Become?
Germany’s strategic transformation is far from complete. But the direction is unmistakable:
- Rearmament on a scale unseen since the Second World War
- The first steps back toward conscription
- A reawakening of military industry
- Public support for a stronger defence posture
- A political class shedding old taboos
The historical significance cannot be overstated. For 80 years, Germany built its identity on economic strength and military modesty. Now, in a dangerous and uncertain world, the country is rewriting that story.
What emerges will shape Europe for decades. Whether this new chapter leads to stability or new tensions remains to be seen — but for the first time in a generation, Germany is no longer hiding behind its history. It is confronting it.
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