Comrade Conny Dahmen from Germany, member of the Marxist organization SAV, was present at this year’s annual Antinazi Zone / YRE camp in Peloponnese, Greece. One of the discussions at the camp, in which she participated, was youth repression and “militarization” in schools. In an interview to “Xekinima”, she described the policies applied in Germany to militarize society and the youth, similar to what we see in many other European countries in the recent period.
Interview by Andros Payiatsos
AP: Conny, can you describe what is happening in German schools in relation to what we describe as “militarization of education”?
CD: In Germany, compulsory military service has been suspended since 2010, which naturally means a relief for young people at first. Since then, however, the German armed forces have been trying more and more intensively to recruit young people with advertising campaigns, especially in schools. However, this has not yet had the desired effect. The Bundeswehr currently has 183,000 soldiers, and fewer and fewer people have signed up to serve in the armed forces in recent years. However, the target is 203,000 soldiers by 2031.
Now the government wants to gradually reintroduce compulsory military service, citing the so-called “Zeitenwende” (turning point), meaning the threat posed by Russia. In particular, from 2025 onwards, 18-year-old males are to be obliged to fill out a questionnaire on their fitness for military service – for 18-year-old females, completion is voluntary. However, this assessment of willingness and ability to join the Bundeswehr is only the first step towards the reintroduction of compulsory military service, as Defense Minister Pistrorius is now openly saying.
There will initially be a voluntary six-month basic military service, which can be extended to 23 months. Each year 400,000 young people are to be registered, initially 5,000 and later 20,000 are to be drafted. The corresponding draft law should be ready in the fall.
AP: Germany had a long tradition of keeping away from militarization for decades after WWII. When did this change? For what reasons?
CD: The public debate, in the media and politics, has changed significantly since the start of the war in Ukraine; armament and the need to defend the country are presented as having no alternative, as according to the ruling class’s narrative “our democracy” was under threat. This is of course linked to support for and arms deliveries to Ukraine and also to the in fact uncritical support for Israel in the Gaza war. In the current world situation, the anti-war-attitude of the past now had to be changed to a more realistic pro-militarisation one, as it is said.
However, German imperialism hasn`t been that peaceful anyway before, as it has been part of European armaments programs for decades, and the Bundeswehr has been involved in interventions abroad as an army of specialists over the last 30 years, like in Mali or Afghanistan. The Kosovo war in the mid-1990s was the turning point here, where the former peace party and current governing Green Party, which now has Baerbock as Foreign Minister, also supported a German military mission for the first time.
AP: What are the methods used by the government and the military? We’ve seen that they take part in the Pride demos with special vehicles. How do they try to make the army attractive to the youth?
CD: The Bundeswehr runs advertising campaigns, with posters, promotional films and more, especially on social media like TikTok, where it presents itself as modern, hip, even feminist – often with supposedly funny slogans (“World peace defective. Craftsmen wanted”). It advertises attractive jobs, apprenticeships and university places, and of course also offers the very expensive driving license for free. It does stalls and postering at the computer games fair Gamescom (“More open world is not possible”), and 3,400 school and university visits in 2023. It presents itself at schools on career presentation days, or with so-called youth officers who present the armed forces in the course of lessons. And yes, they also took part in the huge Pride parade in Cologne this year, with a beautifully colorful float where they presented themselves as “freedom fighters”, open and “woke” (“All genders welcome”). This is part of this depiction, that war and the Bundeswehr are needed to protect democracy and freedom.
However, none of this has been particularly successful in recent years, which is why bourgeois politicians are now calling for a more intensive presence in schools, such as Federal Education Minister Stark-Watzinger from the liberal FDP party, who called on schools in the spring to develop a “more relaxed relationship with the Bundeswehr” and to work more with youth officers. And now we have the move to force young people back into the army.
AP: What is the reaction of young people? Has the army become attractive to them?
CD: A bit, yes, as by 8 July this year, 15 percent more people applied for military service compared to the previous year, and 18,000 were recruited. In particular, the number of underage recruits has risen to 1,996. I personally know some young people who have joined the Bundeswehr in recent years, giving reasons such as job security or the opportunity to receive a certain training, but also more structure in their everyday lives. Of course, there are many illusions here, and many new soldiers drop out of basic training after just a few months. In 2022, 4,200 recruits left their service prematurely.
There has been resistance to the Bundeswehr’s campaigns in the past and there still is (“No advertising for dying”), like adbusting campaigns and, above all, protests in front of schools when the Bundeswehr takes part in career presentation days or gaming fairs. But the propaganda of the government and bourgeois politics, and the pressure on pupils in particular, is really massive.
In addition, this questionnaire I mentioned earlier will initially seem harmless to many young people; military service initially appears to be purely voluntary. It is the task of the Left and the workers’ movement to raise awareness and organize resistance. Unfortunately, the trade unions are very cautious at the moment and are hardly speaking out against militarization. It is already costing us billions, which are missing from social benefits and public infrastructure. So young people are already paying for it and have little prospect of good jobs or affordable housing.
And it’s not about democracy or freedom or anything like that, but we are currently experiencing an escalation of capitalist competition for influence, sales markets and raw materials and the formation of the blocs of the EU, NATO and allies on the one side and China, Russia and allies on the other. It´s their profit interest they want us to kill and die for. We must prevent this and fight internationally against militarization.
AP: Thank you Conny. Best wishes and luck to your efforts in building a sizeable Marxist organization in Germany
