Greens Hope to End Military Conscription

Although it has emerged from coalition talks between Germany's two governing parties that the EUR24.3 billion ($24 billion) annual military budget is likely to be maintained for the next four years, experts warn that this is not enough to address the problems of Germany's armed forces. As one possible answer to Germany's growing military role, leading Social Democratic and Green politicians this week hinted that they may examine a switch from conscription to a professional army.

Military expenditures of NATO members are supposed to amount to roughly 2 percent of national gross domestic product. While the United States spends well over 3 percent of its GDP on defense, the ratio in Germany is estimated at about 1.4 percent this year, and the trend has been pointing downward. Personnel costs swallow about half of the German military budget, leaving relatively little for modernization and equipment investments.

Government has said it will continue the reform of the German armed forces started under former Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping and adhere largely to the proposals of the so-called Weizsäcker reform paper, which envisages above all a massive reduction in the size of the Bundeswehr. While the Greens would like to eliminate military conscription, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has so far rejected a switch to a volunteer army.

Germany is the last major European country with mandatory military service. The Bundeswehr's 130,000 conscripts make up about 40 percent of the armed forces, with the large reserve force of former conscripts potentially increasing the forces to nearly 700,000. Conscripts, who complete nine months of military service, cannot be forced to participate in UN or Nato missions. While women have been allowed to serve since 2001, conscription is all-male.

New activities, including missions on foreign soil, have brought the Bundeswehr close to its limits in recent years. Pressure for a switch to a professional force has intensified as budgetary constraints tighten, the pool of conscripts shrinks and there are too few experts for too many tasks. In view of Germany's militarist past, others feel that mandatory service ensures better democratic control between army and society.

A professional soldier of the lowest rank costs the state about twice as much as a conscript. Since an all-volunteer professional army would only have to be around half the size of the current army, it would seem that there would be no extra costs. Yet the end of military conscription would also mean the end of alternative social services carried out by conscientious objectors — with serious consequences for social services.

Conscientious objection was originally introduced as a means to guarantee the civil liberties of professed pacifists. But the number of objectors has ballooned from 10 percent of all eligible young men in 1982 to about 30 percent today. Pacifists have been joined by people who object for political reasons or, increasingly, any other reason. Some politicians have called for a tightening of the procedures of conscientious objection.

On an annual basis, about 125,000 conscientious objectors carry out 11 months work in health care, care for the elderly and other welfare services, as well as in schools, kindergartens and nature conservation. Their salaries are paid by the federal government and are about one-third of what a permanent employee would cost.

This “cheap labor“ has become an integral part of Germany's social services network. An end to conscription would thus have an immediate effect on German welfare support organizations such as the Red Cross and the Workers Welfare Association. Social services that the government can no longer afford to provide would have to be contracted out to private companies or scrapped altogether.

Some proponents of an all-volunteer professional force have championed the introduction of a “social service year“ for both men and women to replace the work now carried out by conscientious objectors. But even at a very low wage, 12 months of social service for an average 600,000 Germans a year would require considerable state financing and far exceed the costs of the current system. In any case, memories of Germany's pre-war experience are likely to prevent the introduction of a social service duty, which was used by the Nazis as a means to educate young Germans according to the National Socialist doctrine. Trade unions reject the concept as unconstitutional “forced labor.“