The ‘giver generation’ and the fight over German conscription

1 day ago 5

Berlin: Quentin Gärtner has a term for the young Germans who will be called up for physical checks next year in a government plan to fill an urgent gap in the nation’s armed forces.

Gärtner, the elected head of a group that speaks for millions of school students, calls the teenagers the “giver generation” because they are being asked to sign up for the military when they receive too little from the state in return.

It is a powerful criticism in the days after German politicians struck a deal to start mandatory medical examinations for every male who turns 18 so they can be selected for voluntary military service.

Members of the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, arrive to attend an event to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Bundeswehr at which 280 new recruits took their oath of service on November 12.

The goal is to recruit 20,000 more volunteers next year alone, but sceptics think the government will miss the target and take the next logical step: mandatory conscription.

“We want to take responsibility,” says Gärtner, the secretary-general of the Federal Student Conference.

“I think millions of young people want to give something back to the country, but there also has to be a state that is willing to take responsibility for us.”

The new policy has ignited a debate about the gap between the generations, with young people demanding a better deal on education, health and housing.

Prospects are grim, with the economy growing just 0.2 per cent this year and unemployment at 6.3 per cent. (In Australia, annual growth was 1.8 per cent at last count and unemployment was 4.3 per cent).

And the security fears in Europe are the worst they have been since the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, marking the end of the Cold War.

Gärtner says political leaders should fix policies for young people after the damage from the coronavirus. He says this should include more spending on education and mental health.

Quentin Gärtner says the “giver generation” will have to contribute more to society than it could possibly ask back from it.

“We call ourselves a giver generation,” he says. (The term is “gebergeneration” in German.)

“We are a generation that will have to contribute more to society than it could possibly ask back from society.

“We will get it done. We will have to solve all these issues the current government can’t solve.”

Germany ended conscription in 2011 but is ramping up military spending to confront threats from Russia. It forecasts it will need to increase military personnel from 183,000 today to more than 260,000 in the next decade.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has struggled for months to gain a deal within his ruling coalition to restore conscription, after the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) opposed the mandatory regime backed by many in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the conservative party Merz leads.

The national parliament, the Bundestag, has 630 seats. The CDU and its sister party, the CSU, hold 208. Merz governs with a coalition including the SPD, which has 120 seats.

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, from the SPD, has warned about the need to build up the military, and said in June last year that this meant signing up more young people.

“We must be ready for war by 2029,” he told the Bundestag.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz has struggled for months to gain a deal within his ruling coalition to restore conscription.

“In an emergency, we need strong young women and men who can defend this country.”

The new policy will make it mandatory for young men to fill out a questionnaire when they turn 18, so the military will decide which of them will be called up for medical examinations. Young women will be sent a questionnaire, but will not be required to fill it in.

The physical examination will be mandatory for men from July 2027, although they can opt out of serving.

The “hybrid” model will go to a vote in the Bundestag next month and a new law would be needed if politicians wanted to restore conscription, but there is already talk that the voluntary scheme will fall short of the military goals.

‘I suspect it will not remain voluntary.’

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz

“I suspect it will not remain voluntary,” Merz said on October 5.

The German armed forces, known as the Bundeswehr, have cabinet approval to expand to 260,000 active soldiers by the early 2030s, along with a doubling in the number of reservists to 200,000.

Pistorius, who is a relatively popular figure and was the defence minister in the previous coalition government, is claiming the voluntary scheme will work by rewarding young people with good training and pay.

“Other European countries, especially Nordic ones, have shown that the principle of voluntary service combined with attractiveness works, and I expect it to be the same here,” he said last Thursday when announcing the cross-party agreement.

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, from the SPD, has warned about the need to build up the military.

“The number of applicants is increasing, the recruitment figures are rising.”

The government is now trying to set up recruitment centres to replace the conscription offices that were shut down in 2011, while also building up training services so young people will exit their military service with useful skills.

The training could run from six months to two years and could lead to qualifications from the army, air force, navy or cyber command.

The government is offering a monthly payment of €2600 ($4600) before tax to the young people who serve. This is about €400 lower than the average gross monthly earnings for men younger than 25, according to government statistics.

But the bigger challenge will be the government’s need to convince young people that the state is looking after them while they are helping to protect the state.

“The bill is going to be passed, one way or the other, and we will see if conscription will follow,” Gärtner says.

“But this isn’t just a situation where you can ask for something in a one-sided way.

“The government also has to look at how the country works for young people.”

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