Half of Germans support reintroducing military service

For the other half.

And for some odd reason the younger Germans are much less enthusiastic about the idea than older Germans.

Around half of German citizens are in favour of reintroducing compulsory military service, according to a survey by opinion research institute Forsa.

In the poll commissioned by German news magazine Stern, 52% of respondents were in favour of compulsory military service, the magazine said on Tuesday.

Some 43% were against it and 5% expressed no opinion. According to the data, the strongest supporters of compulsory military service were found in the over-60 age group, with 59% in favour. In contrast, 59% of 18 to 29-year-olds were against compulsory military service.

Volunteers of America, OK

But volunteers of Germany? Good luck.

German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg is moving ahead with reform plans to reduce the Bundeswehr to 165,000 soldiers, effectively turning it into a volunteer army.

This is a controversial move in Germany because, well, every move in Germany is a controversial move. OK, OK. At least the ones that have to do with the military are.

But like who cares? It’s not as if this new professional German army is ever going to be used for military purposes either. Not unless everybody volunteers to, that is. And how likely is that?

Künftig sollen nur noch freiwillige Rekruten eingezogen werden: Die Planer rechnen mit 7500 Freiwilligen pro Jahr.